The Stone Temple Pilots Thread

[washing machine]

I kind of agree with trag. We have an obligation to care for each other and think about what is best for the other people in our lives

I think the pilots tried to do that, though.

I guess it could be argued that they didn't take matters seriously enough. But actually I'm not sure how I feel now. They ultimately did kick him out of the band twice and this second time seemed like it was for good. Maybe they actually did make an honest effort to do the right thing.

I honestly don't know enough about those guys or their on again off again relationship with Weiland to weigh in fairly, but I always understood the band dynamic to be a tough love kind of approach. It's really hard to listen to the brilliant but haunted 12 Bar Blues and that kind of terrible Talk Show album when thinking about what they were all going through as musical brothers at the time.

[Dev]

Thinking back to 12 bar blues reminded me that Scott actually was a great lyricist. Did I say otherwise the other day? Scott made the band. Scott slayed.

[washing machine]

That's such a good album.

[Kevin Davis]

It's rare that I expect anyone to agree with me, but I am starting to find it disconcerting that no one else sees the ethical implications of the rich rock stars propping up their drug addict singer for one last tour. That last part from the interview I pasted above is such an awful reflection on the band members, IMO.

Are you sure your timeline isn't off a bit? Scott played his last show with STP in 2012 and was let go in 2013, two and a half years before he died. Here is a video of Scott's last show with STP, and he sounds great. He isn't cutting a rug quite like he did when he was in his twenties, but he certainly isn't the propped-up corpse you imply he was in your post.


The STP reunion lasted four years and produced a new studio album. While I'm sure these guys were glad to be getting major cash flow again, it's probably a little cynical to assume that it was exclusively intended to be some short-term cash grab and that Scott was unwittingly dragged along for the ride at the expense of his health. On some level, there was a desire and an effort to revive STP as a creative unit, and in any long-term scenario, that's going to involve the band members having to balance their personal lives and individual struggles with the demands of their job. Obviously all four band members signed on to the reunion under the impression that they could make it work, and it's entirely possible Scott was clean and making the effort when they agreed to reunite. So if you're arguing that, simply because they knew his history, his bandmates should have either (a) simply refused to tour with him ever again, or (b) monitored him 24/7 and -- in their completely untrained, unprofessional capacity -- identified any potential warning signs and staged an immediate intervention at the first flicker of trouble, I think you're being beyond unreasonable. If you think they should have done their best with what they had and pulled the plug if it seemed like things were heading towards a point of no return, I think it's possible that they did just that.

Steve Albini's "keep it in the neighborhood!" theory might work great if you live in Albini-world and the only music that exists is shitty semi-coherent DIY garage noise where the bands' musical abilities are secondary to whether they ascribe to the correct industry ethics (it also probably makes more sense to him as a resident of Chicago, where a lot of music exists locally). But most normal people throughout history have greatly benefitted from the fact that music travels. I'm guessing Trag doesn't exclusively listen to music made within a 50-mile radius of his home in Montana; Pearl Jam, Fugazi, and PJ Harvey alone take you from coast to coast then across the Atlantic. So I'll buy that theory only from someone bold enough to put his money where his mouth is, including Albini himself, whose recording credits certainly extend well beyond his humble home in Chicago.

[Anders]

«The singer was found dead on December 3rd after passing away in his sleep on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota. He had been on the road with his new backing band the Wildabouts and was scheduled to play the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina, Minnesota that day but the show was canceled that day.»

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... e-20151218

[tragabigzanda]

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Hey look! You guys have convinced me I was wrong. I honestly can't recall if I understood that Scott was touring with his other band when he died, but it feels like new information for me now.

Like a month before he died, there were new performance videos on youtube where he could barely stand up, and he needed a roadie to help him put his jacket on, which was big news at the time. He went on the radio and declared that he was fine and it wasn't what it appeared, and some people bought into it. Other people were talking about how shockingly bad his final performances were...one of his last was down the road from where I live and it was very poorly attended. So even I knew that he was on an ill-fated solo tour, and it wasn't a surprise to me when he croaked. Where were you, dude?

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I've never felt compelled to follow this band outside of spinning their records.

Me neither, but it was kind of hard to miss. Everyone was talking about how he was gonna croak soon.

[Kevin Davis]

This is surprisingly myopic thinking for you, KD. Just because you prefer the melodic 4-minute sensibilities of Elvis Costello does not mean that Jesus Lizard is shitty and semi-coherent.

I've never listened to Jesus Lizard so I can't comment. My remark was really just more of a blanket snipe at the kind of music Albini seems to drool over, as well as an attempt to zero in on the absurdity in this "music can be self-sustaining within a particular region" concept. Apparently that's not really what you meant, so maybe it's a moot point. But in general I don't share any of your misgivings about musicians working for royalties, promoting themselves to a national or international audience, etc., and am glad that guys like Albini haven't typically driven the history of the music business. I've been way, way more touched by music that's been sold to me by "big" labels than I ever have by anything that's ever come out of my own community, so I'm glad that there are people out there who think that stuff is good enough to be heard outside its originating zip code. Sorry for sounding bitchy about it; my goal wasn't to insult any particular band.

[VinylGuy]

I miss Weiland. I really liked his music.

[bada]

Never change Trag.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

I don't know, all I know is that I'm glad my hearing "Sgt. Pepper" wasn't dependent on my dad having had a chance meeting with Paul McCartney in 1968. At some point I'm glad that music is a business with a functional distribution model. I don't really care how artists are paid -- I certainly feel that they should be paid, but I don't believe that a royalty model vs. a per-unit model necessarily leads to better or worse music, it seems like either could ultimately tempt artist to create with commercial goals in mind, which is another thing I don't believe necessarily leads to better or worse music.

[washing machine]

Speaking of Stone Temple Pilots, I listened to Purple front to back for the first time in years last night. Happy to report that it not only held up nicely, but it exceeded expectations for me. Lot more depth on that album than I remembered. Maybe some of my favorite Weiland vocals, too.

[PHATJ]

Purple is fucking awesome and I'm shocked at how many people have overlooked it for so long.

[washing machine]

Purple is fucking awesome and I'm shocked at how many people have overlooked it for so long.

It was always my second favorite STP album before they re-formed in the late 90's. Vatican was leaner, and that was more up my alley back when this music was all fresh. No. 4 and Shangri-La hit me at the right time and so the younger me eventually wrote off Purple as "the one with Interstate Love Song." Now I think it's probably their best album.

[PHATJ]

Purple is fucking awesome and I'm shocked at how many people have overlooked it for so long.

It was always my second favorite STP album before they re-formed in the late 90's. Vatican was leaner, and that was more up my alley back when this music was all fresh. No. 4 and Shangri-La hit me at the right time and so the younger me eventually wrote off Purple as "the one with Interstate Love Song." Now I think it's probably their best album.

Purple and Shangri-La are phenomenal, and I have a hard time choosing my favorite of the two. Tiny Music is a little uneven but still very, very good. No.4 has four songs that I love, the rest not so much. Core is Core, and great for what it is.

[Thurman Murman]

Purple is fucking awesome and I'm shocked at how many people have overlooked it for so long.

To me, Purple and Tiny Music always stood head and shoulders above the rest of their catalogue.

[Buby]

Purple is fucking awesome and I'm shocked at how many people have overlooked it for so long.

To me, Purple and Tiny Music always stood head and shoulders above the rest of their catalogue.