Happy Birthday S/T 2010... 8 years old today!

[foou33]

“One of the most unfairly underrated alt rock albums by any major band to emerge from the 90s
GREAT album”

Complete bullshit.  Whoever said that must be hoping the band will be reading what they wrote. 


"underrated"   

Compared to their earlier albums the peace album wasn't as good. However compared to most other rock records peace is underrated.

Compared to most alt rock albums by major bands from the 90s?


That claim in itself is pretty hard to quantify.  I don't know if this person meant albums from the 90s these bands released, or albums released by bands from the 90s. 


Either way, no albums are jumping out at me as something "Peace" is underrated in comparison to.

compared to most rock records peace is pretty good, especially compared to more recent rock records.

[andrew]

I don't find myself wanting to listen to the album all the time like I do the first 5, but when I do listen to it I enjoy it all the way through. No filler.

I feel like the melodies elevate some forgettable instrumentals, but the lyrics aren't what they could have been.


Way better than what Gutt did though. Still haven't listened to that album all the way through.

[Stop That Pigeon]

Dean's playing was great but only Peacoat provided the tension between group and vocalist that had previously been automatic. And that was the track Scott was surprised was included! Talk about disconnect.

Interesting, I'd say the exact opposite. I've always felt the vocals and music clashed pretty heavily in the verses. The chorus is cohesive enough, but the fact they recorded separately has always been most noticeable for me here. Guess the disconnect extends to the fans on this one.

No, I think we're close to the same page. You say clash, I say tension. Same vibe that informed D&B, PoP, Silvergun, Pop's Love Suicide, Down, Long Way Home and many more. Not the same quality of track but the old feeling was there for me. Just a feeling.

[loungefly90]

I don't find myself wanting to listen to the album all the time like I do the first 5, but when I do listen to it I enjoy it all the way through. No filler.

I feel like the melodies elevate some forgettable instrumentals, but the lyrics aren't what they could have been.


Way better than what Gutt did though. Still haven't listened to that album all the way through.

How is the album better than Gutt's work when you havent given Gutt's work a full listen? 

[andrew]

Because Gutt's work makes me feel so little that I've been physically unable to listen to it all the way through?

Generally, being able to actually stomach a collection of songs without turning them off is a pretty good indicator of whether or not you consider the music any good....

The Art Of Letting Go is the only song on the album that I'm actually down with.

Like "hey I'll just repeat 'thought she'd be mine' a dozen times and we'll call that the chorus." No thanks. I'd rather hear about fancy yogurt and "Swine Flu Sally".

[Rik]

Love many of the things on this record, but also don't hold it up there with the first four albums, because many songs on this record (as well as on SLDD and the new one) sound like they were "recorded to a grid" as opposed to the more organic and "loose" sounds that define everything up to and including No.4.

[DankoJones]

Rik said what?

I cranked it the other day while cruising around , sounded gooood

[Stop That Pigeon]

Love many of the things on this record, but also don't hold it up there with the first four albums, because many songs on this record (as well as on SLDD and the new one) sound like they were "recorded to a grid" as opposed to the more organic and "loose" sounds that define everything up to and including No.4.

Thanks Rik, interesting take. I'll need to think about that one.

[CoconutBackwards]

“One of the most unfairly underrated alt rock albums by any major band to emerge from the 90s
GREAT album”

Complete bullshit.  Whoever said that must be hoping the band will be reading what they wrote. 


"underrated"   

Compared to their earlier albums the peace album wasn't as good. However compared to most other rock records peace is underrated.

Compared to most alt rock albums by major bands from the 90s?


That claim in itself is pretty hard to quantify.  I don't know if this person meant albums from the 90s these bands released, or albums released by bands from the 90s. 


Either way, no albums are jumping out at me as something "Peace" is underrated in comparison to.

compared to most rock records peace is pretty good, especially compared to more recent rock records.

I do not agree that this album is good compared to "most rock records".  Especially when you say it that way.  If by recent rock records you mean the last five years, maybe I could agree to that.

[loungefly90]

If we're coming back to this conversation again, I am just shocked at how people can listen to songs like Still Remains and Atlanta and then listen to Hickory Dichotomy and Huckleberry Crumble and not understand why or how people are calling this a bad album or at least the weakest of the first five. From the song titles, to lyrics, to music, to melodies, the songs on Peace are inferior in every way. I would gladly take Velvet Revolver, Talk Show, and Scott’s solo work over Peace. Either by itself or compared to other STP works, the album is just annoying to listen to.

[Slither]

If we're coming back to this conversation again, I am just shocked at how people can listen to songs like Still Remains and Atlanta and then listen to Hickory Dichotomy and Huckleberry Crumble and not understand why or how people are calling this a bad album or at least the weakest of the first five. From the song titles, to lyrics, to music, to melodies, the songs on Peace are inferior in every way. I would gladly take Velvet Revolver, Talk Show, and Scott’s solo work over Peace. Either by itself or compared to other STP works, the album is just annoying to listen to.

I’d say your expectations were WAY too high for Peace if you were expecting another Atlanta or Still Remains. This was a band that had been broken up for almost a decade prior to recording and at least that amount of time removed from their prime. It seems a lot of people on this board who were disappointed in Peace were expecting Tiny Music 2.0, and while that’s not an excuse for some of the decisions made on this album (I will always gladly concede that Brendan should have been in the room) it was always going to disappoint if the distant past was the bar they were being held up against.

Peace, while some of its tracks may ring a bit hollow artistically and does not stack up to STP’s prior releases, was largely what you could expect from them given the circumstances. In my opinion, there’s still enough there for the album to be considered an accomplishment in its own right AND stand up as being significantly better than most rock albums being put out at the time as well as today.

[Virgojams]

Because Gutt's work makes me feel so little that I've been physically unable to listen to it all the way through?

Generally, being able to actually stomach a collection of songs without turning them off is a pretty good indicator of whether or not you consider the music any good....

The Art Of Letting Go is the only song on the album that I'm actually down with.

Like "hey I'll just repeat 'thought she'd be mine' a dozen times and we'll call that the chorus." No thanks. I'd rather hear about fancy yogurt and "Swine Flu Sally".

How soon we forget Art School Girl!......I told you five or four times, I told you five or four times, I told you five or four times......


There's a good list of Scott STP songs that repeat a good number of times.

[ejsme]

If we're coming back to this conversation again, I am just shocked at how people can listen to songs like Still Remains and Atlanta and then listen to Hickory Dichotomy and Huckleberry Crumble and not understand why or how people are calling this a bad album or at least the weakest of the first five. From the song titles, to lyrics, to music, to melodies, the songs on Peace are inferior in every way. I would gladly take Velvet Revolver, Talk Show, and Scott’s solo work over Peace. Either by itself or compared to other STP works, the album is just annoying to listen to.

I agree with you except I think it's way better than VR Libertad and Blaster. I mean Libertad had generic crap like She Mine and Get Out The Door and Blaster had cheesy songs like The Way She Moves and Beach Pop. Those 4 are a few notches below Hickory Dichotomy and Huckleberry Crumble in my opinion.

[JugeSTP]

Because Gutt's work makes me feel so little that I've been physically unable to listen to it all the way through?

Generally, being able to actually stomach a collection of songs without turning them off is a pretty good indicator of whether or not you consider the music any good....

The Art Of Letting Go is the only song on the album that I'm actually down with.

Like "hey I'll just repeat 'thought she'd be mine' a dozen times and we'll call that the chorus." No thanks. I'd rather hear about fancy yogurt and "Swine Flu Sally".

You'd rather hear the chorus "yeah, come on come on now, yeah" than "Thought she'd mine". Ok, cool. Got it.

[loungefly90]

Slither, I know you’re a fan of the album and I think that’s great. However, regarding the failure that I perceive the album to be, I hardly think my individual expectations are the problem. STP let tons of fans down with this record, so it can't be just me. You’re literally telling me to expect less from my favorite band and if I did that, they wouldn’t be my favorite. In fact, I refuse to take responsibility for STP’s poor decision making and them playing bad music. The songs are so poorly stitched together it sounds like everyone is doing something different.

Songs like Atlanta and Still Remains signify a band that was working together to complete a cohesive product. Peace is the complete opposite. I know Art of Anarchy isn’t too popular on these boards, but I find the music and melodies to be superior to Peace and Scott also phoned that work in. Let’s also please acknowledge the band has played literally nothing from the album since 2014. 

While I can agree with the general disconnect the band had at the time, I had seen similar behavior with Tiny Music as well as No. 4. Just like with Peace, Scott was the issue on those albums as well. Plus, I’ve read interviews with Dean saying Purple almost never got finished, the band took a much needed break in 1995, and even in 1996 when I saw them, Scott said, “So, you thought STP had a new singer?” My point is that this band has broken up and been in career turmoil many times. However, it never stopped them from making great music later on.

STP’s inconsistency bothers me. We get several great albums, some not so great songs, some singer replacements, and some so-so songs. However, I believe the band still has the power to create terrific material as the strong working components still exist and holding them up against the bar of the past is the bar that they set, not me.