Sigh.
You know, the reality is that most of us don't know shit about what's going on. We know what we hear about in the press, we know what some of the guys tell some of us in person (And report back here) and we hear what some people who have sources "know." Other than that, we all kind of have to put on our thinking caps and come up with a reasonable idea of what the closest thing to the truth is. For the life of me, I can't think of how anyone could do that and think the DeLeos/Kretz are the devil.
Who is a saint? None of them. And neither are any of us. Most of us probably do a lot of good and a little bad. I think all of the guys in STP are that way, Chester included. Some of us may have a past where that isn't true, but have become mostly good. Others are assholes of varying degrees. That much is true in all of life.
I don't think this scenario has to be zero sum, as many are portraying it. I don't think that if someone is right someone else has to be wrong, and I don't think if someone is being a jerk that others have to be angels. I think that sometimes bad shit happens, and sometimes people act like assholes, and sometimes good people aren't always good. Sometimes, to paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, thieves get rich, saints get shot, and God don't answer prayers a lot. Shit happens, in other words.
So what do we make of what happened?
Well, Scott is an addict. The other guys may have partied or done as much as Scott has done, but either they weren't addicts or they were able to keep their addiction under control. How do we know this? Observable facts. The other guys don't royally fuck up tour after tour. Eric is pretty much the tits every night. Robert too. I hear bad notes ever so often, but it's the exception. Same goes for Dean. Scott? To be fair, the human voice has a disadvantage to other instruments. Sometimes, it's just not there. But Scott also isn't treating his instrument well. He smokes. He drinks. He does drugs. Do we think Dean and Robert are out there playing the game where you stab knives in between your fingers while simultaneously burning cigarette holes in their instruments? Probably not. They take care of their instruments and their fingers.
Scott hasn't brought it on a consistent basis in a long, long time. You can't look at youtube video after youtube video and come to any other conclusion. His addictions and demons are getting the best of him, and have for a while. We all know that coke, prescription meds, and alcohol have been wreaking havoc on his health and performances for years now, even back to VR.
But how long must those around an addict let that person bring them down? Do Robert and Dean just sit at home with their thumbs up their asses until Scott gets clean? No. They've tried other things. I can't imagine Talk Show or Army of Anyone were close to lucrative. By the time the label gets paid back and you do a tour not many people go to, how much money do you actually make?
Hasn't Scott gone to rehab like a million times? Haven't the DeLeos probably lost out on lots of money-making opportunities because of Scott's problems? Is Scott not a grown ass man? If he says he is ready to tour, is it really the DeLeos' responsibility to take care of a 40+ year old man? Are they the reason he was healthy for No. 4? Absolutely not. He went to jail, got clean, replaced drugs with working out, and brought some sort of sponsor on tour. That was up to Scott. The last 5 years have also been up to Scott, not Robert and Dean. Scott does well, then he doesn't do so well. That's on him. It is not on anyone else. If the DeLeos can't be praised for getting Scott clean--which they didn't--then they can't be vilified for touring when Scott wasn't healthy.
I am a HUGE fan of Weiland. I think he is a great singer/songwriter. When I was younger I looked up to him as THE rock star of my generation. I was boderline obsessed--as obsessed as a straight boy/man can be.
I won't fool myself though. His track record speaks for itself. I would imagine that he was once a really nice guy. I bet in many situations he probably still is. But I also won't fool myself for a second thinking he wouldn't be a nightmare to work with.
I'm sure Scott feels sorry for himself and thinks the DeLeos are assholes. He has plenty of reason to. From his perspective, he's doing just fine, people still want to pay to see him, he's the face of the franchise, and his drinking and drug use are "under control." If that's his opinion, how could he see himself being anything other than betrayed?
But I think we all know that the DeLeos (and Kretz, I am not forgetting him) have probably dealt with enough diva behavior, enough drugs, enough poor performances, enough canceled performances, enough of the "rock star" life, and enough of their once-friend not even having the courtesy to call them or give him his phone number (sorry, I believe that one). Scott is now surrounded by "yes" men and that is the worst thing for him. But no one can help him but himself. It really is that simple.
The other guys finally decided that they wanted to work with a guy who shows up, does his best, takes care of himself, and eliminates all the heartache and frustration of this job.
I'm guessing that Scott is probably a very, very lonely guy. He probably keeps people at arm's length and kept the rest of STP there for very sad reasons that none of us can likely identify with. I feel for him greatly. I wish I could shake him and snap him out of it.
But I don't begrudge the DeLeos doing what they did. They're over the drama. Aren't we all?
I think Robert was being legit when he told Brett that he hopes Scott gets healthy. I am sure that deep down, as a person and what they consider to be a long lost friend, they hope he gets healthy and gets to be the guy they remember. But the DeLeos are also the Sgt. Murtaugh of the group--they're too old for this shit.
They're 3/4 of STP, and the only original members of STP that still bring it every night. They probably feel like they gave Scott a million chances. They're probably not far off.
Scott feels betrayed. And he probably has some legitimate feelings on that. But I think it's because he is fooling himself, just like he is fooling himself into thinking his drinking and drugging is under control. It's not, and he's not.
But that's not Eric, Robert, or Dean's fault. It's Scott. Doesn't make him wrong, it just makes him sick. But you can't save everybody. And maybe the rest of the guys thought that they needed saving first.
