
Velvet Revolver --the rock supergroup featuring Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and former members of Guns N' Roses --plans to release its debut album in May.
Titled "Contraband," the set is due in stores on May 18, and will feature the single "Slither," which will surface on radio stations on March 23. The set also includes the cut "Set Me Free," which first turned up on last summer's "Hulk" soundtrack.
The band--Weiland; former Gunners Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums); and former Suicidal Tendencies member David Kushner (guitar)--co-produced the forthcoming album with Josh Abraham.
"We're all looking for a rebirth here," Weiland said in a statement. "We're looking to get back that same feeling we had when we all first started making music--the sense of doing it for the pure joy of making music. Along the way the whole idea that got us into this had been raped and sodomized. We were all in mourning of that and wondering if we could somehow get it back. As it turns out, the only way we could get it all back was to start it all new. Now we have that opportunity and it's f---ing amazing. This music is just vicious, very aggressive and it forces you to lace your boots up and sort of get ready for the fight."
"Our music is very aggressive," McKagan added. "There's always that 'F--- you' element to it. Really that's all we know how to do. We can't play nice ... Slash, Matt and I were always that way in Guns, and Scott and Dave are very like-minded. To me, this is the first dangerous band that's come around in a while--truly dangerous...We really hope to bring some chaos back into the whole world of rock."
The group plans to mount a tour behind the release, but details for the outing are still pending.
"We can't wait," said Slash of the upcoming tour. "I'm just looking forward to fulfilling a touring thing that I never got to really finish with Guns. That's what I love, but we never got to do a lot of things for reasons that still don't make sense to me. I just want to play."