Interesting read!
walkthamile
Posts: 349
http://www.columbusalive.com/?sec=music&story=alive/2008/0508/m-range.html
Can't STP the rock
By Chris DeVille
blog I e-mail
With Stone Temple Pilots set to headline the second-annual Rock on the Range fest at Crew Stadium next weekend — STP's first show in six years — it's time for a critical reappraisal of one of rock's most underrated bands.
Scott Weiland, Eric Kretz and the DeLeo brothers blended glam, pop and hard rock into a cocktail that still has radio programmers drunk 15 years later. They made no bones about striking rock-star poses, appealing to the masses and, you know, enjoying themselves.
And unlike many radio staples from The Doors to Nickelback, STP was actually responsible for some of the best music of their era. As Steve Hyden pointed out in an excellent piece for The Onion A.V. Club's blog, "STP's B-level status in '90s rock history has practically nothing to do with the music and almost everything to do with the misfortune of coming out during one of the most annoyingly cred-conscious periods in the history of mainstream rock."
Although he went on to espouse a bizarre theory that Weiland developed his heroin addiction to gain artistic credibility, on his main point Hyden is correct. The Pilots' highly melodic, hugely powerful rock should have earned them widespread acclaim. Instead, they were decried for not taking themselves too seriously in an era that fetishized "important" music by miserable artists.
Nirvana and Pearl Jam wrote hooky, stadium-ready rock anthems too, but those bands are more or less respected (as always, Nirvana more so than Pearl Jam). The most legitimate reason is lyrics. Weiland was no poet, and while Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder probably get more credit than they deserve in this category, at least their Gen-X babbling mostly made sense.
But rock music doesn't have to make sense. It just has to rock. Nirvana and Pearl Jam rocked, but they felt self-conscious about it. Nirvana emerged from the underground, where the rules of rock stardom are different. Pearl Jam fancied themselves indie rockers too, even though they were basically populists through and through.
Stone Temple Pilots made no bones about being full-blooded mainstream rock stars. For this, they were tarred and feathered by rock critics. They deserve better.
There is a lingering impression that STP was ripping off Pearl Jam. Yes, Weiland went overboard with his Eddie Vedder impression on 1992 debut Core. But by the time Purple came out in 1994, STP had established an identity of its own. The record boasted some of alt-rock's most enduringly awesome singles — "Vaseline," "Interstate Love Song" — and superb deep cuts like surprisingly heartbreaking "Still Remains" and the frantic, tuneful "Unglued."
1996's Tiny Music ... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop was even better — sometimes jangly, sometimes gracefully subdued. In "Big Bang Baby," "Lady Picture Show" and "Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart," the band produced three of the decade's finest hits.
Even latter-day STP had something to offer. No. 4 was a hard-hitting collection with better songwriting and production than Core. And at least the goofy Shangri-La Dee Da had glorious pop nugget "Days of the Week."
These achievements have been obscured by the perception of STP as imitators, hacks and cock-rockers. In some ways, the band fits all those descriptions, but a good song is a good song, context be damned.
Perhaps now, as the reunited STP headlines Rock on the Range over a slate of bands it clearly has outclassed, we can finally step out from the oppressive shadow of grunge-era legalism and appreciate this band's stellar body of work.
Can't STP the rock
By Chris DeVille
blog I e-mail
With Stone Temple Pilots set to headline the second-annual Rock on the Range fest at Crew Stadium next weekend — STP's first show in six years — it's time for a critical reappraisal of one of rock's most underrated bands.
Scott Weiland, Eric Kretz and the DeLeo brothers blended glam, pop and hard rock into a cocktail that still has radio programmers drunk 15 years later. They made no bones about striking rock-star poses, appealing to the masses and, you know, enjoying themselves.
And unlike many radio staples from The Doors to Nickelback, STP was actually responsible for some of the best music of their era. As Steve Hyden pointed out in an excellent piece for The Onion A.V. Club's blog, "STP's B-level status in '90s rock history has practically nothing to do with the music and almost everything to do with the misfortune of coming out during one of the most annoyingly cred-conscious periods in the history of mainstream rock."
Although he went on to espouse a bizarre theory that Weiland developed his heroin addiction to gain artistic credibility, on his main point Hyden is correct. The Pilots' highly melodic, hugely powerful rock should have earned them widespread acclaim. Instead, they were decried for not taking themselves too seriously in an era that fetishized "important" music by miserable artists.
Nirvana and Pearl Jam wrote hooky, stadium-ready rock anthems too, but those bands are more or less respected (as always, Nirvana more so than Pearl Jam). The most legitimate reason is lyrics. Weiland was no poet, and while Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder probably get more credit than they deserve in this category, at least their Gen-X babbling mostly made sense.
But rock music doesn't have to make sense. It just has to rock. Nirvana and Pearl Jam rocked, but they felt self-conscious about it. Nirvana emerged from the underground, where the rules of rock stardom are different. Pearl Jam fancied themselves indie rockers too, even though they were basically populists through and through.
Stone Temple Pilots made no bones about being full-blooded mainstream rock stars. For this, they were tarred and feathered by rock critics. They deserve better.
There is a lingering impression that STP was ripping off Pearl Jam. Yes, Weiland went overboard with his Eddie Vedder impression on 1992 debut Core. But by the time Purple came out in 1994, STP had established an identity of its own. The record boasted some of alt-rock's most enduringly awesome singles — "Vaseline," "Interstate Love Song" — and superb deep cuts like surprisingly heartbreaking "Still Remains" and the frantic, tuneful "Unglued."
1996's Tiny Music ... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop was even better — sometimes jangly, sometimes gracefully subdued. In "Big Bang Baby," "Lady Picture Show" and "Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart," the band produced three of the decade's finest hits.
Even latter-day STP had something to offer. No. 4 was a hard-hitting collection with better songwriting and production than Core. And at least the goofy Shangri-La Dee Da had glorious pop nugget "Days of the Week."
These achievements have been obscured by the perception of STP as imitators, hacks and cock-rockers. In some ways, the band fits all those descriptions, but a good song is a good song, context be damned.
Perhaps now, as the reunited STP headlines Rock on the Range over a slate of bands it clearly has outclassed, we can finally step out from the oppressive shadow of grunge-era legalism and appreciate this band's stellar body of work.
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Comments
Wow, cool article.
I'm goin' to see STP in June, should be sweet.
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
no bed=no brian
coke sucks
um......same year?
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
STP's got em by 3 years.
Edit: it's just that Pearl Jam broke through into mainstream first.
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no, ten - 1991, core - 1992
Oh please, Ten was released in August 91 and Core in Sept 92! That's over a year between the releases, and Weiland and co exploited the shit out of grunge from vocals all the way down to facial expressions. STP are a joke!
you got to spend it all...*****
Nope.
STP really declined after No4 though. Probably because of Scotts drug problems, which is really sad...
I enjoy them all as well PJ, STP, and Nivana in that order. What always amazed me was that STP was lumped into the Seattle scene when they were from San Diego.
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One of the central reasons why their singles never broke bigger was Weiland himself. Y'gotta admit the guy could be a bit of a tit onstage, plus he lacked the requisite looks of a mainstream 'rock star' in the Vedder/Cobain/Cornell mould. Oh, and his live voice wasn't all that tremendous.
But,I liked the first three albums immensely whatever.
It fucking annoys me, too!!
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Do you even read the posts??? I clearly stated Ten was from '91 and Core was in '92 in post #13, BEFORE your post.
C'mon people, READ!
edit: Besides, it doesn't matter when the albums came out, STP did form before PJ. It's a non-debatable fact.
Anyone got a boot of the mtv unplugged they did?
But you originally said that they formed in 1987 as if that gives them more artistic credibility or something. When they formed doesn't mean anything, the fact is they developed their sound in response to what was going on around them...Weiland copied and their band were manufactured, case closed!
you got to spend it all...*****
No. I was not implying anything having to do with artistic credibility. I was simply stating a fact. The same way you would say "the sky is blue."
Obviously Pearl Jam is my favorite band but STP doesn't deserve all the shit they catch for being rip-offs, they are their own band.
Agreed. These guys along with Bush etc helped kill the alternative 90's scene because basically they just perpetuated the grunge styereoptype when it was cool. Underrated? You've got to be kidding.
Next Wieland joins Velvet Revolver. But you would never have seen Chris Cornell or Eddie joining the ex-GNR's band members because the Seattle scene was really opposed to that whole glamrock bullshit GnR's was a part of. Wieland however had no problems, and it just confimed to me anyway that Wieland was an oppurtunistic phony.
2. STP ripped off no one. Eddie Vedder doesn't even sound like himself from the first PJ album. And the first PJ album sounds nothing like PJ sounds now. And why? Because new bands are at the mercy of their producers, who are paid an assload of money by the record company to make the music sound like what is popular at the time. You don't get to start calling your own shots till you prove yourself with some hits, as STP and PJ BOTH did. STP was no Pearl Jam copy, STP JUST LIKE PEARL JAM were mixed to sound that way by someone else.
3. STP is from San Diego. Which is where Eddie Vedder was living prior to joining PJ. So how does anyone know Ed didn't copy Weiland? WE DON'T. Maybe Ed was having a few beers at a local show when he was still trying to figure out how to sing.
4. STP fucking kicks ass live. And Weiland is one of the best frontmen i have ever had the pleasure of paying to see. You would all do yourselves a huge favor to check them out while you have the chance.
Sorry, but I was beginning to enjoy your post until this!
It is widely known that Vedder was pretty well entrenched in the San Diego music scene, and many will vouch for this...Weiland and STP for that matter sprung up from obscurity...They were not heard of, and I would lean more towards Weiland hearing Ten and altering his style, whether the record company forced him to or not, than Vedder hearing Weiland in San Diego!
Agreed. Core was a much darker album, stylistically, than any of STP's other records, which probably led to Weiland singing in his lower register for much of it. As STP broadened their sound on Purple and Tiny Music, Weiland's voice broadened with it. As for his expressions in the Plush video, I'd say that's probably imitation.
Sorry I don't get how they are underrated because of this.