VELVET REVOLVER Photo Book Coming Soon
Архив новостей | Русская версия
Rufus Publications has announced the release of a new photo book, "Velvet Revolver By Ross Halfin", focusing on VELVET REVOLVER, the band formed in 2002 by then-former GUNS N' ROSES members Duff McKagan, Slash and Matt Sorum.
Sorum, McKagan, Slash and guitarist Dave Kushner held an exhaustive singer search after VELVET REVOLVER's formation that lasted for almost two years, during which they issued an open invitation to the public to send in demos. Eventually they settled on former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland.
VELVET REVOLVER released two full-length albums through RCA/Sony BMG — 2004's "Contraband" and 2007's "Libertad" — before dismissing Weiland in April 2008.
Down the long and convoluted road of rock history, the term "supergroup" has been used to describe collaborations put together by musicians already renowned for having established themselves with other popular bands. Many of these projects tend to be short lived and rarely capture the collective or individual greatness that these musicians achieved in prior bands. However, every so often, one of these so-called "supergroups" actually delivers on the theoretical sum of its parts and writes, records, and performs music that stands up on its own merits and strengths and cements its place in the hearts and minds of rock fans across the world. One such band was VELVET REVOLVER.
Having utterly dominated the early and mid 1990s in GUNS N' ROSES — one of the only truly bonafide bands to ever adopt the slogan of "biggest band in the world" — Slash and McKagan found themselves somewhat adrift by the early 2000s, both having long left behind the machine of GUNS N' ROSES. Under fairly similar circumstances, another 1990s rock giant — STONE TEMPLE PILOTS — had publicly imploded as a result of their own internal politics.
Despite all the drama and the cultural zeitgeist of the time not particularly calling out for such a group, VELVET REVOLVER formed with Weiland, Slash, McKagan, Sorum and Kushner, and perhaps in spite of such adversity delivered their stunning debut album, "Contraband", on June 8, 2004. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell over two million copies in the United States alone — a truly remarkable achievement by anyone's standards and serves as a reminder of the undeniable quality of the songs and performances that make up the track listing. A second album, "Libertad", followed three years later after countless concerts around the globe, and even if it didn’t quite live up to the quality of its predecessor (frankly, few records could) — it still landed at No. 5 on the Billboard top 200 and would be certified gold in Canada and New Zealand.
History would ultimately repeat itself and the same forces that led to the band's inception would reappear to derail VELVET REVOLVER once and for all in 2008. However, photographer Ross Halfin was there every step of the way to capture the band in the good times and the bad, and this photo book represents the total journey of VELVET REVOLVER and serves as a timely reminder that sometimes, rare as it might be, "supergroups" can be genuinely super.
The new coffee-table book from Rufus celebrates the short-lived brilliance of VELVET REVOLVER in a single limited-edition book of just 500 numbered copies worldwide with an introduction by McKagan. Coming in at 340 high-quality art pages, with a printed, foiled and embossed cover, a unique Carbon X slipcase plus a Ross Halfin signed print and poster, this book is a unique visual documentary of the band.
"Velvet Revolver By Ross Halfin" goes on pre-sale on Friday, August 11 at 3 p.m. UK time. All orders placed before September 30, 2023 will get a 10% discount.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
