Duff McKagan's Loaded Ready To Return

So last night, saw what might turn out to be the premature unveiling of the album art and tracklisting for the new album by Duff McKagan's Loaded. I say prematurely, because a comment from guitarist Mike Squires after I posted it on Facebook was: "Well, I guess it's out there now". For those who may not have seen it, here it is...

1) Lords Of Abaddon
2) Executioner's Song
3) Dead Skin
4) We Win
5) Easier Lying
6) She's An Anchor
7) Wrecking Ball
8) King Of The World
9) Cocaine
10) Your Name
11) Follow Me To Hell

Japan gets their obligatory 3 bonus tracks: 'Indian Summer', 'Runaway (acoustic)' and 'King Of The World (acoustic)'.
The majority of people reading already know me, so will already know about this band, but I'm just going to go on as if nobody else has heard of them anyway.

If you're wondering why you should be excited about a solo project from the former bass player of Guns N' Roses right now? Let me enlighten you... Loaded is not just a solo project. They started off this way when they formed in 1999 to tour behind Duff's soon to be cancelled solo album 'Beautiful Disease', going through numerous line-ups until they eventually split in 2002, just after releasing their own debut album 'Dark Days' - Duff had just gotten a call from Matt Sorum and Slash regarding forming a new band together, which would become Velvet Revolver.

However, in 2008, after things in Velvet Revolver soured, the band's 2002 incarnation of Mike Squires, Jeff Rouse and Geoff Reading regrouped as a fully fledged band. Confusingly, this was when the 'Duff McKagan's' prefix was added to the band name - a record label enforced name change for a mixture of legal and marketing reasons. I believe that this gives the wrong impression. Duff believes that this gives the wrong impression, but that's now the name they're stuck with.

That Autumn, the band released the 'Wasted Heart EP' as well as played a well-received tour of the UK, including a gig in the smallest room of Nottingham's Rock City that became one of the best live performances I have ever seen from any band. Jeff Rouse - who had previously been a member of Alien Crime Syndicate, and had toured four years previously with Duff's replacement in GN'R, Tommy Stinson - is one of the best bass players in the world. His unquestionable ability combined with his hyperactive stage performance make him a true hidden gem in rock n' roll. Mike Squires is another Alien Crime Syndicate veteran - who unfortunately had left the band before the Tommy Stinson tour - and his guitar playing is easily on a par with any other guitarist Duff has played with (and yes, I do mean any). And Geoff Reading was an absolute monster on the drums. Needless to say, this was the moment in which I went from Guns N' Roses fan interested in a former members' other band to a full-fledged Loaded fan.

The following year saw the release of 'Sick', their first studio album for eight years, which quickly became my favourite album of 2009. It's not aiming to be anything groundbreaking, but what it is aiming to be is a kick-ass rock n' roll record, which it delivers in spades. The album had a much more commercial and light sound than it's predecessor, 'Dark Days', which really lived up to its name, but still dealt with some pretty serious subjects like Duff's close-call with death thanks to his partying days ('The Slide'), and the political situation in the US ('Translucent'). All the while, though, it's mainstream production never stops the album being fun, no matter how dark it gets. The summer of that year saw the band extensively tour Europe, ending in a fantastic performance in the blistering heat of Amsterdam's Melkweg. Unfortunately, this would turn out to be Geoff Reading's last show with the band, replaced with former Loudermilk/Gosling drummer Isaac Carpenter.

It wasn't long before Isaac proved himself to be more than capable of filling Geoff's shoes, showcasing some absolutely insane drumming on a UK tour opening for Black Stone Cherry - somehow at the London show, he managed to lose his shoe - followed by a tour of South America.

Not only are they one of the most fun rock n' roll bands in the world currently, with some truly awesome live performances that showcase Duff in his element when it's all close, sweaty and intimite, but they are also some of the nicest people I have ever met. They will stick their neck out for their fans, and for each other. When I first met Duff in November of 2007, I expected him to hate me, because of my tendency to speak my mind - which when I was younger may have crossed the line more than once, but instead he was extremely friendly, and over the last few years we've developed a... I don't want to call it a friendship, as that may sound presumptious, but definitely a mutual respect. We can give little digs to each other, and let each other know when we think they're wrong about something without either of us taking it personally. There is none of the pretense arrogance that a lot of people - myself included sometimes - associate with rock stardom (and in some cases, ever being a member of Guns N' Roses in particular). And the other members of the band all have a similar mindset and outlook on life, which is important when you spend a good proportion of their lives stuck on a bus with each other.

All of these things are reasons why, when Duff briefly joined Jane's Addiction last year, and whenever news of Velvet Revolver nearly finding their new singer arises, I begin to worry for the future of Loaded. They may have an extremely small following - which will hopefully grow significantly in 2011 - but to that following they mean the world. The track 'We Win' was released on iTunes and radio late last year, and I had no doubt upon hearing it that this new album would be just as good, if not even better than 'Sick'.

So there you go... that is why you should be excited for a new album from Duff McKagan's Loaded. If anyone still doesn't believe me, if they come to a venue near you this year, go. See for yourself what the fuss is about.

The Taking will be released on April 16th in Japan, April 18th in the UK and April 19th in the US.
You can stream three tracks ('Cocaine', 'We Win' and 'Dead Skin') at this location... http://tinyurl.com/4u9sxxy