Stone Temple Pilots Debut New Album
It Happened Last Night
Stone Temple Pilots in the studio
The nine-year wait for new Stone Temple Pilots music ended Tuesday night in New York City.
During a listening party at the Gramercy Park Hotel's Rose Bar -- where Guns N' Roses rocked out one week earlier -- the San Diego-bred quartet debuted their self-titled reunion album, their first since 2001's Shangri-La Dee Da, due out on May 25.
MORE STP ON SPIN.COM
Singer Scott Weiland, bassist Robert DeLeo, guitarist Dean DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz all attended the event, mingling with industry types like Warner Music CEO (and former Run-DMC tour manager) Lyor Cohen, as waiters handed out free drinks and hors d'oeuvres.
Atlantic Records Chairman and CEO Craig Kallman, who signed the band in the early '90s, delivered a speech before playing the album. He recalled hearing demos of Might Joe Young (STP's first name) and flying to L.A. to watch the band perform. He praised the quartet's talent, workmanship, and influence, and even compared them to Led Zeppelin. He then rattled off a list of stats -- more than 35 million records sold, 15 top ten singles, a No. 1 record with 1994's Purple, a Grammy, and more. And when he pushed play, it was obvious why.
The new album is classic STP. Its 12 tracks have the band's signature blend of tuneful melodies and rock guitar crunch, psychedelic solos and impressive crooning courtesy of Scott Weiland, who looked healthy and dapper in a snazzy suit coat. A few hard-hitting tracks featured tuneful, Beatles-esque songwriting, and a pair of songs on the album's second half slowed the tempo, a la "Sour Girl," with acoustic guitar and strong lead vocals from Weiland.
A tracklisting has yet-to-be announced, but among the 12 songs are "Huckleberry Crumble" and "Between the Lines," which Robert DeLeo recently described to SPIN.com as "musically like Paul Revere and the Raiders, with that '60s sound that I've always been a fan of."
"Fans are going get a great STP record… a really cohesive record with songs that are going to be lasting," he added. "We know what STP sounds like -- we have a sonic blueprint."
After a full play of the new album, Weiland took the mic at the Rose Bar to address the crowd. He thanked the attendees for their unwavering support and praised his band members' top-notch work with the instrumentation. "What about the vocals! The vocals! The vocals!" Dean DeLeo shouted from the back of the room. "Well, I've never been one to flatter myself," joked Weiland.
Catch STP on the road this year in support of their June release. And for more on the band, read a recent Q&A with Weiland here, and a In-Studio story about STP's new album, here.
38 Comments
Click here to comment- Posted By JRO
07.16.10 2:37 AM
I just listened to the album the first time thru, and I don't hear a hit. I do hear songs that these guys can pull off on a stage at their respective ages. Musicians get older. The music they write evolves; sometimes it crosses genres. If you listen to their previous album they were headed this direction. If you like the Beatles and the Talking Heads, you'll like this album. If you're looking for 'Wicked Garden' to rock out to, it's not on this album.
- Posted By Long Time STP Fan
06.25.10 6:09 PM
When I heard about this album I got so excited. And then I listened to it and the disappointment set in. There isn't a single good song on the whole album. Not what I expected from one of my favorite bands. This is worse than a Billy Corgan solo album. Well...maybe not that bad, but this album does really suck.
- Posted By Anonymous
06.25.10 3:55 PM
To call this a throwback to the seventies is an insult to the seventies.
I was always a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan, but this album is tinny glossed over-over produced crap with goofy tongue and cheek vocals/lyrics that are uninspired to say the least.
You can tell whoever wrote this article for spin is stuck up atlantic records' ass big time.
- Posted By An old STP fan
06.23.10 5:15 PM
Wow what happened? Did they all lose their balls somewhere along the way to wonderland. What is the deal with musicians repeating the 70's. Do something new. This is 2010 not 1975. We wait this long for a new STP album and we get some hippy crap. I guess they just need to tour with the rolling stones and get it over with. BRING BACK THE DISTORTION, HARD HITTING STP along with those melodies we all love not this lame excuse for an album
- Posted By Cyrenic_Team
06.08.10 2:57 PM
****ing nasally crap singing compared to his drugged out hay day. I mean it's great Weiland's Cleanish (for now) but c'mon, this 70's vintage crap is just trash and i wish someone had the ****ing nuts and just be ORIGINAL!
Better luck next time Guys.
P.S.
Happiness In Galoshes was bull**** as well, but still better than this.
- Posted By Anonymous
06.07.10 6:22 PM
Are you kidding me, why is Weiland's voice higher then thier early albums which were great?? This album sucks! Would have taken a good album and made it great if he would utilize the old tone he use to sing with. Thanks for wasting my money!! sounds like the Jonas Brothers.....lol
- Posted By Zuma Dogg
05.29.10 5:48 PM
The band's finest LP, no question. The time Deleo Brothers spent producing and working with other acts paid off on this new album with a diversity that is all tied together with the band's signature sound.
No other band links the 70's classic rock sound in a modern rock production.
Dean's guitar solo on "Hickory Dichotomy" will have you FALLING OUT OF YOUR SEAT! Best solo since Foghat, "Slow Ride." I don't think there is a guitarist on the planet that could pull that solo off. Makes the guitar sound like a fiddle solo.
The songwriting, lyrics, production, musicianship and overall craftsmanship is un-touchable in rock today. And the album provides some all time classic tracks.
Maver is an instant classic. And again, Dean's guitar solo and production soars to the stars with a sonic crunch as only George Harrison could have pulled off.
So have a ride in a Rolls Royce on your way to a Wolfgang Puck restaurant before staying at the Ritz-Carlton and listen to the new STP album along the way. It's among the finer things in life.
Could have just been a nostalgia reunion tour, but instead, I guess I'll have to sit through the classics, waiting for the new material.
- Posted By Ronnie Dark
03.13.10 12:49 PM
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS...a match made in heaven!
- Posted By Sumacidal
03.11.10 6:23 PM
It's funny how when "Plush" hit the airwaves, most people I knew at the time wrote them off as "another grunge band" trying to ride the coattails of Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and the ilk. Obviously we were all wrong, and anybody who approached the album with an open mind realized that maybe there was something to it. (It didn't go however-many-times-platinum for nothing) They ended up being one of the most consistent groups I can think of off the top of my head, with good vocals/lyrics/musicianship/songwriting/etc. Glad to hear they're finally putting out a new album, can't wait to hear it!
- Posted By Hondo Barker
03.08.10 2:09 AM
Oh yeah, one of the most musically perfect bands of our time is back to give us more, more and more.Please never stop. STP rules.
- Posted By XavierCain
03.03.10 12:11 AM
Hell Yeah!
- Posted By radrolfe von slont
03.01.10 6:20 PM
favorite band of all time,tried to make do with velvet revolver
but just wasn't the same, just a tease.these guys got the click.
- Posted By Fan from Holland
03.01.10 6:17 PM
I have such high expectations..... AND can't wait to hear the new album!!!
And already thinking what Scott will do next year...back to VR? I have a feeling he will.....
Will he maintain the two bands? Hopefully !!! And solo records! What an artist!
HALLELLUJAH !!
- Posted By VegasCrackerman
03.01.10 4:01 PM
YES! The wait is final coming to an END!!!
I for one will be prepping by "Huckleberry Crumble" dance for mid-March...
Album of the Year.
- Posted By Greg Calloway
02.25.10 6:33 AM
That was a great event. Lyor Cohen, Craig Kallman, and many others were there.
Greg Calloway
08.12.10 10:45 AM
To those above who were blatant in their disparaging remarks about this album, I just have to say that you're welcome to your opinion, but just because you say it with conviction doesn't make it true. What you hear as mediocrity, others might hear as nuance. STP deserves better than that. And for those of you who spew up the hackneyed, unthinking phrase "it sucked", I wonder how many of you could even play a G chord on the guitar.