Stone Temple Pilots - Purple

True Arena Rock For the Nineties

When Stone Temple Pilots hit it big in 1993 with their debut "Core", the band's rather obvious attempt to align its image with the then-popular grunge scene earned them derision. However, once you looked beyond frontman Scott Weiland's dyed hair, goatee, and somewhat Eddie Vedder-esqe vocals (although it was more due to their mutual appreciation of the Doors), songs like "Plush", "Sex-Type Thing", and the almost joyous grinding pop-metal of "Wicked Garden" all indicated that the band had a canny understanding of hard arena rock. Indeed, the slick production values and unwillingness to indulge in aimless alt-rock/grunge noise jams belied an ultra-professional approach that just required some stronger material to fit between their singles (notwithstanding a couple of quality deep cuts such as "Where the River Goes"). The question was whether Stone Temple Pilots would, as one of the first bands to so obviously jump on the grunge bandwagon, simply be another one hit wonder to join the scrapheap of forgotten bands trying to cash in on a trend.

It was with their self-titled second album, also known as "Purple" to most, that Stone Temple Pilots showed that they could transcend the cheap image gimmick they used to get their foot in the door. While it's not that likely that you'll find a lot of demand for grunge copycat bands such as Bush, Silverchair, the Kennedys or others of the age to mount a comeback, the fact that the Stone Temple Pilots 2008 reunion generated excitement is in no small part due to this album, and the eclectic blueprint it laid out for their subsequent releases. While both Scott Weiland and the rest of the band attempted to find success independent of each other, it's the combination of Weiland's unpredictable charisma (part David Bowie, part Jim Morrison, and part chemical ingestion) and the hyper-professional musicianship of the DeLeo brothers and Eric Kretz that brings forth their best. Even someone like me, who's more likely to be listening to German heavy metal or Eighties pop than grunge, can't help but salute STP for delivering the goods better than even original grunge bands such as Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, which both ended up exhausting their inspiration within a few years, and released albums laden with self-indulgent yet poorly performed filler tracks that managed to not even be experimental in a good way. Compare the plinking and pointless droning all-too prevalent in Soundgarden's "Down on the Upside" with the professional, multi-faceted sounds found on later STP albums such as "Number 4" and "Shangri-La-Dee-Da".

On "Purple", STP dropped the uniform, single-minded production found in "Core", and roughened things up a bit, while still keeping things quite listenable and appealing to a broad audience. It was this album that pretty much confirmed that the band actually understood what made Led Zeppelin tick. Larger than life anthems such as "Still Remains", "Big Empty" and the megahit "Interstate Love Song" mingled with the acoustic, exotic "Pretty Penny" (a song that would've fit in well on Led Zeppelin III), and the psychadelic "Lounge Fly". Faster, aggressive songs such as "Vasoline" and "Unglued" also helped propel this album's popularity, while slower, heavy numbers such as "Meatplow" and "Silvergun Superman" channeled a Sabbath vibe. Throughout all these songs, a melodic, catchy sensibility is the common element linking them together, with a subtle, contradictory love of prog-rock lying just below the surface. The band would continue to mine their devotion to the concept of maximizing the effectiveness of the album medium on subsequent albums.

While Stone Temple Pilots are far from original, they never claimed to be world-changing. Nonetheless, they're far from the mere bar-band with freakish success that some critics think they are. In the end, it's perhaps their devotion to being entertainers first and foremost that keeps people like me intrigued....when they're not busy going on hiatus or breaking up that is. Let's hope that the reunion lasts, and that the new STP album carries on the tradition they started with "Purple". July 8, 2008

One of the decade's best. No, I'm actually serious. Stop laughing

I'm willing to bet this is STP's overall best album. Here they expand their sound ("Pretty Penny" is mostly acoustic; "Lounge Fly" is, in order, 1/3 Guns n' Roses, 1/3 Crosby, Stills & Nash, and another third Guns n' Roses; "Interstate Love Song" is southern rock) sharpen their songwriting, and come up with something pretty damn good. Okay, so not "Silvergun Superman" or "Meat Plow", flat reworkings of the Core sound. Neither have much personality. I don't really like the slash-and-burn punk song "Unglued" either. It just sounds out of place. But man, "Interstate Love Song" makes up for all of that. The riffs, the vocals, the chorus and the opening are all absolutely perfect. Actually, the entire song is absolutely perfect. I don't think Soundgarden ever made a song as good as that. Or The White Stripes, while I'm at it. "Big Empty" does, too. It goes from slide-driven delta blues to hard-rock in the verses and choruses. You not only get a dynamic shift (which everyone was doing back then), but a stylistic shift, too! And "Army Ants" is a psychedelic hard southern rocker. They even go for a winding, four-minute epic (with hidden track attached, of course) on "Candybars and Kitchenware". A lot of bands would screw this up, but STP gets it perfectly! It's not as good as "Where the River Goes" from the last album, but I don't care, because it's a good song. The lounge-jazz hidden track, an ironic crooned "thank-you-for-listening", is pretty funny, too. I'd hesitate to call anything by the Pilots brilliant, but I enjoy this. November 22, 2007

If you should die before me/ Ask if you could bring a friend

We don't hear anything from the STP anymore. It's our loss. Overshadowed by the bitterly cerebral Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam Eddie Vedder's bombastic, sonorous voice--and being emotionally more akin to Radiohead--the STP spent several albums trying to claw their way out of the flannelled scene of the times, all the while being accused of mimicking other bands.

With Purple, they got it right. The DeLeo brothers' incredible songwriting paired with Weiland's lyrics to form an accreted image of a self-punishing naif flailing--but not quite drowning--in the wicked world. Life's aches and pains permeated all these tunes, the best of which--Interstate Love Song, Big Empty, Lounge Fly, Vaseline, the ridiculously named and shockingly good "Meatplow" --plead for understanding in the face of complete relational impasse.

Too, Weiland's voice was an unsung hero, as it were: a flexible, reedy tenor bouncing between raw and warm vibratto--far prettier than he was ever given credit for. The DeLeos filled their songwriting with quirky, Byzantine chord progressions and hooks pounded out of guitars in a violent sludge that never, ever overwhelmed the searching tunes. And Eric Krentz' drumming drove these songs over a cliff into free-fall. These men have done other work since (most notably 4's "Sour Girl, the best thing of their career) but Purple was the STP perfect storm--not one word or note rang false, and most of it was ravishing. Years later, it still is. August 6, 2007

Another masterpiece from Scott Weiland and Co.

Another perfect record, just like "Core" was. It is full of hits: "Meatplow", "Vasoline", "Interstate Love Song", and "Big Empty". But again, every song is great and there is a good variety of song types. Some that rock hard, some that are mellow, but they all have great hooks.

After this album, STP sort of mellowed out a bit and started incorporating more of a pop influence in their records. While I still enjoyed every moment, many fans were undoubtedly disappointed with the musical direction. I recommend the first two albums (this one and "Core") before you buy the rest. Just expect the last three albums to be different. They don't rock as hard. August 3, 2007

a great follow up

this is a great follow up to core. stand outs are meatplow, big empty, vasoline and my favorite; interstate love song. all of these are still in heavy rotation on the radio. after song #11 ends DONT TURN OFF THE RADIO JUST YET! keep it playing and another song starts playing, gracious melodies. its more comical than serious. the guy has a real cheesy sounding voice. actually sounds like he is some sort of vegas lounge singer. if you like this band get this, core and thank you (a greatest hits compilation) and thats about all you should need. also check out velvet revolver if you like scott weiland him and slash put something together after STP broke up. August 3, 2007

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