Could only really sample it on the way to work after dropping off my son with his grandparents. My first thoughts are...very similar to other non-Weiland Deleo projects. Lots of good stuff, as well as lots of stuff where you can just tell the chemistry isn't there. Of course, it's easier to swallow now that a reunion with Scott is impossible. And Jeff fits much better than Coutts, Patrick, or Bennington. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot to like with Talk Show and Army of Anyone, and I still like parts of High Rise.
That said, there is nothing so far to move me from my long standing opinion that self-producing doesn't push you the same way having someone there to push you does. The best-sounding release the Deleos have had since SLDD is Army of Anyone, which Bob Ezrin produced. The acoustic songs here sound pretty good, but everything else sounds to me like I'm listening to it underwater.
That said, every STP record had to grow on me, so I will continue to listen. This is also the first release where I had 4 songs ahead of time, so I am sort of judging this outside of those songs, which isn't fair. Art of Letting Go is a great, great song, vintage STP. Meadow I like a lot, and Roll Me Under, while I am not as thrilled, gets stuck in my head. I also like Never Enough a lot.
The last two songs that stick out in my head as being memorable riffs are Black Heart and the chorus to It Doesn't Seem to Matter. At first listen, that's missing here. But I still need some time to digest.
Sigh. What's the point of an iTunes preorder if, upon the album's release, it is available for purchase, but your preorder isn't available for download. Ridiculous.
That’s weird. It downloaded automatically on my device last night at 11 PM (EST)
Last night at 9:45pm PST, I checked and it said "purchased," but it was not available to download yet. I got out the computer, signed into iTunes, same thing. Signed out, signed into my wife's account, and I could purchase it. Back into mine, purchased, but not yet available for download.
Finally got the email at 1:27am that it was available for download. When I bought the Super Deluxe Core reissue from Amazon, the mp3s were available right away the night before. So no more iTunes preorders for me, ever.
