Duff McKagan has been fronting
Loaded since 1999 -- long after
Guns N' Roses stopped as an active concern and long before
Velvet Revolver came to be. It's what
Duff did when he didn't have anything else to do, as he didn't after
Weiland ditched
VR for a reunited
Stone Temple Pilots and
Slash worked on a solo album. And so,
Duff turned to
Loaded again, releasing their third album, Sick, in the spring of 2009. Not quite a busman's holiday,
Loaded is the sound of a working band working and an old rocker staying sober, kicking out some lead-heavy grooves and sculptured pieces of sleaze. This doesn't necessarily rock with abandon -- it's a bit too precise, a bit too clean for that -- but it does have a kick and spirit, enough energy to power through the somewhat pedestrian songwriting. But songs, or even sounds, aren't the point of Sick -- simply playing some good clean hard rock is, and if you get on the same wavelength as
Loaded, it can be enjoyable enough. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine