Two records from old favorites. Beastie Boys and Velvet Revolver (which is not exactly an old favorite, but an Axl-less re-factoring of Gn’R).
Former’s new offering “To the 5 Boroughs” seems to be a very very complicated record. After two listenings, I’m still in awe of the content (more oldskool-y than 1999′s “Hello Nasty”), but also aware of the fact that no single song has really struck a flame. It’ll be an interesting week, going through this repeatedly…
After the eyebrow-raising “Set Me Free” and “Money” (off Hulk and Italian Job soundtracks, respectively), I had semi-high hopes for the latter’s “Contraband”. However, it neither is also not an immediate grab-you-by-the-throat roaring success. While there seem to be occasional flashes of old genius in the songs, it’s on the boring side on the first listen, and the vocalist Scott Weiland dominates things and makes it sound like a new STP-record… So, this baby deserves several more sessions before a real verdict.