Stone Temple Pilots

I've now had three weeks to soak in the beautiful goodness that is Stone Temple Pilots.  Three weeks to pick it apart, to compare it to albums past, and to spend long hours in a blissful haze created by the DeLeo brothers.

"Between The Lines" - The first STP single since 2001 hits hard, proving that the band hasn't lost a step since its Core heyday, but don't bother with the studio record--skip right to track 16, the live from Chicago version.  It's far superior.  And what would an STP album be without the obligatory Ode to Mary Weiland--I like it when we talk about love/I like it when we talk about love/You always were my favorite drug/Even when we used to take drugs. 


"Take A Load Off" - Though the entire album has repetitive choruses running throughout, this is the song where it is least effective.  Once "Between The Lines" brings you up, "Take A Load Off" can't sustain the high.

"Huckleberry Crumble" - A re-vamped and modernized nod to Aerosmith's "Same Old Song And Dance", "Huckleberry Crumble" is easily in my top 3 songs on the album with it's bluesy jive and swagger.


"Hickory Dichotomy" - My vote for a radio single.  Track 15, the live from Chicago version, is arguably the best song on the album for the sheer fact that this song takes Scott's lanky gyrating and translates it to a great little swinging rock song.  My advice: listen to it LOUD.  Dance.  Rock out.

"Dare If You Dare" -  Good, nonsensical verses.  (I predict a Michael Stipe lyrics-on-the-music-stand set up coming.)  Boring chorus.

"Cinnamon" -  Caught somewhere between bubble gum pop and something Lifehouse would write, "Cinnamon" is by far the biggest WTF?!?  on the album.  Hear me, can you hear me, Scott--what is this?!?  Hear me, can you hear me, DeLeos--how did this happen?!?

"Hazy Daze" -  The mid-album rock song. 

"Bagman" - STP's version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" with a Beatles flair.  Impossible to listen to this song without bopping your head and feeling happy for Scott's dealer, who has worked hard and fully merited this, his very own song.

"Peacoat" -  Mid-tempo tune with a solid mix of edgy and soft.

"Fast As I Can" - And it is fast.  It's at this point where you appreciate the variation of the songs on the album because not any two songs resemble each other.

"First Kiss On Mars" - If the first rule to writing an STP album is including a song about Mary, and the second rule is writing a song about drugs, then the third rule is undoubtedly including a nod to Bowie.  Everyone knows that Scott blatantly emulates the Androgynous One, but no one seems to care because he does it so well.  "First Kiss On Mars" is a laid-back song that makes you want to go out and buy a convertible just so you can crank it with the top down and drive across country.  Unlike "Cinnamon", this song knows how to sprinkle in the 60s influence and make it work in small doses.

"Maver" - I don't exactly know how Maver constitutes a name, but that's neither here nor there.  This is the perfect first song to break down acoustically for VH1 Storytellers:  Scott on a stool in center stage, snapping his fingers; Dean playing slowly and chomping on gum; and the girls in the crowd swaying slowly and mouthing the words.


All in all, 'Stone Temple Pilots' shows the band can simultaneously rock like they're touring Purple, remain relevant in 2010 and evolve musically.  The new licks and hooks are enough to keep old fans happy and keep new fans lining up at the shows.  And speaking of shows, I am now the proud owner of tickets to the STP shows in Saint Paul, Chicago and Cleveland, but as all good STP fans know, holding a ticket to anything Scott Weiland is attached to is a little risky.  Will he live to see the date of the show?  Will he be coherent?

We sure hope so because this album is worth living for.