As far as Scott's health is concerned, as others have said he was going down the path he was on regardless of whether or not the reunion happened.
As far as the music is concerned, if S/T had never been released then we all would have spent the rest of our lives wishing they made one more album together before Scott passed... I think that would have been far more unbearable than having them release a slightly disappointing album.
Lol!! If you hear anything slightly disappointing when you listen to self titled thats on you n your ego brainwashed bullshit. You cant enjoy some of the most beautiful pieces of art humans have ever created?? Lol, man this place never changes, been away a loong time n yall still the same. Maybe you should go listen to kanye or bieber then.
This was a very strange post. First, the depth of your response here isn't matched at all to Blue's comments. Second, although my feelings on it are that the S/T album is a fine addition to the STP catalog, it was far from being one of the most beautiful pieces of art created by humanity, let alone being at the top of the STP catalog.
It's definitely a better album than some people here give it credit for, but I think valid criticisms are that it lacks track cohesion, and that the production is all over the place. For example, long-time fans can sort of sense that the band was out of place while making the music; and although each song has "STP DNA" all over it (which is a good thing), the album feels like a "compilation of songs" more than an "album". Also, TALO - a great track, feels like a No. 4 outtake in terms of production (too much vocal distortion and silly loudness boosting), whereas "Between The Lines" was clear and could've been produced during the SLDD era. It's a production mess of an album.
Also, titling that album after the band indicates a creative drought, especially after the mass confusion of the titling of "Purple" (which was actually sold in some markets as "Stone Temple Pilots" - there are even some sealed copies with the seal strip that still say this if you can find them), and then we have the newest album as self-titled.
And so, between the messy production, the variation of styles across the tracks and the cop-out naming of the album, it could be perceived that these things are all indicators of pumping out a CD for reasons that certainly reduce the record from being "one of the most beautiful pieces of art humans ever created".
It is quite evident in many ways that the death of his brother and his divorce from Mary effectively created a hole that never healed in Scott. With that in mind, did this effectively render him unable to truly perform anymore? With hindsight, should this mean that Robert, Dean and Eric should've gone to Scott and said "Look, you're in no shape for us to get back together. We can't do this again?"
After all, one of the things Scott put out in an interview that year when he began attacking VR for letting him go and saying "we understand each other now," was saying how Dean had to apologize to him over the Tiny Music cancellation and say "I shouldn't have singled you out for your addiction when I was using myself. It was hypocritical and I shouldn't have done it." That in many ways demonstrates how Scott refused to take responsibility for himself or even see the purpose behind what was done. Would it have been better, when Dean was approached about that and prompted to say it, he should instead have gone: "Fuck you, Scott. We did that to save your life, and you still haven't learned anything in more than a decade. So this whole thing is off, get your shit together with Slash and Duff, and leave us alone?"
As for the original topic here. This is the kind of blanket statement questions that I read on the internet and struggle to answer in the way that you asked the question. I'm reminded of a guy on an Indiana Jones forum once asking "Is the Temple of Doom Racist?"
If anything, the reunion could've probably been managed better than the band hopping into bed together for a familiar quickie before getting back to the argument. But either way, I don't think the reunion itself was the catalyst for Weiland's deeper decline. I think eyes can fall more squarely on Weiland himself, but
in conjunction with his "enabler" and "coat-tail" riding entourage from around the era that he died.
