During 2005, the group announced that a second album was in the works. Scott Weiland announced at the 2005 Radio Music Awards that it will be a concept album, and will be less single-driven than its previous effort, but later in the summer of 2006, Matt Sorum dismissed the claim that it will be a concept album. In December 2005, the band set
Libertad (Spanish for "liberty") as the working title of the album.
In September 2006,
Matt Sorum confirmed via
Camp Freddy Radio on
Indie 103.1 that the band had recently signed a deal with
Rick Rubin to
produce the new album. However, on his website, Sorum later claimed that former
Stone Temple Pilots producer
Brendan O'Brien would be producing the album.
In October 2006, Scott Weiland announced that
Libertad would most likely be released spring to later spring 2007, while a few months later Slash gave May 2007 as the expected release date. The group recorded in Los Angeles with producer Brendan O'Brien, who stepped in for the band's original choice, Rick Rubin, after that arrangement "did not work out," frontman Scott Weiland told Billboard.com. "All of our hopes have even been elevated over the past three weeks," he said. "We were really excited about six months ago, when we first began writing. Then we really kind of flat-lined for a while."
"We thought we'd just kind of give it a shot and see if Brendan was available, and just by chance, the artist he was supposed to be working with didn't pan out," Weiland offered. "So he was available during the exact time we really needed him. He flew out within a week and it has been amazing.
Bassist Duff McKagan came up to me and said, 'You know, I didn't know what it was like to really have a producer before.'" And though Weiland told Billboard.com last year he intended to weave an overall concept throughout the album, he has since "thrown that idea out the window. In my opinion, there are so many schlock concept albums that have come out in the past year," he says, without naming names. "The ground is way too over-fertile with concept records. I prefer to write a lean and rather vicious rock'n'roll record. I think that would be a better contribution to rock'n'roll at this moment."
On May 13th, 2007, Duff McKagan announced that possibly 2 songs from
Libertad ("She Builds Quick Machines" and either "Let It Roll" or "Get Out The Door") will be playable on the upcoming videogame
Guitar Hero III. However, they did not make the final cut of the game.
After scrapping the original May 29 release date, Velvet Revolver settled on July 3 to unveil its second RCA album, "Libertad." It was announced on May 11, 2007 that as a precursor to
Libertad, the band will release an EP in June titled
Melody and the Tyranny.
As cover art, the album features the 10 pesos coin used during
Pinochet's regime in
Chile."
On the 8th June 2007, the music video for "
She Builds Quick Machines" debuted in the UK, on
Scuzz TV.
On Thursday 21st June 2007, Velvet Revolver performed in a concert that was streamed live via
MSN Music.
On June 23rd 2007, four songs of the album were available in full stream audio onto the internet ten days before retail on BestBuy's website.
On July 31st Velvet Revolver played a concert which could be viewed on their myspace.
Libertad debuted at #5 on Billboard 200 with 92,000 albums sold.
It was announced by
WWE that "Let It Roll" will be the official theme song for the 2007 Diva Search.
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In 2007, Velvet Revolver was nominated for Album Of The Year and Band Of The Year by
Classic Rock magazine.
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