Song Of The Week: 10/30/11

Song: "Messages"

Artist: Velvet Revolver

Album: "Libertad" (Itunes Edition)

Year: 2007



"Messages" is a song that was written from the perspective of those passengers that were on the airplanes that were hijacked and crashed on 9/11. It was based on the phone conversations that the passengers were having with their loved ones. You can see with the verses that the conversations start light, saying that they'll see those people when they land at their destination and the next verse, you sense that the hijacking has taken place and there is a fear in the calls and a fear of not knowing what is happening. The last verse, you sense that the passengers know their fate and they just want to tell everyone that they love them and hoping that their loved ones can make it through without them. They know they are going to die. "Messages" is definitely one of the better 9/11 songs i've heard so far with a very unique perspective on the events, a very personal touch. "Messages" was released as an iTunes bonus track if you digitally ordered the album "Libertad" through them. Velvet Revolver formed back in 2002 and was a definite hard rock supergroup featuring ex-Guns 'n' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum along with Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner. Their debut album, 2004's "Contraband" was a huge success for the band while garnering several awards for hit singles such as "Slither" and "Fall To Pieces". 2007 would see VR release their second album "Libertad" which didn't quite live up to their debut, but still kept Velvet Revolver at the top of the rock and roll world. A long and problematic tour in support of "Libertad" would ultimately create dissensions within the band, however. Battling old dependency demons as well as each other began creating the rift in the band that would eventually lead to Scott Weiland's departure in 2008. Velvet Revolver has since been on an indefinite hiatus with Slash putting out a solo record, Weiland returning to Stone Temple Pilots, McKagan and Sorum both working on previous bands and solo stuff and Kushner working on music for various television programs. Slash and McKagan never fully closed the book on VR however. New material was worked on and the endless search for a replacement singer was underway. The most rumored replacement was Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge. Though working with Slash on other projects, Kennedy seemed to not be in the running for Velvet Revolver. More recent news was that there was in fact a new singer for the band and that they are rehearsing together. The band has kept this information a secret, only saying that the band is going to have a much heavier feel. Now the rumors were that the secret vocalist may be Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour fame. These rumors have not been confirmed nor denied as of yet. Currently, the fans of Velvet Revolver just have to sit back and wait until the band finally sheds some light on the new lead singer situation but it definitely seems that VR is far from calling it quits.