Stone Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots (Album Review)
Wednesday, 09 June 2010
Written by Rob Sleigh
In 2008, singer Scott Weiland left Velvet Revolver to rejoin his former band Stone Temple Pilots for a huge tour of the US. During the five years that had followed STP’s break-up, Velvet Revolver received varied success. Although their debut album ‘Contraband’ was well received, the supergroup never quite achieved any real confidence from their fans. This was largely due to Weiland’s involvement and the apparent distance between him and the other members of the group.
Throughout the months following the release of their second album ‘Libertad’, there were numerous reports that Velvet Revolver were not getting on with their singer and it wasn’t long before Weiland confirmed that he was no longer part of that band.
Now, Stone Temple Pilots have finally followed up their reunion with their first album in nine years. In its first week, their self-titled sixth album has had a massive response and has already made it to Number Two in the US Billboard Chart. Even Slash was keen to admit that Weiland belongs back with STP.
The early grunge sound on which the band was founded is far behind them and they clearly have no plans to revive that now. Stone Temple Pilots have since replaced the doom and gloom of their early Nineties beginnings with a more straightforward rock’n’roll style. On their new album, they have continued that theme by creating a record of pleasing hard rock tunes that shows off a number of the band’s original influences and displays some impressive guitar solos that prove STP to be an ongoing musical force.
The album starts as it means to go on with recent single ‘Between the Lines’, a hard rock track with a Beatles-influenced chorus. This sets the scene for the rest of the record nicely, leaving the listener in a pleasant mood for more enjoyable and enthusiastic rock music. The Beatles are not the only band that have provided inspiration towards the feel of this album. ‘Huckleberry Crumble’, for example, is a sleazy rock track that sounds a lot like something Aerosmith could have written.
In the past, Scott Weiland has named David Bowie as a major influence towards his own vocal style. While people may have been sceptical of this claim, it cannot be denied that the Bowie influence makes an appearance on this album on several occasions (check out ‘First Kiss on Mars’ and ‘Bagman’). However, even where inspirations are evident, STP are never guilty of using someone else’s style to write a particular track. Where one influence can be heard, they manage to mix it up with a number of different styles to make it more credible. For this reason, they continue to convince as purveyors of their own sound.
Comeback albums are not always capable of achieving widespread appreciation from fans and critics. But with this eponymous album, Stone Temple Pilots have made a welcome return after a nine-year gap. They have created a record that is not like anything they have done before but have managed to employ a style that is familiar enough to impress most rock music fans. It’s basically a hard rock album on the surface, but it mixes a number of other flavours (including pop and indie in places) in order to produce a textured and layered sound that fails to disappoint. The album will almost certainly continue to succeed and may even reclaim many of the doubters that have long since given up on Stone Temple Pilots as a group that had lost their chances of future glory.
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Now, Stone Temple Pilots have finally followed up their reunion with their first album in nine years. In its first week, their self-titled sixth album has had a massive response and has already made it to Number Two in the US Billboard Chart. Even Slash was keen to admit that Weiland belongs back with STP. 
