“Big Machine” by Velvet Revolver

"Big Machine" comes off Contraband, Velvet Revolver's debut album, out on RCA in June 2004, and its five-way writing credit reads like the band's origin story. Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, all ex-Guns N' Roses, had come together to play a 2002 benefit for Randy Castillo, then drafted guitarist Dave Kushner from McKagan's band Loaded and went hunting for a singer with VH1's cameras rolling. Scott Weiland, a friend of McKagan's who had once shared a bill with Kushner back when Stone Temple Pilots were still called Mighty Joe Young, heard the material, offered himself up, and it clicked.

Josh Abraham produced with the band, Ryan Williams recorded it and Andy Wallace mixed. Contraband went straight in at number one on the Billboard 200.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.