Customer Reviews

Stone Temple Pilots (LP)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Well I can see alot of ppl dissing this record saying it's not heavy STP and so on, but if you let the material sink in after a few listens you'll get the genius that is Stone Temple Pilots. Personally I love this album from start to finish - it's mostly straight up rock n' roll with poppy melodies, of course STP songs have always been about the melodic hook that makes them so infectious... There are also elements of Velvet Revolver on tracks such as Peacoat complete with wah effect laden guitar solo. Speaking of guitars, the guitars on this album is phenomenal, lately Dean has become my favourite rock guitar player as I now truly realize how great he is not just on this record but on all the previous ones. He plays a really superb and thrilling slide guitar solo and ending on Hickory Dichotomy that blows me away. Hickory Dichotomy is a personal highlight, but every song is beautiful in its own right. Another great, lovely, aurally orgasmic slide guitar on album closer Maver which will make you smile, well I purchased the deluxe version which includes Samba Nova which is not new to me and it seems like they didn't re-record it for this release but it's a another fantastic, laid back track. Too bad they didn't release About A Fool which was advertised at first as being on the deluxe version. The three live tracks of Vasoline, Hickory and Between the Lines are nice to own and fun to listen to but I don't think they are essential. But still, I gotta say, if you're an STP fan and by that I mean someone who also likes the less grungy/heavy material on Tiny Music (Bagman would have fitted perfectly on that album) and Shangri, this album is recommended. And I hope people give this album a few spins first to assimilate and digest the work of art Stone Temple Pilots have produced for our listening pleasure, as I doubt many people will fall in love and totally get it after just one listen. Scott sings great, Dean is on fire, Robert is amazing as always, Kretz is banging, Stone Temple Pilots is the bomb! (Both the band and album) :)

Nothing is sweeter then one of the greatest bands in rock history, returning and delivering a stellar album like there self-titled. On paper Nine years seemed like forever, but I have to say in the end it has been well worth the wait as the guys In STP have gave you there best album since Core and Purple hands down. Here is the track by track.

1. Between The lines- 5/5 could have heard this on Purple or Tiny music, also this track has a Nirvana vibe.
2. Take a load off - 4/5 Has an AOA vibe going on meets the sound of Purple.
3. Huckleberry Crumble - 5/5 Sounds just like 70's Aerosmith!! Should be released as a single.
4. Hickory Dichotomy - 5/5 Awesome Groovin song!!! Should be a single!!
5. Dare If You Dare - 5/5 One word EPIC!!
6. Cinnamon - 1/5 - Way to poppy for my taste. Most fans will skip this one. Especially if your a core era fan.
7. Hazy Daze- 4/5 Nice rocker!!!
8. Bagman - 5/5 One of the best on the whole album. Should be a single. BAGMAN HONEY!!!!!!!!!
9. Peacoat - 5/5 Best song on the album IMO.
10. Fast As I Can - 4/5 If you liked Vr's Libertad album you will dig this track.
11. First Kiss On Mars - 4/5 Weiland channels bowie on this impressive track.
12. Maver- 5/5 Great ending to a great album.

All in all This is the best album the guys have put out since Purple. For the STP fans of Purple and Vr's Libertad album you should love this. Good blend of rock and pop with a nice nod to the 60's and 70's.

When I first popped in the first new album from Stone Temple Pilots in 9 years, the first thought that came to my mind was not "Boy this is awesome!" or "WTF this sucks!", but "Wow, this album is REALLY going to get divided opinions!" Like Pearl Jam as well as most other prog groups, Stone Temple Pilots are one of those bands that like to push themselves into new heights and new directions with each album, and their self-titled album is no exception.

On their first new album in nearly a decade, STP has crafted what may be their most straight-forward rock album, but with their typical psychedelic stylings, one that almost directly mimics their influences from the '60s and '70s. I like to view this album's style as the "in-between" of Shangri-La Dee Da and Tiny Music..., crossing the psychedelic and experimental with the straight-up rock and roll, and what you get is another new direction that will nonetheless divide its listeners. Those who are bigger fans of the band's early material, most notably Core and Purple, probably won't go for this album. But the rest who prefer the band's more pop and psychedelic work, as well as those who have stuck with the band all these years and appreciate everything they do, will dig it.

I've appreciated everything this band has done through the years, and on my first listen of this album I found myself truly enjoying it, and on my second listen I was enjoying it even more. Every song is incredibly catchy, instantly memorable, and well written. I love the old school vibe this album has and its overall level of intensity; this is an album to rock out to. Scott's lyrics are as strangely clever as ever, Robert and Eric have amped up the rhythm section even more, and Dean as REALLY improved as a player; this is truly his best performance. I'm excited to say that I'd rank this album as one of the band's overall better outings; I slightly prefer the band's more psychedelic and experimental albums like SLDD (my favorite from them, believe it or not) as well as Purple, but their self-titled album comes VERY close within their catalogue of great material.

In the end, it's all about taste really, and this is an album that is destined to be divided. Those who prefer their rock more grungy and heavy will probably find themselves scratching their heads while listening to this album, while others who are more fond of their psychedelic stylings of the '60s and '70s will love it, and those who's tastes are more varied and more appreciative toward all styles will like it nonetheless. I like to think my tastes vary, that's why I've been able to enjoy everything STP has done, and this new album shows a bright future for the band and I'm glad to see them once again producing some kickin' tunes. My only hope is that others can listen to this album and enjoy it for what it is, and that's a great rock and roll album.

For many years, I have craved for a rock record that is good and enjoyable. This is one of them. I want to listen to an album that is bathed with strong, vibrant melodies, chugging, colorful rhythm sections and lyrics espousing love, life and yearning. I want to listen to an album that does not merely serve as a backdrop for a few enticing singles. More importantly, I want to listen to an album that sounds pure and fresh every time I hear it. The Stone Temple Pilots' self-titled album fits all these categories perfectly. If this album does anything good, hopefully two of those things will be being a commercial success and restoring the reputation of a great, unfairly undervalued rock band who have not worked together since 2001.

Any idea that a band reforms and decides to make a retro record opens themselves to ridicule. We have seen many artists look to the past for inspiration and they have been castigated by critics and fans for being "nostalgic" instead of "making something new". Indeed, throughout the entire album, there are references to the Animals, the Zombies, T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Joy Division, Speedy West, the Raiders, Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, and of course, the two rock icons that the band admires and loves: The Beatles and David Bowie. This album makes no apologies in admitting that it is merely a retro record: the lunk-headed, delightful "Huckleberry Crumble" makes no attempt to hide that it features the guitar riffs of Aerosmith's "Same Old Song and Dance"; and the charmingly weird country ditty "Hickory Dichotomy" has so many Jimmy Page-like chords that one would be hard pressed to wonder if it is a Zeppelin parody the same way "Back in the U.S.S.R" was a Chuck Berry parody and "Why Don't We Do It On the Road" was a Little Richard parody in The Beatles.

But the Stone Temple Pilots are too smart to just borrow other pieces of music for the sake of making songs, a talent that was unfortunately overlooked by many critics when the band was around by the time Nirvana and Pearl Jam dominated the pop charts. Long dismissed as knockoffs of their grunge contemporaries, the STP were able to change things a bit by incorporating elements of psychedelic rock, 60's hard rock, jangle pop and power pop in their later albums, particularly the underrated Tiny Music...Songs From the Vatican Shop. Unfortunately, band frictions and Weiland's drug addictions stopped the band dead in its track just as they were growing out of that critical rut, and by 2001, the group was no more, at least at that time.

When Scott Weiland left Stone Temple Pilots, he joined ex-Guns N' Roses members guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum and Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner to former super group Velvet Revolver, which resulted in two uneven but fascinating rock records Contraband and Libertad. Yet for all their virtues, Weiland felt lost with the albums' classic-rock sound, as if his sonic adventurousness and pop sensibilities were muted, which was not the case in his solo album, Happy in Galoshes. Weiland left the group in 2008 and returned to the Stone Temple Pilots and by listening to this album, it's quite obvious where he feels more comfortable in.

It would have been tempting to make a simple comeback album that merely captures the sound of their previous records, as was the case in the Verve's disappointingly pedestrian Forth. But the Stone Temple Pilots have done something better: instead of re-threading their previous records, they go to music of the past (particularly the 60's-70's classic rock) and use them as platforms for, to quote Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "Weiland's insanely hooky neo-psychedelic melodies" and "DeLeo's knack for catchy, monstrous riffs", two factors that were the cores of many of the band's songs in the past. And indeed, this album is dominated with searing guitar solos, riffs as sweet as a honey pie and hooks so plentiful that you won't get many out of your head. Hookiest of these songs is "Between the Lines", a catchy and irresistible Zombies-Animals crossover in which Weiland declares that all he wants to do is talk about love, even when he used to take drugs, a not-so-subtle reference to the summer of love of 1960's.

The issue of love becomes a central theme in Stone Temple Pilots. That yearning and lamenting for that optimistic feeling over cynical intellect is demonstrated not only in "Between the Lines" but also in "Take a Load Off", in which Weiland howls at the media pundits as thinkers while praising the artists as figures with feelings; the sweet, sugary love letter "Cinnamon"; "Bagman", where its seemingly fun, hokey acoustic vibes hide Weiland's dark lyrics of dealing with certain people of his past; the spiteful "Fast As I Can"; "First Kiss of Mars", (arguably the strongest track on the album), a pretty, down-to-earth ballad that recalls David Bowie`s "Space Oddity" and "Changes"; and the terrific album closer, "Maver", which features Robert DeLeo playing piano and Weiland singing about the title character in the same sighing heartbreak that recalls that other beautiful song the Stone Temple Pilots made, "Sour Girl".

Some people may groan over the songs' perceived hackneyed messages about love and comfort and indeed, there have been negative comments all over the Internet that this sounds like a record that belonged in the past. But at a time when people seem to have lost hope in their dreams and when rock n' roll seems to the greatest escape from this murk that is reality, Stone Temple Pilots is the kind of record that many of us today desire for, an album that let us forget our problems and be proud of ourselves, an album filled with optimism to quell our frustrations and anger and make us believe. As the exquisite Beatlesque ballad "Dare If You Dare" illustrates, the band dares us to be strong, to believe and to be something.

Despite the critical hatred, the Stone Temple Pilots were responsible for some of the most successful and harmonious singles of the 1990`s. Each of these singles ("Plush", "Big Empty", "Down", "Big Bang Baby", "Creep", "Lady Picture Show", "Interstate Love Song", "Days in the Week", "Sour Girl") were so good that they made you forgive the wadding tracks that filtered many of their albums like Core and Purple. But Stone Temple Pilots has become a charitable achievement in the Stone Temple Pilots' library: not an album with some strong tracks and some filler but an album in which every song is good and sparkling with life. It's a grower, indeed (as were the Pilots' previous records), but compared to Hole's tedious Nobody's Daughter and the miserable post-grunge sludge of today like Nickelback and Puddle of Mudd, Stone Temple Pilots shimmers with warmth, exhilaration and melodies so strong that even after you dislike a certain song, you appreciate it further after repeated listening. And what a concept, to make an album that yearns for the days of love in this dark age of angst-ridden adolescent rock!

Like Pearl Jam's Backspacer and Green Day's American Idiot, Stone Temple Pilots is more than a throwback to the past; it is a heartfelt attempt to converge the musical styles of the past with the feel and sound of modern rock. In going "nostalgic", the Stone Temple Pilots have "made something new": they have created a tight, sophisticated hard rock album that merges the sensibilities of their influences with a strong keen of melody for a tasty concoction in a contemporary setting. They want to bring classic rock of the past to the masses of today. And they have succeeded. This is one of the best albums of the year.

In my day a man was a man and his music was hot rods, whisky and chewing on cigars. Never before has there been such and ice cold killer album that is as breathtakingly inspired by the demigod progenitors of rock yet so freshly immediate and in your face. So creative is DeLeo in his riffing that you don't even notice that the chords are almost never power-chords, let alone any progressions that might be mistaken for "classic rock." Furthermore, DeLeo is so conversant with his solos that his fluency takes several listens to truly understand his language. Weiland's lyrics are as lively and enigmatic as ever. His vocals have never been lacking, and still we are not disappointed. This album is the "great literature" of rock and roll. Love it.

Although many tunes may have similarities to other artists, the album is truly one of a kind. People who complain that it may have been influenced by other artists should think about the other bands who have done the same. The Beatles even sounded a bit like their predecessors, and during their later years were influenced by the new bands of that era.

If you liked their later albums like Shangri-La Dee Da and No.4, you will definitely like this album. If you are looking for a lot of Core type stuff, you might be disappointed. This is a band that is growing musically. They are not going to put out songs and albums with sophomoric lyrics. Silverchair grew up, too.

Like all new albums from any artist, it may take a few listens to really get into it, so don't pass judgment until you listen to it for a while. They are, however, some tunes that are really catchy right away, one being Cinnamon.

By the way, I saw them in concert last month and they rocked.

THIS STUFF IS AWESOME!!! I Should have been a review guy but my eloquence (and grammar) is pretty bad. So i'll speak from the heart.
The first time i heard this album i was like OMG!...this is sick!!!! These guys never disappoint me. This album is like if they want to tell us "Hey people this is what we are!!!this music reflects where we come from!!"....:

* Take a load off: My favorite. This is a classic melody meets heaviness. I love heavy- harmony stuff, and this is what STP do best.

* Hickory Dichotomy: uuuuh! tribute to the sound of The Velvet Underground and more precisely Lou Reed...awesome!!!

* Dare if you Dare: god! Lennon still lives!

* Cinnamon: I love New Order. New Order's and STP's sound mixed together! genius

* Bagman: Oh man! right on 1:24 they make you go back in time with some of the best hair metal sound, i was like "oh sh..RATT?" Beautiful!

* The rest of the songs are just full of pure STP greatness.! This album is already a classic. Hope the beginning of the resurrection of Rock. We all know what happened this decade. It was like if there was a conspiracy to destroy rock, STP comes to the rescue brothers!

Thanks Pilots!!!! thanks a lot.

I always figured STP would get back together again one day, provided Scott Weiland didn't have a fatal overdose before it could happen. So now the boys are back and the time away from each other seems to have done them a lot of good. In my book, their last couple albums (NO. 4, SHANGRI-LA-DI-DA) weren't too inspired. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS is closest to NO. 4 in that it's cut from a classic rock mold, but this one sounds much better in my opinion. It's still not as good as their first two (the grungy classic debut CORE and the more sophisticated and psychedelic follow-up PURPLE), still widely considered to be their best.

The music on STONE TEMPLE PILOTS is quite heavy, loose and swinging with plenty of Zeppelinesque crunch. Obviously, these guys have influences and they are quite evident on the album, but everyone has influences so I won't dwell too much on their similarities to other bands. No, STP aren't exactly innovators but they're great songwriters and they're very good at what they do. And they always sound like Stone Temple Pilots. They don't go for anything weird, experimental or particularly surprising here - just some good ole ass-kickin rockin out!

Breakdown:

"Between The Lines" - "You always were my favorite drug/ Even when we used to take drugs" - a heavy, streamlined opener with the fastest solo on the album from Dean. ****1/4

"Take A Load Off" - sounds like a rewrite of probably their biggest song, "Interstate Love Song," but they change it up enough to avoid irritation and it stands as an original, rockin song with a soaring chorus. ****

"Huckleberry Crumble" - Brings some old-school rock n' roll swing that they pull off in spades. As noted by another reviewer, this one sounds like Aerosmith. Has a great rockin swagger. ****1/2

"Hickory Dichotomy" - Scott Weiland sounds more than ever like Layne Staley on this album and this song is a prime example. But that doesn't mean he isn't a great singer in his own right, cuz he is. This one brings more old-school style mixed with something a little more modern. Dean turns in a laid-back solo. Great tune, if standard STP, especially at the chorus. ****1/2

"Dare If You Dare" - a heavy, slower song. Nicks a familiar melody (if you know it, you know it) but changes it enough for them to claim it as their own. Cool organ accompaniment. ****1/2

"Cinnamon" - This is a straight-up pop song, very sweet - possibly sickly sweet, depending on your tolerance for such things. I'd rather hear them rock out, but I know a good song when I hear it and this . . . well, it's not terrible. It sounds like a calculated bid for radio play and sure enough I've heard it on the radio (when forced to listen at work). Not bad but too "sing-songy" in places for my tastes. ***

"Hazy Daze" - very Zeppelin, one of the heaviest rockers here. "How much did you get for selling out my name?" The word "selling" or "sell" comes up quite a bit and Scott seems a bit preoccupied with the concepts of "selling out" and screwing someone over. They've been accused of being bandwagon jumpers from the beginning but that just never bothered me much cuz their songs are so good. And I certainly don't blame them for wanting to make money. *****

"Bagman" - good rocker. ****

"Peacoat" - good rocker throws in some AC/DC-ish power chords. The chorus isn't really spectacular but this is some very good hard rock. Dean turns in another great, kinda laid-back solo. He can play faster (see "Trippin On A Hole Through A Paper Heart" for evidence) but the loose, natural feel he brings to this album works really well. ****

"Fast As I Can" - A faster-paced rocker, this one comes closest to being "filler," but it's good filler with a distinct STP sound, especially at the chorus. ***1/4

"First Kiss On Mars" - Acoustic guitars can be heard on the album but this is the first track where they take a front seat. A sweet pop song that rocks. Quite melodic, it also features some dreamy synths. ***3/4

"Mavar" - stands out as having quite a different sound than the other tracks, with a dominant piano and acoustic guitars that rock along with the electric. Also sports the best melody on the album. *****

Rock & Roll is not dead thanks to this album..honestly STP is the last 'real' Classic Rock band that mattered...I don't understand the 1 and 2 star reviews ..you guys must like Justin Timberlake or Black Eyed Peas...get over yourself and get over the fact this isnt "Core" or "Purple" which are both great albums..but as for sound goes..they need remastering!! This new album is a great start for a new era for this great band from Cali...

DONT LISTEN TO THE HATERS.. Scott and the Deleo broa..and mr. kretz...have made a masterpiece!

They are finally all on the same page, ready to make mature records. This to me is a start of a new era for STP and I really can't wait for the next albums. This is a satisfying record that grows on you with every listen.