...but where is the article, or what exactly did Eddie start?
It was a Rolling Stone piece back in '93.
Here's the part: Vedder agrees. He promises that the new album will be released before any videos. “I don’t even have MTV,” he says with a shrug. “I don’t know why I’m commenting. People stop me in the streets and tell me about this band Stone Temple Pilots. I don’t even know who they are. I’m buying a sandwich, and they go, ‘What’s going on with the Stone Temple Pilots?'”
“You haven’t seen the video?” asks Ament. “You have to have seen it.”
“I haven’t,” he says. “I don’t have MTV.”
Ament tells Vedder about the “Plush” video, with the singer’s uncanny appropriation of Vedder’s mannerisms. Vedder’s heard it before. In fact, he hears it daily. From fans, from friends, even from a French musician who complimented him on the song and his new short orange hair. (Vedder’s hair is still longish and brown.)
“Apparently, it’s something that the guy is dealing with, too,” Vedder suggests. “It’s like, am I supposed to feel sympathy? Get your own trip, man. I don’t think I was copping anybody’s trip. I wasn’t copping Andy Wood’s trip. I wasn’t copping Kurt Cobain’s trip, even though Kurt Cobain’s one of the best trips I could ever cop. But Beth and I were part of the San Diego scene. We knew everything that was going on, and it was small enough to know. Those guys came from there? I never heard of ’em.” End of subject.
He may not have been knocking other bands. He may have been saying that because all the teen pop was getting bigger at the time, and that may be why "No.4" did okay, but all the nu-metal/rap rock was kind of overshadowing everything else. Just my opinion, though.
But the chip on Scotts shoulder also took him to the top of the mountain of frontmen. All the greats think they are the shit...it's just a state of the mind. I'm glad he talked like that saying stp needed to save rock n roll.
I agree. He was one of the greatest. And I don't think he was knocking a specific band, but peers probably look at him like "gimme a break".
To be fair, as a fan of Soundgarden, their reunion was garbage. They made an unmemorable album and continue to play setlists dominated by their more successful albums from the 90s, with a few new songs sprinkled in (sounds familiar). And every show I've seen since their reunion is so unenthused, like they would rather be anywhere else. Cornell's solo album from last year was really good and more inspired than anything he's done in a long time, though.
To each his/her own, I suppose. I think "King Animal" has some good stuff on it. It had all the ingredients that make a solid Soundgarden record, especially considering it was 16 years removed from their last album together. In time, it'll probably be more appreciated.
As for hits set-lists, it's the bread and butter that these bands need to go by. Not to mention that they were opening for Nine Inch Nails on that tour, so a couple of new tunes among their hits was probably all they were able to do.