It's been almost 10 years since the last STP album, a band that has always teetered on the brink of irrelevance, and yet produced a solid portfolio of music during the 90's. These guys were certainly the cheesy alternative to the grunge movement and often don't get a lot of credit for their accomplishments. I for one, owner of all of their albums, often leave them out of any conversations relating to great bands of the nineties, in fact I pretty much had forgotten about them until this new release was announced. A perfect example of this attitude is Spin Magazines recent 25th anniversary list of the 125 greatest albums since the magazine was created. The list was compiled with the assistance of all the writers over the years and there was not one Stone Temple Pilots album mentioned. They are an interesting discussion. Is their lead singer, Scott Weiland, better known for being picked up in a crack house on Avenue D in Manhattan? Is he better known as the lead singer of Velvet Revolver? I think so. His alcohol and drug issues far outweigh any music ever produced by these guys and I think it's a bit sad. I really like their music and have not chosen one of their records or songs in at least 7 years and I think that is telling. Making great sounding music doesn't always translate into relevance. I could certainly pull out my iPod, select any of their records and enjoy a good listen, but would it stick with me? Stone Temple Pilots is unique in the fact that they can have a good sized catalog of very accessible music and still not have the recognition that usually comes with. There are many bands who have created less music that continue to have a more vital presence than STP...for example: Alice In Chains, Pixies, Everclear, Third Eye Blind...just to name a few. I don't really know how to explain it but I think a good comparison would be the Foo Fighters. I would categorize these two bands as having a similar sound, fan base and music catalog. But when you come right down to it the Stone Temple Pilots records, to me at least, are far better that the Foo Fighters. However when I am scrolling through my iPod I will stop on the Foo Fighters 10 times out of 10 over STP and that's not an exaggeration. So comes the STP reunion album simply titled Stone Temple Pilots and I am thinking that it is no coincidence that they named it such. I think that deep down they know most people have forgotten about them and need to re-introduce themselves to todays music fans in the hopes that their older catalog can be rediscovered. Honestly I am going to go back and listen to some of it now because at least they deserve that much. As far as the new album goes I am going to wait on it and see how I feel down the road.
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