Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots

Written by: PP on 06/07/2010 23:42:42

Good evening readers. I'm still alive, I just had immense trouble at typing faster than 1 word per minute with my arm in cast (thanks Dillinger Escape Plan) so I figured to take a 3½ week break from reviews. To make up for the lost activity I'm going to smash through at least 4 albums per day for the next foreseeable time; after all I've had nothing but time on my hands to listen to all sorts of great, average and bad records. We'll start with one of the better ones: seminal 90s rockers Stone Temple Pilots, who reunited two years ago to little expectation from anyone who's been following the misdemeanors of vocalist Scott Weiland in the last decade or so.

But what do you know? Nine years have passed in between "Shangri-La Dee Da" and "Stone Temple Pilots", but yet the band enters a league of select few reunion acts who sound just as good as they did 'back in the day'. They are rocking like the last 15 years never happened. This is pure 90s alternative rock with a twist of grunge and 70s attached to it, played with convincing attitude and skill. Not a drop of influence from post-grunge, nu-metal, post-hardcore, scene or any of the other fads that have come and gone since the last STP release can be found on this record. It's a rock record with balls, something which we haven't heard pretty much since the last Foo Fighters album. Big riffs, lots and lots of groove and dirty distortion, plus Scott Weilands inimitable, stoned wails that underline why he is considered to be one of the legendary hall of fame vocalists in the history of rock. One listen to a track like "Bagman", "Fast As I Can", or lead single "Between The Lines" immediately hints at a future Orange Stage performance at the Roskilde Festival, for they are tracks that fill the massive space and echo far beyond the back stands of the 60,000 capacity venue.

While it's a record very driven by the interplay between riff-rock and Weiland's fantastic vocals, there are other sides to the band too. "Hichory Dichotomy" shows a playful side to the band, for instance, and "Dare If You Dare" recalls the balladic side of bands like Pearl Jam, teaching us how a proper 'rock ballad' is really written. There are a couple of borderline annoying tracks on the record, such as the pop rock-flavoured "Cinnamon", but not enough to push this record away from a high mark. The good tracks are just too good for that. Hence, if you're in the market for a no-frills, no-bullshit ROCK record, then there's no better out this year than "Stone Temple Pilots".

8

Download: Hichory Dichotomy, Bagman, Fast As I Can
For the fans of: Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains
Listen: Official Website

Release date 21.05.2010
Atlantic

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