Why did Libertad flop so badly?

[Sausagebrain]

On 5/29/2018 at 12:22 PM, DieselDaisy said:

It is a much better album than Contraband.

I thought I was the only one who thought that.

 

Libertad is a lot more developed and varied than Contraband. 

 

Contraband was good - it was refreshing to hear a band really rocking in an unironic fashion in 2004. But you could tell that these were the first bunch of songs that the band came up with. There's many similar sounding riffs.

 

And too much 'yeah - rock n fucking roll motherfuckers' BS in the lyrics. 

[Cosmo]

Libertad has some great tracks. She Builds Quick Machines, Gravedancer, Get Out The Door and The Last Fight are amazing, A+ tier material. But, IMO, then you get a bunch of filler mediocre songs like Spay, She Mine, American Man, For A Brother, etc... that just sound like they didn't really care and were just writing stuff to transform an EP into an album. Add that to the fact the production is quite different than Contraband's style, with a leaner and cleaner sound, lighter guitars and louder vocals, I think fans of the original album were kinda turned off by how the first singles sounded. 

I imagine all of this happened due to the growing tensions in the band, the fact they weren't aligned on the type of band they wanted to be and, most likely, the label didn't feel like it was a good idea to promote the album as much, probably not only because of these growing tensions and uncertainties, but also because they probably thought it was an overall weaker album. There is no Fall To Pieces-style "power" ballads here. The only "ballads" are the Elton John-style The Last Fight, which, in my opinion, is an amazing song, I Can't Get You Out Of My Head, which is a much lighter and prettier song than people expect of Slash and Co, and Gravedance, which isn't single material, because of it's style.

But if I had to sum it up in few words it's say: Lack of Promotion.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Cosmo

[fiefer1]

There just wasn't a hit single.

Musically, I liked the progression the band took towards more sonically diverse tunes (Get Out the Door an example) but it seemed anytime there was great music, Weiland's lyrics and hooks came up short (Just Sixteen, that solo in American Man!). She Builds Quick Machines was lifeless, I never cared for the ballads (The Last Fight) and neither did the public. 

Just a simple miss tbh but I did find myself listening to this album a lot when it came out, and was in the rotation for a couple of years. The music was great in parts, and I was in a bit of a "new music drought" during those years. It should have sold more, however... I'm shocked it didn't go gold at the very least!

[evilfacelessturtle]

She Builds Quick Machines always struck me as an attempt to re-create Slither, which means it was always doomed to fail as the lesser sequel.

Like others have said, the overall vibe was too light and poppy, Scott's hooks were weak, and the riffs seemed to be put together at random. American Man has this killer verse riff and solo but it's wasted on the most basic-ass four chord strumming chorus.

I almost wonder if they decided halfway through the process that they were done with Scott after the tour and phoned in the rest of the album.

There are some worthwhile moments regardless, and I still have songs from it in my playlist, but they all seem to have at least one weakness per song. Only Gravedancer and Last Fight feel fully realized to me.

Oh yeah, and what the fuck were they thinking not including Messages?!

Edited January 4 by evilfacelessturtle

[Lethalis]

Contraband was Slash and Duff with Scott. Libertad was Scott with Slash and Duff.

If that makes any sense.