http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/feature-scott-weiland-reborn-in-2014/10995949Scott Weiland Reborn in 2014Rock 'n' roll has very few true frontmen. You know the guys with gravitationally powerful charisma, powerhouse voices, and indefinable mystique. These gentlemen are too few and far between, and that's why the genre isn't the same as it was in the nineties, the seventies, or the sixties. That's not to say that it can't revert back though. Anything is possible, especially if the youngsters start studying the rule book of Scott Weiland. Now, this is nothing you can get on Amazon or iBooks. It's going to take a little old fashioned listening and watching. However [rock hopefuls], if you pay attention, you'll learn quite a bit.
Weiland stands poised for a crucial year. He just came off of last year's brilliant and badass "Purple at the Core" tour, reinvigorating Stone Temple Pilots classics from Core and Purple with a decidedly fresh fire courtesy of his ever-potent vocals and a tight band of The Wildabouts—guitarist Jeremy Brown, bassist Tommy Black, and drummer Danny Thompson. Weiland undeniably shines on stage he always has. Stone Temple Pilots performances around 2000 and 2001 remain nothing short of legendary. If you were there, you know what we mean. He commanded the stage with the kind of power and panache that idols are really made of. Weiland kept that up in Velvet Revolver though, especially during the Contraband era.
Still, even though 2014 is a new chapter altogether, it continues that kind of genuine rock that he's known for both live and in the studio.
You can hear it in The Beach Boys by way of Queens of the Stone Age stomp of new cuts like "Beach Pop Rock", which Weiland and the boys are playing live lately. The riffs roar with a primal energy, but there's an elegant mysticism from the singer punctuated by his lyrics and inimitable delivery. It could very well be the spiritual successor to Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, yet there's something decidedly modern about it. Meanwhile, "Way She Moves" channels David Bowie-esque wildness, and "Circles" is a downright beautiful ballad. Whenever this record drops, it's going to make a massive impact on rock 'n' roll, and we need that.
Soon, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts will be rocking audiences across Canada bringing a mixture of timeless Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver hits alongside these jams. There's a lot more on the horizon though, and that's genuinely exciting.
Get ready for Weiland and rock music reborn in 2014.
—Rick Florino
05.23.14
