R.I.P. Scott Weiland

[Vito Corleone]

I doubt anyone was surprised to hear today that he died, considering his long, long history with substance abuse. But he was also a troubled genius in my mind. Loved his melodic sense.

 

Stone Temple Pilots took some heat for being Nirvana/Pearl Jam grunge-wannabes when they first hit the scene but, for my money, they were a better band than the other two and their material holds up better today. The "Tiny Music....Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" album remains one of my all-time favorite albums by anyone, ever. ​

[Phil O'Keefe]

No, I'm not surprised, but it's still very sad. He was a very gifted - and troubled - man.

 

RIP Scott.

[Anderton]

It's really sad and unfortunate. Oddly enough, a couple weeks ago a friend of mine was shooting some videos with Scott. He said Scott looked really, really frail, like he was a 70-year-old man...but commented on how nice he was, and also rather shy in front of the camera. He's taking it pretty hard. I don't know if he'll be able to finish editing the videos for quite some time...if ever.

 

I'll have to dig out the Camp Freddy concert footage that used to be on Harmony Central, where there were some really great performances including Scott Weiland. It would be a good way to remember him.

[Ernest Buckley]

Sad story. The guy battled his demons for sure. I saw STP years ago, really good show.

 

Good tunes, good vibe, good albums.

 

RIP SW

[AlamoJoe]

I cannot agree with Guido on one small point.

I do not believe they(STP) were somehow diminished or overlooked by the other Flag Wavers of Grunge. I think they, and Scott, occupied their very own and singular musical niche.

Hey, they were San Dawg..The others were further North. There is no fair way to compare them to each other.

 

He had a remarkable voice, He wrote remarkable lyrics. He was lucky in finding remarkable musical partners.

 

It is tragic he could not overcome the demons that chased him. I'm sad they overtook him.

We have the music he made...That is probably enough.

He probably thinks that should be enough.

 

 

[UstadKhanAli]

They weren't diminished or overlooked, but they took a lot of hits initially because in their previous incarnation, they were I believe a new wave band, and later, a sort of dance band, and when several bands from Seattle broke big, they did an about face, adopting the look and style of "grunge" instantaneously.

 

I don't want to take away from what they did, of course. They could write memorable songs and were good musicians. But the guy couldn't stay away from drugs, and we all felt he'd be a casualty someday. Hopefully he's no longer wrestling with demons. R.I.P.

 

Here's a couple of things for you to hear in case you are interested:

 

 

 

 

[nice keetee]

R.I.P. Scott.

[Vito Corleone]

They weren't diminished or overlooked' date=' but they took a lot of hits initially because in their previous incarnation, they were I believe a new wave band, and later, a sort of dance band, and when several bands from Seattle broke big, they did an about face, adopting the look and style of "grunge" instantaneously. [/quote']

 

 

Yes. They weren't diminished or overlooked by the public---10s of millions of albums sold belie that---, but the critics savaged them for what they saw as un-originality. But the truth is there is very little that is new or original in the music business and MOST bands are chasing trends to one degree or another.

 

Maybe it was just the player in me, but it was this broader interest in other styles and ability to perform them that made STP standout to me. Yeah, to a large degree they were simply taking what Nirvana and Pearl Jam were doing and adding a bit of this or that to the sound, but to me, that's kind of how it's all done, isn't it? Nirvana didn't invent grunge either. They simply were the first band to take it to the top of the charts.

 

 

 

[UstadKhanAli]

Nirvana was heavily influenced by Cobain's mentor of sorts, The Melvins, so no, they didn't "invent" anything. They were good songwriters and gave rock a kick in the teeth. I was lucky enough to see them in a record store in 1989. Dumb luck. Didn't know who they were. The guy behind the counter was playing "Bleach". I went up and asked what it was because I thought it was good. The guy held up the record and said, "You'd like them. If you can stick around for 45 more minutes, they're setting up right now." I did. And I'm glad I did.

 

As an aside, I was lucky enough to see them at (I think) The Covered Wagon in San Francisco in 1990. They were so unbelievably heavy that I couldn't believe that only three people were making that much sound. I had never heard anything like that before. Seriously slowcore, with these immense slabs of sound like concrete issuing forth. Jeeeez, that was something. At one point, I looked around, thinking, "Surely there must be more than three people doing this. Someone else? Something else?" But no. Just incredible.

 

Back in the day, I never thought much of STP. I didn't respect them because I felt they were opportunists. I appreciate them more now because of their songwriting and musicianship, but they're not my favorite. Sorry, you know, Scott Weiland was a good frontman, but I'm not going to say things I don't feel because he passed away.