"Stone Temple Pilots" Reviews Topic

[andrew]

I think AoA would have sounded so much better with different production. I thought Ezrin made it wayyyyyyy to poppy sounding.

[RangerJim]

I think AoA would have sounded so much better with different production. I thought Ezrin made it wayyyyyyy to poppy sounding.

His production value is more open sounding with modern artists anyways.  He let's the music breathe completely.  The album reminds me of a more modern Core minus Scott.  Anyways...back on topic!

[Five Star Edge]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/revi ... 5_ST_N.htm

Listen Up: Stone Temple Pilots can still soar with the best
By Jerry Shriver, Elysa Gardner and Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY

After keeping fans waiting since 2001, the San Diego-bred quartet delivers a cohesive, self-produced reunion album that sounds as though it could have been recorded during any of the past three decades.

That's not to say it's timeless; rather, the dozen tracks (* * * out of four) mine a pleasant, disposable, mainstream pop-rock style that's never been out of fashion and never offends. Versatile guitarist Dean DeLeo drives these well-constructed tunes, even more so than sturdy vocalist Scott Weiland, who on a few tracks gets stuck trying to sell dopey lyrics (does he really think swine flu was a media invention?). Nevertheless, rambunctious opener Between the Lines kicks off whatever dust may have gathered during the hiatus and paves the way for sweet pop gems Cinnamon and First Kiss on Mars. If Weiland has reformed his bad-boy habits, he should have a ball with this material on the band's summer tour. — Jerry Shriver

Download: Between the Lines, Take a Load Off, Dare If You Dare, Cinnamon, Peacoat
Skip:Hickory Dichotomy, Hazy Daze

[detomaso]

Three out of four stars here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le1579330/

[detomaso]

Review: Stone Temple Pilots go old school on first album in nine years

...STP—along with producer Don Was, who assists here-- doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, but time and experience has taught them well. Weiland remains a true rock star in a time seriously devoid of rock stars and over run with poseurs. They remain students of rock and of those who came before them, but in the process have become masters as well...

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-t ... nine-years

[toysintheattic]

Stone Temple Pilots got off on the wrong foot back in 1993 when their breakout single "Plus"

hmmm never heard of plus  

[CagedTiger]

After 3 listens so far, I'll give it 7.5/10. About the same as Talk Show, a bit better maybe. Definitely not SLDD/TM/AoA or even Libertad standard imo.

On the downside, there aren't any truly great songs and there are too many ordinary chord progressions. I also think some of the melodies are very predictable which is most unlike Scott.

On the upside, it's a good summer album - it will sound sweet in the car and it's more radio-friendly overall than before. I can see a lot of people who didn't like STP in the past getting into this record.

I'm looking forward to having the CD - whether it grows on me or not, it's a welcome addition.

After 2 full listens i'm agreeing with this post 100%

[detomaso]

Stone Temple Pilots got off on the wrong foot back in 1993 when their breakout single "Plus"

hmmm never heard of plus  

  I was going to jump all over that too, but they corrected it in the next sentence. Typo, I guess.

[letsburnholes]

http://www.examiner.com/x-13964-Boston- ... -The-Lines

3 out of 5 stars. Great review. Exactly how I feel. Read the bold print.

Stone Temple Pilots (Atlantic) – It’s quite a testament to the genius that is Stone Temple Pilots that almost a decade has passed since their unofficial swansong, Shangri-La Dee Da was released to critical praise but nominal fanfare, and yet their self-titled comeback album doesn’t have the tenor of a return from such a long haitus – let's face facts: ten years in the lexicon of pop culture means the difference between relevance and insignificance. Throughout their storied and variegated career, too often the focus was placed on lead singer Scott Weiland’s substance abuse issues and subsequent run-ins with the law, instead of what fans have loved about STP from Day One - these guys write good songs and know the power of a good hook. As AMG noted of their last release, “not only are STP better on the pop tunes (versus the grunge-rockers), they’re phenomenal on the pop tunes.”

And so, eighteen years from the debut of Core comes this eponymously-titled chart entry – in some ways the album feels like a reinvention of sorts, in other respects the continuation of the STP brand, for better or worse. The first single from the album, “Between the Lines” sets out to do the latter – you can’t mistake the leadoff riff, rocking rhythm section and Beatlesque harmonies for signature STP, nor can you miss Scott’s post-recovery musings on love “You always were my favorite drug/even when you used to take drugs…”
“Take A Load Off” follows, with Scott’s skewered lyricism on media hysteria and consumerism, while the Brothers DeLeo lay down a pool of staccato guitar lines and punk-infused bass that reverberate off Weiland’s trademark growl. What becomes clear after repeated playings is how carefully structured the tunes are – this is perhaps the most radio-friendly album of their entire career. That said, what will STP’s faithful make of tracks like “Cinnamon”, whose sunny vocals and unabashedly pop overtones seem more suited to bands like Third Eye Blind or Matchbox 20 than to the group that brought us "Vasoline"? How will they respond to the blatant nod to Aerosmith’s “Same Old Song and Dance” on “Huckleberry Crumble”?

Critics have long taken STP to task for their easy assimilation of other genres and the groups who dominated them (Remember when the band’s single “Plush” was thrashed as a Pearl Jam rip-off?), citing their music as overly-derivative and catering to the trend of the moment. Such criticism was never completely valid, since the grunge movement itself was an assimilation of classic 70’s FM (Eddie Vedder is grunge-rock’s Bob Seeger, after all) and STP are no more or less guilty of that charge as their contemporaries were. Nevertheless, STP’s influences are anything but subliminal this time around.

The glam rock glorification on “Hickory Dichotomy” has all the trappings of Bowie-era Aladdin Sane, right down to Weiland’s disaffected vocal sneer. “Dare If You Dare” (one of the disc’s highlights) is an inspiring piece of Beatlesque agitprop where Weiland wears his admiration for Lennon on his sleeve: “Primitive minds during primitive times/What to do about third-world nutrition?/Can we dismantle our stupid vision, and get on with the show?” One can’t fault these guys for being smart tunesmiths, regardless of the original source material, yet something’s missing.

Co-produced by the band with assist from Chris Lord-Alge, the initial sessions were overseen by Don Was before he mysteriously disappeared from the project. One wonders what happened to that collaboration, and why STP fell back on the man who produced their last new song (Thank You’s bonus track, “All In the Suit That You Wear.”) Buzz on the Internet is that Scott Weiland is traveling separately from his STP bandmates on their current tour, and essentially overdubbed his vocals on this disc absent of the other three members. And while I can say there isn’t a clinker among the album’s twelve workman-like tracks, the quirkiness of past albums is nowhere to be found – Shangri-La's “Days of the Week” may have been featherweight pop, but it was pop-sike nirvana.

The psychedelic, abstract touches have been supplanted by standard-issue song structures whose verse-chorus-bridge templates beg for a sonic monkey wrench or two. My kingdom for the engineering input of a Don Was, former collaborator Brendan O’Brien, Daniel Lanois or Nigel Godrich – someone to weave aural idiocyncracies in between the well-executed rock that permeates Stone Temple Pilots. At times, this effort bears an uncanny resemblance to STP’s Weiland-less affair, Talk Show – damn good songs in search of a more cohesive sense of individuality.

As one who’s caught STP live on numerous occasions, I expect the new material will take on an enhanced urgency and impact in concert that wasn’t quite realized on disc. Producer Lord-Alge has worked with everyone from Green Day to Third Eye Blind to Dave Matthews Band, so its hard to argue with the man’s resume. Bottom line: Stone Temple Pilots proves this band is still one to be reckoned with, and I’ve no doubt they have another masterpiece on par with No.4 within them.

[DankoJones]

I dont guy how after that review that guy gives the album a 3/5.  Sounds like a 4/5 by reading what he wrote.

And I think thats the 1st time Ive heard anyone call No.4 a masterpiece.

[Silvergun Batman]

As I've continually listened, I really enjoy this record.  Wasn't 100% sold on my initial listen, but I've put it on a couple times while jogging where I don't have as many distractions and have really enjoyed the vibe.  

Lots of really cool "summer-y" tunes on here.  My fave has to be "Take a Load Off"

[DankoJones]

After 2 full listens i'm agreeing with this post 100%

I wouldve gave it a 6 after 2 spins, but after 6 full spins it climbed to an 8/10.  Might climb a lil higher once I get the real cd and listen to it through real speakers(not weak computer ones).

[Ack56]

I WAS WRONG

When I listened to the Billboard stream last week I said it was clearly the 6th best album and we should just be happy to have a new record.  

Well I was wrong, listened 3 times though now and it is on par with some of the previous efforts.  I still say Purple and Tiny Music are clearly the best but I think this is as good or better than Shangri La for sure.  Either way I think it is an A- and I should not have rushed to judgement.  

Everyone enjoy STP day!

[Unglued]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2010-05-25-d_listen25_ST_N.htm

Listen Up: Stone Temple Pilots can still soar with the best
By Jerry Shriver, Elysa Gardner and Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY

After keeping fans waiting since 2001, the San Diego-bred quartet delivers a cohesive, self-produced reunion album that sounds as though it could have been recorded during any of the past three decades.

That's not to say it's timeless; rather, the dozen tracks (* * * out of four) mine a pleasant, disposable, mainstream pop-rock style that's never been out of fashion and never offends. Versatile guitarist Dean DeLeo drives these well-constructed tunes, even more so than sturdy vocalist Scott Weiland, who on a few tracks gets stuck trying to sell dopey lyrics (does he really think swine flu was a media invention?). Nevertheless, rambunctious opener Between the Lines kicks off whatever dust may have gathered during the hiatus and paves the way for sweet pop gems Cinnamon and First Kiss on Mars. If Weiland has reformed his bad-boy habits, he should have a ball with this material on the band's summer tour. — Jerry Shriver

Download: Between the Lines, Take a Load Off, Dare If You Dare, Cinnamon, Peacoat
Skip:Hickory Dichotomy, Hazy Daze

[/b]

Yeah ok... I hate when I read a review and the reviewer lists the skip portion, and they usually wind up listing the gem of the album.  Even if you don't like the song, how could you say skip Hazy Daze when that is one of the direct links to the STP sound that brought in so many fans?

[DankoJones]

Yeah I saw that and felt the same way.  Both HDs are to good to skip.