Given all the shit Velvet Revolver has pulled over the last few years, and the fact that most post-GN’R projects by that band’s original line-up are pretty lackluster, you couldn’t exactly blame someone for thinking that Duff McKagan’s Loaded would suck ass for sure. But McKagan seems to have learned from his past mistakes; after Geffen dumped not one but two of his solo albums, he’s now signed to Century, a considerably smaller label than you’d expect given his connections and squillions of dollars, which would suggest he’s not in it for the money, a nice change of pace from the usual greedy bullshit we see these kind of rock tars pull these days.

Of course, putting his ego aside and saying “Y’know, I think I actually have enough cash, thanks” would mean nothing if Loaded was terrible, but they’re not; they make the kind of catchy hard rock that fewer and fewer bands seem to indulge in these days (Even Queens of the Stone Age seem to have pretty much given up.). And they’re not afraid to come across as genuinely messy: McKagan obviously isn’t the best singer in the world, but you’ll never hear the guy use auto-tune, not even for a second, God love ‘im.

So Loaded far exceeds expectations, and almost – almost – redeems McKagan for those terrible John Varvatos ads he did with the rest of VR a year or so ago.

Here’s Loaded’s video for “No More.”

-AR