RECORD REVIEW : McKagan’s Album Hard to ‘Believe’ Despite Its Honesty
** Duff McKagan, “Believe in Me,” Geffen.
After eight years as bassist for Guns N’ Roses, McKagan has earned musical carte blanche for his first solo album. And he takes advantage of that freedom on a sometimes pleasingly raw, loose album that, while likable and honest at its core, is ultimately unexciting.
The album’s rough-edged, street-level hard-rock--ranging from punk to boozy confessionals --bears the GNR stamp in many of the melodies, dynamics and vocal inflections (McKagan does the bulk of the singing, and bandmate Slash is one of the guest players, along with Jeff Beck, Lenny Kravitz and others). Fine for fans of L.A.’s most notorious rock band, but, on its own, “Believe in Me” isn’t likely to inspire a lot of converts.
New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).
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