Okay, so I have taken some time to digest Blaster. I've been part of the online STP community a long time, and those that remember me from way back will know that I am as big a fan of Scott as anyone else. I think 12 Bar Blues is a wonderful, wonderful record. Happy in Galoshes is flawed, though I think if Breathe and Happy had been on the record and it had been a single disc, the worst part about it would be the production.
In thinking about Scott's catalog of work, it's come to this. Scott's quality of work depends upon his collaborators, his level of interest, and whether or not he is being pushed to be better. So, take the first five STP records, his performances and writing is great. Self-titled? Decent, but he wasn't being pushed, even if his level of interest was high. Libertad, to me, was the last time his level of interest was high, he was collaborating with quality musicians, and he was being pushed (by Brendan O'Brien).
I'd hoped Blaster would be that next record. For me, it isn't. That doesn't mean by any means that I don't like it. I just don't think it comes close to what he can do if all three factors are working for him (interest level, quality of musicians, pushed by a producer).
There are things I can nitpick, like the unnecessary wah on the bass in Modzilla, which takes away from the power of the most pure rock riff on the album, or the obvious pitch correction on Circles. But I can overlook those things for the most part.
What really harms Blaster is how "blah" much of the music is and how close some songs come to being interesting that just lose me. That's not a knock on the band. They’re a good band. And Blaster is good. But Scott hasn't put out much "blah" music, and that's the problem.
White Lightning is a good example of Scott taking what is essentially a by-the-numbers blues song that we have all heard before and making it interesting. Scott's talent shines through. Way She Moves sounds like it could have come off of No. 4. Still, this would be an album track on No. 4. Here, it's a lead single.
Amethyst has the most potential here, but even that goes in directions I don’t really understand. The arrangement seems baffling. The pretty 16th note guitar part has a great Weiland melody over it. This should be a recurring verse, but it isn’t really. Next, it opens up into the “Look away / We got a white light blinder,” on its way to being a nice stadium anthem. Then it sort of goes into a cheesy V-IV-I turnaround for what seems like the chorus, but that doesn’t bother me too much. It’s that the song goes into yet another part (“I can see why no one finds you waiting”) when it should go back to a second verse (what we eventually get at the 2:30 mark). Instead, it sort of goes back to that part on the guitar, with changes, but it’s in double time with a different melody. I just don’t get it.
Circles is actually pretty delightful once you get past the vocal manipulation, as is Blue Eyes. Beach Pop is a bit silly, but man does it get stuck in your head. Parachute is mostly fun in a classic rock sort of way, but then it goes into that “monkey’s alligator” part for seemingly no reason. Really takes me out of the song.
There are a couple moments on here that have real potential. But for the most part, I’d say this is just an average album for Scott. I hate to say it. I like a lot of it, but there’s nothing that blows me away and too many songs that are close to being really good and just miss the mark, often times inexplicably.
Anyway, just my two cents.
