Stone Temple Pilots, S/T, 5/25/10
Redemption might be the word I’m looking for here. During the 1990s Stone Temple Pilots were not favored by many critics: they all seemed to think the Pilots were a cheap knock-off of the alternative scene stemming from Seattle. Well, who cares what those guys had to say? The Pilots built their sound off of 70’s arena rock and blues swagger, they were more of an update than anything.
Scott Weiland gets right to the point on the first track ‘Between the Lines’ addressing his drug habits and making no apologies. This album is loaded with the heavy drums, thundering bass lines and riffs that you’d expect to hear. Weiland doesn’t extend his vocals as much as on previous albums, but you can forgive the guy a little bit.
This time around we have the brothers Deleo helming the production instead of Brendan O’Brien. 
You’d think that the bassist and guitarist might have a bias in production; however, they managed to strip away everything that wasn’t needed and keep the vital pieces. There is also the heavy influence of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin all over this record, not like there isn’t on previous efforts, it sounds like the guys wanted to get back to their own roots on this effort.
I give these guys a lot of credit for coming back after so long and proving they have what it takes to be relevant. Other tracks to check: the Aerosmith-like ‘Huckleberry Crumble’, ‘Hickory Dichotomy’, ‘Hazy Daze’ and the light ‘Maver’. I suggest burning this album if you have a chance, it is a step in the right direction and there is some room for improvement should they decide to follow this up.
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