SONG OF THE DAY - ROCKTOBER may be over, but it were continuing our coverage of Favorite Albums Through The Years. Today is November 1st, which brings us to 1996, and the third album album from a band the debuted amidst the Grunge era, but moved beyond that tag. Stone Temple Pilots (often abbreviated STP), are an American rock band from San Diego, California, that consisted of brothers Robert (bass, backing vocals) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), Eric Kretz (drums, percussion), and Scott Weiland (lead vocals). After forming in 1985 under the name Mighty Joe Young, the band signed with Atlantic Records and changed its name to Stone Temple Pilots. STP found immediate success in 1993 upon releasing their debut album Core (1992), and went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s. While initially displaying a sound typically identified as grunge early on in its career, further releases from the band expressed a variety of influences, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova and classic rock. The bands evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved several tumultuous periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weilands well-publicized struggles with drug addiction. The Deleo brothers, in particular, I believe are two of the most underrated musicians of their time - Robert as a songwriter, and Dean as a masterful guitarist. TINY MUSIC... SONGS FROM THE VATICAN GIFT SHOP was the third album by Stone Temple Pilots, released on March 26, 1996 on Atlantic Records. After a brief hiatus in 1995, STP regrouped to record TINY MUSIC..., living and recording the album together in a mansion in Santa Barbara, California. The albums sound marked a drastic change from their previous outings, oriented more in the direction of glam rock, psychedelic music and even power pop than that of the hard rock/grunge sound that propelled them to popularity. While critical reception, at the time, was mixed, the album had three singles reach #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, including Big Bang Baby, Lady Picture Show, and Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart. The songs Tumble in the Rough and Art School Girl were also issued as single to radio. Unfortunately, Weilands issues with drug use did not clear up and STP was forced to cancel most of their 1996-1997 tour for the album, and it did not receive as much exposure as initially intended. I did get to see the band on tour for TINY MUSIC..., and despite Weilands personal struggles, the band put on one of the best concerts Ive ever seen by anyone. While even I was initially taken back a bit by TINY MUSICs stylistic shift, the album has since gone on to become one of my favorites by the band. One of the things Ive come to appreciate about the album, were the little instrumental interludes like Press Play and Daisy. Ive also always loved STPs interpretations of bossa nova and lounge style music on songs like toadys song selection And So I Know, which is definitely a highlight of the record for me.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 15:16:02 +0000
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