VR and BR

I was working in Omaha just about three years ago. One day, it was a Tuesday, I went on down to Homer's Music in the Old Market to pick two brand-new, hot-off-the-press releases that I was, in fact, very excited about: newly formed supergroup Velvet Revolver's Libertad and long-standing superpunkgroup Bad Religion's The Empire Strikes First. I was totally stoked, and didn't let the hipster record store worker guy's comments about commercialism faze my excitement. After some contemplative listening, I eventually reached a sort of self-imposed ambivalence, deciding that while I wasn't completely taken by either effort, I wouldn't allow myself to be completely let down.

Now, it's three years later. I know that I can't be the only person who noticed the coincidence of both bands releasing their next albums within a week of each other - first Libertad and then New Maps of Hell. I'm not suggesting conspiracy or anything, but I think maybe rock stars shouldn't be so obvious when releasing obligatory albums, be the obligation financial, contractual, or simply "for the kids" (duly noted that Bad Religion is one year behind their clockwork biennial album-release schedule). Also, neither band shows much variety in regards to album cover color schemes, though to VR's credit, this graphic doesn't do the oh-so-shiny foil-punched cover justice. At any rate, I forced myself to get excited.

So I've given these two new albums another fair shake, and I still sort of don't care. I mean, I know that I like both of these bands, right? Both Bad Religion and Stone Temple Pilots were musical heroes for me spanning high school and college phases (I haven't ever cared about GnR, and yes, VR has taken a step closer to STP with this most recent release, but not enough of one for me to really fall in love). Both VR and BR remain true to what they are (read: stick to their formulas). Velvet Revolver takes the catchy and not too poppy melodies of Scott Weiland and mashes them up against fist-pumpingly stupid 80's arena rock guitar mush. Bad Religion is a "word band" with the anti-everything message smushed into loads of factory-produced guitar wall and trademark vocal harmonies.

These are gross simplifications, of course. But really, neither of these bands are doing anything new at all. VR has taken all of the rock star out of rock star and replaced it with all the easy-cheese of Bon Jovi for just about the same effect. Weiland is supposed to be wild and is not, and Slash is supposed to be an icon, and is not. At least it's catchy. BR has stuck so faithfully to their formula that I wonder why they're even recording new songs any more. I mean, everything has sounded so much the same (melodies, not production) in the song-writing department that I wonder if they're simply pro-toolsing old riffs together. In fact, I think I heard these exact guitar-slides on The Process of Belief.

I have something nice to say: Libertad isn't as all-out loud as Contraband was, and that's sort of refreshing. This is a sign, along with better song structures and an overall more intimate experience, that Velvet Revolver is a real band now, and not just Scott Weiland singing over GnR instrumentals in order to pump out product to a still rock-hungry consuming public (maybe that Homer's hipster is shining through in me as well). Yes, they have gelled into something more fully resembling a band, but it's a much less cool band than one might have expected. It is, in fact, catchy, and is occasionally decent (I'm ignoring the fact that the last song - Gravedancer, reminds me a lot of Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls).

The one difference that separates New Maps of Hell from the previous six or seven Bad Religion albums (and I really do like most of those six or seven) is the production. Despite the fact that pretty much everything they've recorded has been melodically and structurally the same for a decade and a half, the layering of sound is different on each release. Stranger Than Fiction and The Grey Race come off as hard-rocking alternative, The New America (an unfortunate title they really should have saved for post 9/11 releases) sounds thin and wimpy (it sounds like shit, frankly), The Process of Belief sounds huge and reverby and a little washy. Though boring overall, Empire is HUGE and RAW, due to loud-assed guitars and fantastic drumming (new drummer added). I thought maybe they learned something from Empire, and I was wrong. The New Maps production is terrible - the vocals are way, way, way too soft behind the guitars, and there is absolutely nothing interesting in the guitars. Power chord/Gibson through Marshall never sounded so boring. Seriously. When I turn up the speakers in order to hear Graffin's somewhat literate and thought-provoking words - I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the fat and lazy guitar.

I know that if I really give either of these albums extensive time I'll likely fall in love with them, just like I did with that one CD from NoFX. They each have their hooks. It took a while to get into STP's No. 4, and my deep love for The Grey Race didn't happen upon first listen (except for those super-awesome transitions towards the end - Spirit Shine/Streets of America and Victory/Drunk Sincerity/Come Join Us - that part is totally awesome). Benefit of the doubt given, and I can see the possibility of coming to like this stuff. But that would draw time away from other music that I chose to care much more about. Self-imposed ambivalence again. I will come back.

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WARNING: Under no circumstances should you watch the video that comes as a "bonus" to Libertad. It sucks and is pointless, and actually triggered my gag reflex more than once.