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.
Equally, I am not saying Peace is a total loss, that there's no good work on it, or that it has no merit, but it doesn't feel like an album to me, just a collection of songs, some of which are very poor, some of which have some good ideas but just don't click into full STP mode, and a small handful that are really excellent. Sure they put on some good shows, I saw them twice during the reunion and Peace tour and they were on fire both times. But that doesn't reflect on the album, STP were on fire every time they got on a stage with a functioning Weiland, all through their career.
But on a more basic level, when I listen to this album, it puts a huge smile on my face because it sparkles with life, and you can tell that not only did the band want to make an album that was a cohesive work, but that they were actually capable of it. It's just the feeling I get, the band sound truly alive, whereas on Peace they sound awkward and depressed. Nothing has coloured my opinion of Peace except the 7 years of listening to the album itself, and the perspective that this album puts it in. I mean, Bagman, for instance. Just the fact that that song exists, and was deemed worthy of inclusion is a big giveaway to how the band was feeling about making that album. Deans's guitar might be nifty on Huckleberry Crumble, but the song as a whole is a bland Aerosmith knockoff and Scott's "talk singing" vocals which he does a lot of on Peace just sound like they have zero thought or effort gone into them. Have you heard the isolated vocals for Between the Lines? Give them a listen, Scott's vocals are just plain lazy, he's not even trying to hold a tune, and is completely carried by the rest of the track. Most of the album sounds like that to me, an OK album by most people's standards, a very poor one by the standard STP had set to that point. Not just Scott's fault, nobody brings it consistently on that LP.
Anyway, I'm not saying you are wrong to feel how you do, it's all just opinion, I just can't understand personally how this album doesn't light you up compared to Peace, it does for me. I don't feel it is one dimensional at all, they have expended so much effort in the details on this album, there's not a hint of Bagman anywhere to be found.
I'm going to throw the idea out there that of all the members of this STP group, I'm unsure if there is anyone who dislikes Peace more than I do. I'm not necessarily happy about this as I did have high hopes for the album, hoping it would signify the return of STP.
I still remember being in college and hearing 30-second leaks of each song when I was sitting in the library. I grabbed my headphones and listened again and then again and then again. I actually hoped the leaks were fake, belonging to a different band entirely. This was STP? And this is what we get after SLDD? The band had always been through a lot of drama, breakups, and temporary separations. However, this was the first record where it was completely evident that there was a major problem and you could hear it in the music. This was a different group who had devolved musically. The music felt really sloppy and there was no relationship between one song to the next. STP was always really great at releasing these sort of albums that flowed really well. I would say Tiny Music and Purple achieve this. However, this record felt like a bunch of songs smashed together with no relationship to one another.
After hearing the leaks, buying the album, and listening to everything all the way through, I began listening to and discovering new groups because I really felt like STP had let me down. Maybe I shouldn't have put the emotions of my life so much in STP's hands, but their albums got me through some difficult times and even helped raised me and when I think back on my childhood, STP was at the forefront. Therefore, when they released what they did, which felt like an absolute careless effort, I attempted to move past the situation as if I had suffered a bad breakup.
I could not find love for any of the songs and they all seemed really random. Huckleberry Crumble? Hickory Dichotomy? Bagman? You have got to be kidding me... I would expect this joke of an album (song titles included) to come from Green Day or The Bloodhound Gang, but not STP.
As the days went on, I realized the band was actually serious and that was hard for me to swallow. As time went on I basically ignored the album as I do today, considering it a hiccup in their journey. Hoping the album would grow on me as time passed, which it did not, I still skip over it completely when listening to STP. It's just not an effort I am willing to remove my expectations for. Others have made great points as to why they may like or dislike the record, but more than anything, there was not a single song that stood out, not one track that moved me whereas on every other album they made, I not only liked the songs, but there was one track that I could pick out, which completely rejuvenated all feelings I had for falling in love with the band in the first place: And So I Know, Wonderful, Atlanta, All In The Suit That You Wear, Sin, Lounge Fly, and I Thought She'd Be Mine. Peace was not only missing the initial immediate love for each song, but was also missing the one track others may have skipped over, but that I completely fell in love with.
