Not weighed down by baggage

With three former members of Guns N' Roses and a notorious erstwhile singer of the 1990s alternative-rock band Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver is a veritable hard-rock supergroup.

As with most rock 'n' roll amalgamations, there's baggage.

Frontman Scott Weiland endured scathing remarks back in the day from critics and some music fans when his former band, STP, broke on the rock scene around the time Seattle grunge was the rage and purveyed a sound that seemed to parrot bands such as Pearl Jam.

Then there were Weiland's public battles with substance abuse and run-ins with the law.

Three-fifths of Velvet Revolver - guitarist Slash, bass player Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum - were rock royalty as the nucleus of Guns N' Roses. Though appearances would suggest they relished the lifestyle afforded by sold-out arena shows, platinum-selling records and a gaggle of groupies, infighting with irascible, eccentric lead singer Axl Rose split up the band.

After their mid-1990s departure from Guns N' Roses, Slash, McKagan and Sorum brushed themselves off, settled down and recruited Weiland and guitarist Dave Kushner for Velvet Revolver, their new project.

Judging by the success of the group's platinum-selling debut recording, "Contraband," the musicians haven't lost their touch.

Velvet Revolver will bring its hard-driving, somewhat-glam-rock style to the Everett Events Center on Friday. Rock band Hoobastank, which scored a hit recently with "The Reason," is also on the bill.

Though the members of Velvet Revolver could have ended up in the has-been bin of 1990s rockers, Weiland and company see new possibilities with this band.

"We're all looking for a rebirth here," Weiland said in a biography provided by the band's publicist. "We're looking to get back that same feeling we had when we all started making music - that sense of doing it for the pure joy of making music."

In 2002, Slash, McKagan and Sorum came together for the first time since the heyday of Guns to play a benefit show. The chemistry was palpable and the hunger to play evident.

"There was still something very powerful and intense between us," Slash said in the band's biography.

The three recruited guitarist Kushner and then began the arduous process of auditioning for a lead vocalist. It was a revealing process in many ways.

"As soon as we heard the vocals that people were sending in, we knew we were in trouble," Sorum recalled. "And we knew we just couldn't put out some shabby rock tribute. It had to be something special."

While still with Stone Temple Pilots, Weiland was approached by McKagan, whom he knew socially, about joining this fledgling operation. When he heard a recording of songs the group was working on, Weiland was eager to get involved.

"I thought if we went in that direction [musically], we ... would be completely lethal and indestructible," he said.

It wasn't long before Velvet Revolver was in full motion, preparing songs for the soundtracks to the movies "The Hulk" and "The Italian Job," and testing material on live audiences before recording the hit "Contraband."

With the rough patches in the past smoothed out, the members of Velvet Revolver are more level-headed about success the second time around.

"We're like a bunch of kids who just learned how to play the same chord together. That's what it's been like every time we've done something together," Slash said in the biography.

"We're thrilled, like, 'Hey, we wrote a song! Hey, we played a gig!' Maybe that's why this has worked - because we're actually the opposite of jaded."