Who the fuck are you to assume where Scott's "addiction issues stem from"?
Are you some sort of psychic, or more likely (but also not even likely at all), a person who Scott's doctor is sharing confidential information with?
Or maybe I've actually read interviews with Weiland, seeing how he freely admits he's never been comfortable in front of crowds and that's what lead to his heroin problem.
It wasn’t stage fright as much as social fright. I’ve never felt comfortable in crowds. I remember before we ever made it big or even got signed, going into my favourite bar where I knew virtually everybody, and just walking in and being looked at, I didn’t feel comfortable. Unfortunately, when I started doing heroin in 1993, that took away that fright. I didn’t care who was looking at me."
Yeah.... The DeLeos chose Chester because he's "passionate", not because he's the singer of the only fucking "rock" band besides the Foo Fighters that can sell a lot of albums.
And yet they did an independent EP with him instead of a a full length studio album through a major label, and only toured sporadically because of LP. They could have easily signed with Warner Brothers with Chester on board and gotten a lot more marketing behind High Rise, and seen a lot better returns. Speaking of music labels:
All true and very accurate... but you forgot one thing.
The DeLeo's also decided to "save money" by cutting out Brendan O'Brien, and self producing S/T. Another fantastic choice on their part.
This theory doesn't make sense. S/T was financed by Atlantic. The band didn't save any money by self producing, they just saved money in Atlantic's budget.
Look, I'm not saying the DeLeos are saints who are only in it for the passion. Everyone wants money, even if they love their job. Robert Downey Jr loves acting in Iron Man movies, I don't see him doing it for free.
And I'm not saying the Deleos are saints. The truth of the matter is the Deleos' ugly little sin is pride, not greed.
They self produced S/T because they were too proud to let another producer touch it, and thought they were every bit as good as someone like Brendan or Don Was. They hired Chester because he has basically no ego and he idolizes them to the point of worship... By hiring him, they were absolutely guaranteeing they had full control of the band.
And it was wounded pride that got STP back together in the first place. After AoA bombed they needed validation, and STP touring big festivals was pretty darn big validation.
And unfortunately, pride is why the band is still going after Chester left, when in the end they should call it quits and start a new project. Whatever their motivations, I think they were in the right about giving STP a new lease on life... But that shot is over.