Velvet Revolver - 'Fall To Pieces' (BMG)
3/5
By: Kevin Molloy
'Appetite For Destruction' was, and is, a seminal work, a classic album, an LP to define a generation and a genre. That's why it's so heartening to see Slash (and his, to be honest, less defining co-members) re-taking the stage, re-donning that rock 'n' roll garb, and re-learning how to actually go about this whole 'rock' business. Axl and his friends seem to have lost his way a little in the showmanship stakes (what the f**k is the KFC bucket about?), whilst his peers and equals also seem to have gone astray. Brian May's hair is too busy promoting a musical, Ozzy is refusing to leave Channel 4's studio (his house), and Ritchie Blackmore thinks he's a 16th Century wandering minstrel.
Whilst it says something for the drugs of the day, it does mean we're being highly deprived of arena-filling guitar solos, save if they arrive at our ears through the cod-classic poutings of The Darkness. 'Fall To Pieces' harks right back to those power ballads that don't instigate an automatic cringe. It's lost the grit of the originals (replaced with a paved drive, presumably), but it retains the swagger. On top of that the vocal, whilst uninspired, is heartfelt and sure. It's exemplary of the compromise we enter with this 'supergroup': they'll make us the music we want, as long as we're prepared to accept it won't live up to their previous works.
This isn't timeless, but neither is it the opposite. This is simply an enjoyable rebirth of a genre that will never be too far from many hearts, yet it will take something truly jaw-dropping to revive the stadium flame to full height.
Artists in this article: Velvet Revolver
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