Libertad Review Thread (for forum members' reviews only)

[metallex78]

Velvet Revolver have always had a pop element to them. A lot of the songs on Contraband had pop written all over them (Illegal i Song, Fall to Pieces, Slither, You Got No Right, Loving the Alien), but the production was really terrible. With Libertad, Brendan did a great job of giving the album a cleaner sound, and bringing the pop melodies forward.

Complaining about Slash playing on a pop record is hilarious. You do realize who he's worked with, right?

Contraband may have had a bad mix, but the guitars kicked ass on there. And while there were some catchy melodies on there too, I wouldn't call it a pop album the same way Libertad sounds poppy.

And yes, Slash has played on some pop songs over the years, but I wouldn't have thought he'd go in that direction with his own band.

At this stage I'm more looking forward to Slash getting back into that solo album he was working on before VR formed, than another VR album.

[Negative Creep]

Heh, I just realized who you are. I'm Lemonzinger on the Foo Fighters forum.

[metallex78]

Oh cool, good to see some Foo fans here on the VR board!


I don't suppose you downloaded Libertad then did you...?

[Negative Creep]

No I didn't. 

[slash667]

Hey im a massive slash fan and own nearly everything slash has played on, LIbertad is a good album but I think contraband is a little better, I like "get out the door", "sbqm" "the last fight" "gravedancer" and "american man" the others are just fillers, but i think I can get used to them after a few more listens.  In my opinion the best song slash has played on post G'n'R is "you got no right" it really sounds as if hes feeling the notes hes playing in the solo.  The solo to american man sounds like double talkin jive a little.  Contraband had many great songs on it and i could listen to that album from start to finish but with libertad I find myself skipping certain songs coz I get bored of them, ah well a good effort though,  Been to see them live twice aswell Contraband tour and re-evolution tour and the first show was alot better, but saying that on the re-evolution tour slash brought out his twin neck guitar for the last 20mins or so.  Ill never forget that moment for as long as I live. Oh yes and he broke the smoking ban and puffed constantly thru the show. Id hate to be the person who has to say to him that hes not allowed to smoke. lol

[tomass74]

Hey im a massive slash fan and own nearly everything slash has played on, LIbertad is a good album but I think contraband is a little better, I like "get out the door", "sbqm" "the last fight" "gravedancer" and "american man" the others are just fillers, but i think I can get used to them after a few more listens.  In my opinion the best song slash has played on post G'n'R is "you got no right" it really sounds as if hes feeling the notes hes playing in the solo.  The solo to american man sounds like double talkin jive a little.  Contraband had many great songs on it and i could listen to that album from start to finish but with libertad I find myself skipping certain songs coz I get bored of them, ah well a good effort though,  Been to see them live twice aswell Contraband tour and re-evolution tour and the first show was alot better, but saying that on the re-evolution tour slash brought out his twin neck guitar for the last 20mins or so.  Ill never forget that moment for as long as I live. Oh yes and he broke the smoking ban and puffed constantly thru the show. Id hate to be the person who has to say to him that hes not allowed to smoke. lol

try listening instead of skipping.. I don't hear any filler at all....

[metallex78]

Hey im a massive slash fan and own nearly everything slash has played on, LIbertad is a good album but I think contraband is a little better, I like "get out the door", "sbqm" "the last fight" "gravedancer" and "american man" the others are just fillers, but i think I can get used to them after a few more listens.  In my opinion the best song slash has played on post G'n'R is "you got no right" it really sounds as if hes feeling the notes hes playing in the solo.  The solo to american man sounds like double talkin jive a little.  Contraband had many great songs on it and i could listen to that album from start to finish but with libertad I find myself skipping certain songs coz I get bored of them, ah well a good effort though,  Been to see them live twice aswell Contraband tour and re-evolution tour and the first show was alot better, but saying that on the re-evolution tour slash brought out his twin neck guitar for the last 20mins or so.  Ill never forget that moment for as long as I live. Oh yes and he broke the smoking ban and puffed constantly thru the show. Id hate to be the person who has to say to him that hes not allowed to smoke. lol

try listening instead of skipping.. I don't hear any filler at all....

I tried that, but hear lots of filler too...

[The Showstopper]

I'm not going to do a review or anything song by song because it would be just re-hashing what everyone else has already done, so I'm just going to bullet-point a few things that really struck me after a few listens.

• The drumming on this album is really top notch - a really big step up from Contraband. Matt has really stepped it up on this one. Duff also plays a much bigger role than he did on CB, but whether that is because he has lifted his game or whether it is because of the recording process (e.g. in STP, also produced by O'Brien, Robert DeLeo plays a really integral role in the formation of the melody, and I wonder if that has been transposed a little on Libertad)
• The solos just aren't as memorable as on CB. While there are a couple of really good solos on this album (American Man, SBQM and CGIOOMH) there's nothing that comes close to matching STB, Slither or YGNR. I also get the feeling they messed around with Slash's clean tone a little too much, or they played too much with effects pedals because at times his tone comes off quite buzzy. I believe it's the She Mine solo where you can really notice it. That solo almost sounds DeLeo-esque
• One criticism mentioned in a review I read just before was that Libertad is lacking a real killer single. I kinda agree with this. There's no one song thats as big as Slither or FTP. A lot of people are poiting to The Last Fight as a potential crossover hit. Personally I think it will do moderately well, but no more than that. I'd love to be proved wrong though. However, I am aware that there is more than an album than singles, and I believe that as a whole, Libertad is better than CB.
• I LOVE the hidden track. It totally comes out of nowhere and is actually quite catchy!
• I don't like the way a lot of the vocals have been recorded. This I think is an O'Brien gripe more than anything, but in a lot of places you can barely hear Scott or understand what he's saying e.g. the verses in American Man especially, and in some parts of GOTD
• She Mine continues the theme of Scott's love for mentioning days of the week in his songs. See Church on Tuesday, You Can't Drive me Away, Days of the Week, Illegal I Song
• I also think that the first half of the album is much stronger than the second half. Where the first half has GOTD, SBQM, SM and TLF, afterwards there's not a lot thats really good (Mary Mary and Gravedancer being the only realy exceptions)

Thats about as much as my limited attention span can go for at the moment. I like to think I was fair. Not tinted by rose-coloured glasses like some people seem to be, but I truly like the album. It's definitely one that grows on you rather than one that hits you like a punch in the face.

[Five Star Edge]

• I don't like the way a lot of the vocals have been recorded. This I think is an O'Brien gripe more than anything, but in a lot of places you can barely hear Scott or understand what he's saying e.g. the verses in American Man especially, and in some parts of GOTD

I agree with this somewhat.  Although I wish on some songs his vocals were a bit louder in the mix, the overall production is solid imo.  I wish Brendan would have made the last couple STP albums sound this clear and crisp. 

[BlackVelvet]

Okay, so I've been listening to Libertad for quite a bit since it came out and I've been reading a lot of reviews and now I feel prepared to express my opinion.  I think it is a great album.  There are definitely some memorable songs on here. Let it Roll is the perfect opener. Completely in your face. SBQM was a good choice for a first single, and I think the Video kicks ass.  The other tracks that stand out for me are Spay, Get Out The Door, Gravedancer, and Mary Mary. And I must say that Just Sixteen is probably my favorite song and the best song on the album in general. I cannot stop listening to it. I love the raunchiness of it in both sound and subject matter. I think this song should be picked for the third single(considering that Last Fight seems to be the definite second).  The only criticisms that I have of it are the exclusion of the songs that they recorded and didn't make the record.  I really like Messages and Gas And A Dollar Laugh. I find myself listening to those songs more than some of the songs on Libertad. I know Messages is available on the extended version of the album, but I think that it should have made the regular record over some of the other songs. I would have liked to see these two songs chosen over American Man, Pills, Demons & Etc., For A Brother, or even The Last Fight. Not to say that these are in anyway bad songs, I like them as well and they will probably grow on me the more I listen to them(same thing happened with some of the songs on Contraband, songs that I didn't listen to much in the beginning became my favorites later on)  I just feel that these songs are stronger than most of the ones I listed above. However, I also understand that the band probably felt that the other songs fit the theme of the album more appropriately. Also, I think the subject matter of the songs meant more to some of the members personally. I feel that when VR releases their third album, it will eclipse both Contraband and Libertad. Contraband was the debut that had the hard hitting and catchy songs, Libertad is the result of their experimentation and exploration as a band, and the third will the be best of both worlds and even more.

[Sammy_dirty_little_thing]

Libertad review
From a fans point of view. (me being the big fan lol)

Let it Roll, a pure rock tune, a great opener to what could be (or shall i say is) a great rock album for 2007!!!, for a short-ish song let it roll gives a great burst of rock and roll to Velvet's second album 7/10

She's mine, great live song, easy song to get into, not much else to say except it's very cool!!! 8/10

Get out the Door, the guitars from Dave and Slash really make this song work and of course not forgetting the cowbell from Matt!!!! 8/10

first songle from Libertad, She build's quick Machines, great rock song, great video, very good live, i have to admit this song after a while gets a little boring but then becomes an addictive song too!!!! 7/10

The Last Fight, oen of my favourite songs off the album, delicate with great backing vocals, i hope this is VR's second single, if not then a possiblity of a single release.  9/10

pills, demons, etc., not my favourite song off the album in my opinion but it does grow on you after a while 5/10

American Man - great drum and then bass opener as the guitars kick in with the added percussian, my most listened to song from the new album, i love it!!! 10/10

Mary, Mary - this song rocks!, looking forward to hearing it live in the future! 10/10

Just sixteen, i never get bored of this song, it's just great and really works for Libertad in general  9/10

Can't get it out of my head, a cover version of the Electric Light Orchestra song, this is one of my favourite cover's done by VR 9/10

For a Brother, at first not a favourite from Libertad but it works really well for the album none the less 7/10

Spay - very punky!!!, really liked this song when i first listened to it. 8/10

Gravedancer, what a beautiful song, a great ending to a great album, so sweet, i can really imagine the souls of the dead dancing on their graves at nightime, i know it sounds freaky but that's how i see it. 10/10

*Hidden Track*

Don't drop that dime, at first i really did not like this song, but you can catch me definatly singing to it now!!! 7/10

*other tracks*

Psycho Killer - another cover, but it works really well on the EP (European Released) 7/10

compared to Contraband, i prefer Contraband to the heavyness of the music, but i prefer Libertad to the different directions in the songs and how they are different pieces of music each time, don;t get me wrong i love Contraband but after listening to Libertad, Contraband down colide alot in song directions.Both albums are different and i think this is a really great thing, if VR were to produce their second album to sound like Contraband, i may have felt different about it. with Libertad i'm proud to be a VR fan, they are heading for huge sucess for the future to come and i will continue to support them as a fan as long as they continue producing music
 

[Varpunen]

My first impression of the album was that it sucked. Really. I was very disappointed about the album. None of the songs impressed me, I remember thinking that they're just some common, simple songs and also a bit boring ones. Then I started second round listening it, it actually sounded a bit better.
And now, listening it after many many times it sounds truly great. I have never disliked the whole album before from a band I've liked and then started to love it more than many already existing albums. All the songs really grew on me, except Spray, I think it needs a bit more time.. 

Libertad is an awesome album, I think it is better than Contraband and also better than many other my favourite albums (by other bands obviously).

 

[blackcrowslars]

Dunno if anybody asked this befor, 'cause I dont want to read everything, but does any of you guys know when we'll be able to hear the Libertad b-sides?

And now I'm talking about

"Swiss Miss"
"Remedy"
"Wasted Heart"
"Boogie in 'E'"
"Please Don't Go"
"Motherfucka"
"Queen for a Day"

[MightyJoeBrett]

Queen for a Day is Just 16.

[snakepipero]

Dunno if anybody asked this befor, 'cause I dont want to read everything, but does any of you guys know when we'll be able to hear the Libertad b-sides?

And now I'm talking about

"Swiss Miss"
"Remedy"
"Wasted Heart"
"Boogie in 'E'"
"Please Don't Go"
"Motherfucka"
"Queen for a Day"

I remember slash sayin' we'd be able to listen some of the non-libertad tracks in a near future

[blackcrowslars]

That'll be cool..

[Trist805#2]

Just gave this album a full listen again last night.  I have to say, a lot of the songs still hold up.  I kind of go back-and-forth on my opinion about it...but I think it sounds pretty good for what it is.  They were obviously going for more of an STP sound, but I think there are still some good moments on it, and it kind of works in that sense.  Scott's vocals are actually pretty impressive.  Was really digging Mary Mary...especially the part at the end.  It is just very different from the sound of Contraband.  Even though Contraband probably rocks more, I think I like the songs and production on Libertad a bit more.