If Dean DeLeo was so drunk/high all the time that he was screwing up songs, forgetting guitar parts, falling down, showing up late for gigs, and not knowing he was playing out of tune, at some point the other 3 guys have to make a decision--continue playing gigs with the current status quo, stop doing anything until Dean gets better, or replace Dean.
In this case, the culprit is Scott and over the last 15 or so years they have tried solutions 1 and 2. Now, they're trying solution number 3.
We can all talk about how Dean's playing is exclusive the STP sound, that it wouldn't be the same, and he'd be missed. And we'd be right. The same goes with Scott.
Van Halen, for different reasons, hired Sammy Hagar. They found even greater success with him. It didn't last, and throughout his tenure--even to this day--loyal fans of the original lineup hated the 2nd incarnation so bad that they came up with a name--Van Hagar--in order to pretend it was a different band.
Go the VH equivalent of this board and you'll see the same Dave versus Sam argument going on today that was going on in 1985. I'm so tired of it. So you like the original incarnation and don't accept the new one. We get it. A large group is going to follow the group because they like the whole group, not just one member. I followed Dean, Robert and Eric to Talk Show and I followed Dean and Robert to Army of Anyone. Similarly, I followed Scott to his solo albums and Velvet Revolver.
If they'd called Talk Show STP they would have sold a hell of a lot more copies. They also used an untested songwriter in Dave Coutts. They always mentioned how they loved his voice in Ten Inch Men, but never mentioned his writing ablities. Army of Anyone, even with a legitimately famous singer and a proven writing record did basically nothing.
These guys have to make a living. If they were in STP purely for the art they would be doing it for free. Instead, they are making a living at it, meaning that they will make some decisions for the art and some decisions for commerce.
Calling this Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington is a decision made probably from 1/2 commercial necessity, 1/4 telling people they are done with Scott, and 1/4 due to legal pressure.
I don't even have a problem with them using the STP name, yet because of the name that is clearly pringted on the cover, "Out of Time" is already in my iPod under the moniker Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington. They've already distinguished it for us.
They have a right to the name, not us. They can do with it what they please. I, for one, am just fine with them using the name to try and make a better living.
