Stone temple pilots album cover full#

The reception from critics wasn’t much better, although that didn’t prevent the band from becoming MTV and commercial radio staples-or from achieving iconic status-over the next two years. “Yeah,” answered Butt-Head in his usual deadpan, “Eddie Vedder dyed his hair red.” Legendary MTV cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-head offered the following response to the video for “Plush,” Core’s breakout hit: Unfortunately, Weiland’s chameleonic tendencies obscured the breathtaking versatility and crystalline power of his voice, as well as his Bowie-like tendency to change guises almost from the inside out. Outwardly, guitarist Dean DeLeo’s chunky riffwork on Core followed the de-tuned Seattle blueprint while late vocalist Scott Weiland appeared to mimic a who’s-who of then-popular singers including, at various points on the album, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose and (most infamously) Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. We could say Stone Temple Pilots have come a long way, but that’s not entirely accurate. By the same token, the band had gotten so comfortable working within its own established sound that it can openly reference familiar touches from old hits without dulling the freshness of the new material. With its seamless blend of country, British and Mariachi folk, orchestral pop and the soft rock that dominated the AM radio dial in the ’70s, Perdida (which means “lost” in Spanish) finally delivers on the stylistic breadth that STP have hinted at over the years but never quite fully explored.

Stone temple pilots album cover full#

After all, the Southern California quartet conquered the mainstream in the ’90s, at least initially, by pandering to the prevailing alt-rock tastes of the day with guitar stompers like “Plush” and “Vasoline.” So if you envision STP as a bunch of calculating trend chasers who jumped on the grunge bandwagon with their 1992 debut album Core, that’s because the band did an uncanny job of disguising its most unique attributes.Īlmost 30 years later, those attributes are on full display with the band’s new acoustic album Perdida. Stone Temple Pilots are no exception to this rule, but they ended up in that boat more or less by their own doing. While it may not reinvent the wheel or step wildly out into a bold new direction, it gives the fans what they want and brings back one of the great rock bands of our time to the forefront of music and that is a wonderful thing in itself.It’s a cruel fact of life that even the most accomplished creative figures get reduced to thumbnail-sized descriptions that don’t capture the full range of their careers. Is it a classic album, well no but it is an album of immense quality from a band that still hold such a place in so many people’s hearts. Given everything that this band has been through and must continue to go through I give them all the credit in the world. The fact that this album exists and is this good is a minor miracle.

It does suck some emotionality out of the album but it doesn’t directly harm it. This may have been a conscious decision on their part, as to let it define the album, or it may be that I just missed something that was hidden. The albums main surprise comes in that there doesn’t appear at least on first listen to be any songs about Scott or Chester. Roll me Under, Six Eight and Thought she would be Mine are all fine rockers and have all the expected finesse you would anticipate from Stone Temple Pilots. There could not have been a better way for them to announce their comeback than that.

‘Middle of Nowhere’ the album’s opening cut comes hurtling out of the gates, with a riff groovier than a packet of McCoys, it gets you going right away and never lets up. Musically and even vocally I personally have always felt that Stone Temple Pilots were more akin to bands like Janes Addiction and The Doors than their grungier peers.

He never tries to imitate or replicate those who have come before him, yet there is a familiarity to him which works. His voice has the all the swagger and drawl to carry the weight of the material. It is a testament then to Stone Temple Pilots that they have lost not one, but two of their frontmen in relatively quick succession, that not only have they managed to overcome these hardships, but also return with a brand new album and somewhat new lease of life.įollowing in the fairly large shoes of Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington is no easy feat, but Jeff Gutt formerly of Dry Cell seems like he may be up for the challenge. Losing a singer would end most bands, and in a lot of cases, it has. Overall Score: 8/10 Vocals are strong: 8/10 Feelgood Songs: 8/10 Replay Value: 8/10 Pros: Jeff Gutt proves to be a good addition Cons: falls a bit flat in a couple of places