I mean nothing ill by this, or to create a war in this thread. But I'm really disheartened by some of the posts in here, coming from someone who has listened to STP for 20 years. I understand the hate over the decision, but nobody can sit there and pretend that Weiland did nothing wrong, and didn't screw over the band at every turn with his reckless, and often careless behavior towards the legacy of this band.
The more I see haters for Chester on the STP forums and Facebook, the more I hope that this EP contains the next "Creep", "Wicked Garden" or "Interstate Love Song" (song-writing wise), or is even the next Core/Purple so that these doubters who haven't even heard any new material except for "Out of Time" will sit down and shut up.
As my introduction post on here and my name suggests I'm a Linkin Park fan. I'll get that out of the way right now. But I was into STP a good decade before I was into Linkin Park, and I want to see this band survive which I was not feeling was possible with Scott Weiland's current alcohol problems. Like many others I (despite my fandom for Chester) have my reservations about this, and are nervous about the idea of a Stone Temple Pilots without Weiland. But you know what? I've heard Chester do the old songs live, and he's done them justice. Some tracks were a tad rusty sounding, but with practice he can become a very solid addition to the lineup. In short? I am happy with this change.
Yes part of this is due to money (but isn't being in a band a JOB?!), but perhaps they're also sick of putting the band on hiatus for Scott. People don't consider that maybe the DeLeos and Kretz don't want to hang up the STP gloves just yet and that they want to go out there again and play for their fans who have supported them through the BS over the last decade or so. There's a lot of fans who have wanted to hear new music from STP, and even though they wanted that music with Weiland...this here is the best the band can do for now.
Out of Time is the most energetic the band has sounded in a long time and it's doing excellent on the radio. Even better, the band seems to be happy again, and in a good place...and I will most definitely support them in their quest to keep the STP legacy alive. The new lineup deserves a shot. Regardless of people's thoughts on Linkin Park.