I am quite amazed that anybody could rate Peace higher than this album, the commitment to the material and attention to detail absolutely shines on this LP, it beats the crap out of Peace and then walks off laughing.
I hear a band absolutely rejuvenated, versus a band simply trudging through the motions. It's like the difference between night and day.
I think there's a tendency in hindsight to the let the state the band was in during the Peace era and all the stories we've heard influence our opinion of it. Despite the weird dynamic of Scott recording separately from the rest of the band, I think it's a mistake to view the album as something they did out of obligation rather than passion. I, likewise, don't understand how anybody could listen to a song like First Kiss On Mars or Maver and say "this is a band that doesn't give a shit". Or how anyone could listen to Dean's guitar work on Between The Lines or Huckleberry Crumble and say he's uninspired.
Are there things I like better about Butterfly than Peace? Sure. I think on certain songs they do sound more energized than on Peace, and the album as a whole has more of an identity. But I also think the production severely hampers the sound. Additionally, I think after so much was made about how Peace was not "true to STP", they made a concerted effort to recreate their sludgier sound from the early days (see: Roll Me Under, Six Eight) and as a result, some of these songs sounds dated and stale. Personally, if I wanted to hear Core, I'd listen to Core.
Peace is not my favorite STP album, not by a longshot, but it's less linear and one dimensional than Butterfly. And for me, that makes all the difference.
Sorry to throw stones here, Slither, but can you explain what you mean?
Peace is less linear? Peace has more of an identity? I'm truthfully not understanding what that truly means. I don't see Peace as having any sort of identity, not a positive one. I see it as an album that is truly disconnected. It's disconnected from the audience, from the band itself, and from one song to the others. If Peace has an identity, what does Purple or Core have? And if you're going to say people dislike the album based on stories they heard, I have to say you may not be willing to assign the album a negative rating simply because it's our beloved STP. I'd be willing to grade the album in a more charitable way had this group not written their first five albums, but because of those brilliant albums, I won't make excuses for them. I just don't think hearing stories has much to do with it. I've been hearing negative stories about this band since 1995 and it never influenced my taste in their music.
I think people don't like Peace based on several elements: the music, the lyrics, the melody, and the fact that it's obvious the band was not working together cohesively. You can hear the disconnect in the final presentation as it sounds like everyone is doing something different.
I would hardly say this is a band that doesn't give a shit or they are uninspiring, but I will say the album just sounds bad. I counted on this band to deliver good work on their sixth album and in my view (and most people's) they completely failed.
Believe it or not, I am glad you like some of the material, but I've also asked several times here why this band has purposely ignored what some people are calling a good album, not playing even a single song from it on this tour with Jeff. Why? As someone who seems to defend the record, I'm generally curious if you have any ideas. Let's throw High Rise in there too since it's getting the same treatment.
