If you are under the age of sixteen, you might think rock ‘n’ roll means Nickleback, Korn, and Evanescence. No wonder rap and slut-pop enjoy popularity.

Velvet Revolver’s Contraband arrived in stores Tuesday to save rock music. I did my part in their worthy crusade by purchasing the album. (If you’re wondering, I bought the one with the red cover.)

Velvet Revolver combines former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland with Slash, Duff, and Matt Sorum of Guns 'n' Roses. More STP than GNR, VR’s Contraband is a solid record. Does it live up to the media hype? Not quite, but what album could? If Velvet Revolver falls short of the lofty expectations, it transcends what’s on the radio today. It gives listeners something that’s been missing for awhile: rock music without some dude scratching records in the background, rock music with a lead singer and not a lead screamer, rock music devoid of whiny lyrics, rock music with tattoos and not temp-toos. In case you doubted Velvet Revolver’s credentials, check out what appears to be a mimeograph of the police report from one of Scott Weiland’s arrests that graces the album’s lyrics sheet.

Despite making their names as hard-rock musicians, Velvet Revolver’s hard-rock songs fall short of the slowed-down, softer songs—such as “Fall to Pieces” and “You Got No Right.” Towards the end of its inaugural spin on my CD player, Contraband seemed to be lacking something. The album is eminently listenable, I thought, but it lacks a really memorable song. Then I heard “Loving the Alien,” Contraband’s final and standout track. Velvet Revolver saved the best for last.

“Loving the Alien” is one of the best songs of 2004, and the year is not even half over. With a hypnotic, repeating guitar pattern as the backdrop, Scott Weiland sings the mantra: “And I’m moving on.” And that’s what they have done. Slash, Weiland, and company have moved on from the bands that made them famous to shake things up yet again.