Chester Reunites for One-Off

[CoconutBackwards]

Part of me wonders if instead of being in the key of G, Black Heart might have been played in D for Scott, which would have made it more familiar to many STP listeners.

Either way, I think if people were honest with themselves, Scott could have easily written that exact melody for that song.

I guess we're all lucky to have you here being honest for us...

[CoconutBackwards]

$250 tix, $500 tix...both of those are GA. $500 is first few rows of seats. The VIP packages are a few thousand a piece. $3,500 for 2 people if you want the M&G. Pretty dang expensive.

Way too much for me.

[Flyingmerpa]

Doesn't sound like a thrash song at all, or amateurish, to me. I honestly think you've just convinced yourself of that because you don't want to give Chester a shot. Imagine those exact same lyrics sung by Scott, would you at all hold the same opinion? I imagine not.
 
And if we're gonna release the 'terrible STP lyrics' genie from the bottle, let's not forget that Scott wrote some absolute turds in S/T.

She don't even like you anymore
Ain't no chance she loves you like before
She will even take you to the mall

You're honestly going to tell me Black Heart sounds more amateurish than THAT?

Or my favorite:


Remember when we used to take drugs
remember when we used to take drugs
you always were my favorite drug
remember when we used to take...


That was the first thing I heard from S/T and I think it forever put a bad taste in my mouth

[Sklashboombash]

^^^
Um. That isn't even correct.

"You always were my favorite drug, even when we used to take drugs"

Which makes a boat load of sense actually.

[Flyingmerpa]

.

[Sklashboombash]

I stand by my word.  It's horrible composition.

And that's totally cool.
For what it's worth, Scott had a couple methods of lyrical composition.
Of course, he had his introspective moments. Life experiences.
There's the story-teller in him too.
And another was obviously very John Lennon-esque by evoking imagery with his words. You can probably file his more trippy lyrics under this.
In fact, if I remember correctly, he once mentioned "Between the Lines" as a sort of "I Am The Walrus" kind of phonetic fun.

[Flyingmerpa]

.

[CagedTiger]

Doesn't sound like a thrash song at all, or amateurish, to me. I honestly think you've just convinced yourself of that because you don't want to give Chester a shot. Imagine those exact same lyrics sung by Scott, would you at all hold the same opinion? I imagine not.
 
And if we're gonna release the 'terrible STP lyrics' genie from the bottle, let's not forget that Scott wrote some absolute turds in S/T.

She don't even like you anymore
Ain't no chance she loves you like before
She will even take you to the mall

You're honestly going to tell me Black Heart sounds more amateurish than THAT?

Or my favorite:


Remember when we used to take drugs
remember when we used to take drugs
you always were my favorite drug
remember when we used to take...


That was the first thing I heard from S/T and I think it forever put a bad taste in my mouth

Yeah as pointed out it's actually -

"I like it when we talk about love,
I like it when we talk about love,
You always were my favourite drug,
Even when we used to take drugs"

Which isn't groundbreaking by any means but worked well enough as a catchy chorus on that song, also it did make sense with Scott's situation.
As for the lyrics in the verses for 'Fast As I Can' they are bad no doubt and mainly nonsense but they don't make me cringe in the way that the lyrics in 'Black Heart' do. I think it's the killer and assassin stuff, just sounds out of place to me, like it'd fit better in an Iron Maiden song.
In terms of song writing ability between Scott and Chester though it's not even close is it... Scott is responsible for songs like 'Plush', 'Kitchenware & Candybars' and 'Atlanta' and Chester on the other hand penned songs like 'Crawling', 'Numb' and 'What I've Done'. They're obviously completely different songwriters regardless of what songs you choose and I think it's obvious who the more talented writer is by a long shot.

[Blue]

As for the lyrics in the verses for 'Fast As I Can' they are bad no doubt and mainly nonsense but they don't make me cringe in the way that the lyrics in 'Black Heart' do. I think it's the killer and assassin stuff, just sounds out of place to me, like it'd fit better in an Iron Maiden song.
In terms of song writing ability between Scott and Chester though it's not even close is it... Scott is responsible for songs like 'Plush', 'Kitchenware & Candybars' and 'Atlanta' and Chester on the other hand penned songs like 'Crawling', 'Numb' and 'What I've Done'. They're obviously completely different songwriters regardless of what songs you choose and I think it's obvious who the more talented writer is by a long shot.

I always thought Black Heart felt right at home as an STP song... Almost like a male counterpart to Hollywood Bitch.

Obviously Scott at his peak was untouchable... But once you start taking the reunion into account, that sort of changes. How many GREAT songs did Scott write after 2008? Circles was good, but it was no Atlanta. S/T felt uninspired, and Art of Anarchy more so, and while Blaster had more passion behind it it was still just really derivative of Scott's influences rather than inspired like his classic material.


So for me with High Rise I never thought 'I wish Scott was singing this' because to be honest, I don't think Scott could have possibly done a better job than Chester did. Chester was, at the very worst, a lateral move in  writing and a major step up in performance.


As for Chester's BEST writing, which I feel he never really got the chance to bring to STP with rushed the EP was, he's actually done some pretty damn good stuff once you get past the 'I'm angry and screaming' faze of their early albums.


I've never been an LP fan, but I was stunned when they wrote this song: https://youtu.be/11iB-v8tAoY. No, not Atlanta by any stretch, but really damn good in my opinion.


Then there's this song here, which was pretty amazing before it was ruined by techno production for his solo album: [size=78%]https://youtu.be/QpSr65SPzCg[/size]


Again, does it stand up to Scott at his peak? No, nothing does. But does anything Scott wrote after the reunion stand up to it? Not in my opinion. And yes, that does kind of make me sad.

[StoneTempleBrett]

I think Between The Lines, Take a Load Off, and Maver are great songs, and self-titled had a lot of good songs on it.  It was a really good album for a band in their 40's who hadn't made an album together in 9 years.  The lyrics to Maver blow away anything on High Rise.  Chester was a far superior live performer to Scott from 2013-2015, but he wasn't ever in Scott's league songwriting wise, even a dying 2015 Scott.

Scott's work on self-titled was superior (or at the very least equal) to the work of his contemporaries like Vedder, Cornell, and Corgan around that same time period.  Soundgarden's King Animal was a snoozefest that lacked any hooks or any real inspired lyrics.

I think Blaster had some solid songs as well like Circles, Parachute, and Amethyst.  It could have been a great album if he had a better producer/mixer, and if he had his shit together I think STP could have made a really solid followup to self-titled.

[Drew06]

I think Between The Lines, Take a Load Off, and Maver are great songs, and self-titled had a lot of good songs on it.  It was a really good album for a band in their 40's who hadn't made an album together in 9 years.  The lyrics to Maver blow away anything on High Rise.  Chester was a far superior live performer to Scott from 2013-2015, but he wasn't ever in Scott's league songwriting wise, even a dying 2015 Scott.

Scott's work on self-titled was superior (or at the very least equal) to the work of his contemporaries like Vedder, Cornell, and Corgan around that same time period.  Soundgarden's King Animal was a snoozefest that lacked any hooks or any real inspired lyrics.

I think Blaster had some solid songs as well like Circles, Parachute, and Amethyst.  It could have been a great album if he had a better producer/mixer, and if he had his shit together I think STP could have made a really solid followup to self-titled.

While I don't care for the music much, his vocal work on songs "Death Of It" and "The Drift" from the AOA album were really strong.

[Blue]

I think Between The Lines, Take a Load Off, and Maver are great songs, and self-titled had a lot of good songs on it.  It was a really good album for a band in their 40's who hadn't made an album together in 9 years.  The lyrics to Maver blow away anything on High Rise.  Chester was a far superior live performer to Scott from 2013-2015, but he wasn't ever in Scott's league songwriting wise, even a dying 2015 Scott.

Scott's work on self-titled was superior (or at the very least equal) to the work of his contemporaries like Vedder, Cornell, and Corgan around that same time period.  Soundgarden's King Animal was a snoozefest that lacked any hooks or any real inspired lyrics.

I think Blaster had some solid songs as well like Circles, Parachute, and Amethyst.  It could have been a great album if he had a better producer/mixer, and if he had his shit together I think STP could have made a really solid followup to self-titled.

Maybe the problem with S/T for me is just that I had higher expectations for Scott. The man wrote Atlanta, You Got No Right, The Man I Didn't Know, Blind Confusion, Barbarella Interstate, Glide, Wonderful, Kitchenware, The Last Fight, Slither... The list goes on of songs he wrote that we mind-boggling amazing. You compare the lyrics of say Maver to any of those songs, and to me Maver just doesn't stand up at all.

At least with Chester you knew that you were getting the best he could deliver in the situation. I don't think Scott really gave anything his all after Happy in Galoshes.

[StoneTempleBrett]

I think Between The Lines, Take a Load Off, and Maver are great songs, and self-titled had a lot of good songs on it.  It was a really good album for a band in their 40's who hadn't made an album together in 9 years.  The lyrics to Maver blow away anything on High Rise.  Chester was a far superior live performer to Scott from 2013-2015, but he wasn't ever in Scott's league songwriting wise, even a dying 2015 Scott.

Scott's work on self-titled was superior (or at the very least equal) to the work of his contemporaries like Vedder, Cornell, and Corgan around that same time period.  Soundgarden's King Animal was a snoozefest that lacked any hooks or any real inspired lyrics.

I think Blaster had some solid songs as well like Circles, Parachute, and Amethyst.  It could have been a great album if he had a better producer/mixer, and if he had his shit together I think STP could have made a really solid followup to self-titled.

Maybe the problem with S/T for me is just that I had higher expectations for Scott. The man wrote Atlanta, You Got No Right, The Man I Didn't Know, Blind Confusion, Barbarella Interstate, Glide, Wonderful, Kitchenware, The Last Fight, Slither... The list goes on of songs he wrote that we mind-boggling amazing. You compare the lyrics of say Maver to any of those songs, and to me Maver just doesn't stand up at all.

At least with Chester you knew that you were getting the best he could deliver in the situation. I don't think Scott really gave anything his all after Happy in Galoshes.

Couldn't disagree more, outside of Art of Anarchy where Scott clearly phoned in his lyrics (but not his melodies), I don't think he ever phoned in anything creatively.  To me self-titled sounds like a 40 something Scott Weiland, right where he should have been creatively.  I do think Blaster had some mediocre vocal performances and awful production, but the songwriting is solid on that album.

Chester may have been giving it his all on High Rise creatively, but he just isn't half the songwriter that Scott Weiland was.  His songs lack the emotional depth, sincerity, passion, and weirdness that Scott brought to the table.  They just sound like generic lyrics you've heard a million times, with a 'rawk' delivery, despite his phenomenal voice.  Like I did say though, I thought Chester totally brought it as a live performer, unlike Scott who was awful live with the Wildabouts for most of his shows in his last few years.

[lovemachine97]

Part of me wonders if instead of being in the key of G, Black Heart might have been played in D for Scott, which would have made it more familiar to many STP listeners.

Either way, I think if people were honest with themselves, Scott could have easily written that exact melody for that song.

I guess we're all lucky to have you here being honest for us...

And here I thought I was lucky to have you here for the sarcasm. I guess it's win/win.

Black Heart feels like an STP song. If you disagree, fine. I simply think that if, in an alternative universe, we could switch Chester singing that song for Scott with the exact same lyrics and melody, no one would say, "Well isn't this a shit melody with stupid lyrics. Sounds like something Chester Bennington would write, but Scott Weiland would never come up with that."

[StoneTempleBrett]

Part of me wonders if instead of being in the key of G, Black Heart might have been played in D for Scott, which would have made it more familiar to many STP listeners.

Either way, I think if people were honest with themselves, Scott could have easily written that exact melody for that song.

I guess we're all lucky to have you here being honest for us...

And here I thought I was lucky to have you here for the sarcasm. I guess it's win/win.

Black Heart feels like an STP song. If you disagree, fine. I simply think that if, in an alternative universe, we could switch Chester singing that song for Scott with the exact same lyrics and melody, no one would say, "Well isn't this a shit melody with stupid lyrics. Sounds like something Chester Bennington would write, but Scott Weiland would never come up with that."

Black Heart definitely sounds like something musically and melodically that would fit in on self-titled perfectly.