Stone Temple Pilots

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Stone Temple Pilots
STP performing on May 17, 2008 (pictured left-right: Robert DeLeo, Scott Weiland, Eric Kretz, and Dean DeLeo)
STP performing on May 17, 2008 (pictured left-right: Robert DeLeo, Scott Weiland, Eric Kretz, and Dean DeLeo)
Background information
Origin San Diego, California, USA
Genre(s) Hard rock, Alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, psychedelic rock
Years active 1987 – 2003
2008 – present
Label(s) Atlantic
Associated acts Velvet Revolver, Camp Freddy, Army of Anyone, Talk Show, The Wondergirls, The Magnificent Bastards
Website stonetemplepilots.com
Members
Dean DeLeo
Robert DeLeo
Eric Kretz
Scott Weiland

Stone Temple Pilots (abbreviated STP) is an American rock band consisting of Scott Weiland (vocals), brothers Robert (bass guitar, vocals) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), and Eric Kretz (drums, percussion). The band ran from 1987 to 2003, when they went on hiatus, and reunited in 2008.[1][2]

The band's five albums have sold over 17.5 million copies in the United States alone and nearly 40 million albums worldwide.[3] The band have had fifteen top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, including six #1's, and one #1 album on the pop charts (1994's Purple). In 1994, the band won a Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for their song "Plush". Stone Temple Pilots were also ranked at #40 on VH1's The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.[4] In 2003, the band released the greatest hits compilation Thank You. Around this time, band members began going their separate ways. After the band's break-up in 2003, Weiland became the frontman of Velvet Revolver with former members of Guns N' Roses. The DeLeo brothers formed the band Army of Anyone with Richard Patrick of the band Filter. Kretz founded Bomb Shelter Studios in Los Angeles. [5]

The band's trademark sound is considered a blending of modern alternative rock and grunge blended with hard rock of the 1970s, creating a form of arena rock,[6] with a blend of pop rock and psychedelic rock.

The band is currently on a large tour of the United States that kicked off in Columbus, Ohio on May 17.[7] STP will be heading into the studio in November after their tour to record their sixth album.[8]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation and Mighty Joe Young Era: 1987-1991

Stone Temple Pilots can trace its beginnings to a Black Flag concert in Long Beach in 1987, where Scott Weiland met Robert DeLeo. They both dated the same woman, and bonded through the situation. When the girl left town, Weiland and DeLeo moved into her vacated apartment. Immediately, Weiland and DeLeo formed a band, calling it Mighty Joe Young. [9] Seeing the band's potential, drummer Eric Kretz joined the band. Soon after, Robert DeLeo's brother, Dean DeLeo, decided to play guitar in the band, completing the quartet. The band recorded a demo tape that was completed around 1990. During the recording, they received a call from their lawyer who informed them that there was a blues man who had already claimed the name Mighty Joe Young. They changed the band's name to Shirley Temple's Pussy and performed under this name in San Diego, but then changed the name again due to record label pressure. [10]They liked the initials STP (from the STP Motor Oil Company logo[11]) and eventually settled on the name Stereo Temple Pirates, but just prior to their first record it was suggested to change Stereo to Stone, and Pirates (which sounded imposing) to Pilots, and they became officially Stone Temple Pilots in 1992 towards the end of the Core sessions.[12]

[edit] Core: 1992-1993

Stone Temple Pilots built a fan base in San Diego strip clubs in order to steer clear of the Los Angeles corporate music scene and build up their technique and following in the clubs. In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots signed with Atlantic Records. Their first album, Core, was released in September 1992, producing several big hits including "Sex Type Thing," "Plush," and "Creep."

In spite of often hostile reviews from critics, Stone Temple Pilots continued to gain fans. Bringing their music to the people, they toured for four weeks opening for Rage Against the Machine, then played a forty-date tour supporting heavy metal band Megadeth. 1993 brought continued success on the road, with the band headlining a two-and-a-half-month U.S. tour. Two sold-out shows in New York's Roseland Ballroom featured Stone Temple Pilots in full KISS make-up (causing some critics to dismiss the band as glam-rockers), in honor of their childhood heroes. Around this time, Stone Temple Pilots also performed at benefits for pro-choice organizations. Also in 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged performing the songs "Crackerman," "Plush," "Creep," "Sex Type Thing," "Sin," "Wicked Garden," the previously unreleased "Big Empty", and a cover of David Bowie's "Andy Warhol". [6]

The loyalty of the band's fans and the animosity of its critics came to a head in January 1994, when the band was simultaneously voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics. The following month the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. On March 1, 1994, at the Grammy Award ceremonies, "Plush" won the band its first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal.

[edit] Purple: 1994-1995

In the spring of 1994, Stone Temple Pilots returned to the studio to work on their second album, Purple. Completed in less than a month, Purple debuted at number one in the United States upon its release in June 1994. The radio-friendly "Interstate Love Song" quickly became a big hit, spending a record-setting fifteen weeks atop the album rock tracks chart. Other hits from the album included "Vasoline" and "Big Empty" (the latter also being featured on the soundtrack to The Crow movie). By October, just four months after its release, Purple had sold three million copies. Stone Temple Pilots had achieved across-the-board popularity.

Although the band's success continued into 1995, it would not be a good year for the band. Two weeks of recording session work had to be scrapped in February, and in May, Weiland was arrested for possession of heroin and cocaine in Pasadena, California, when police found the illegal drugs in his wallet. Facing up to three years in prison, Weiland pled not guilty, and a trial date was set the next year.

Following Weiland's arrest, the Pilots separated. Weiland formed a temporary side unit called the Magnificent Bastards, which contributed a song to the movie soundtrack of Tank Girl and a cover song to a John Lennon tribute album. By October 1995, however, the band regrouped with Weiland to begin recording its third album.

[edit] Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop: 1996-1997

Stone Temple Pilots released their third album, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, in April 1996. Fans again showed their support of the band when the album debuted at number four on the U.S. charts. Critical reception, however, was mostly negative. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "None of it ... has a distinct personality." Rolling Stone was surprised at "the clattering, upbeat character of the music" given Weiland's much-publicized run-ins with drugs and the law. STP was also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone during the Tiny Music era.

However, Weiland's drug addiction again became a serious obstacle to the band's success. The band was unsuccessful in being able to fully tour in support of Tiny Music.... A short tour in the fall of 1996 ensued in the U.S. but final dates at the end of December in Hawaii had to be cancelled. The band issued a statement saying that: "[Weiland] has become unable to rehearse or appear for these shows due to his dependency on drugs. He is currently under a doctor's care in a medical facility."

Weiland's entry into a drug rehabilitation program was not voluntary. In April 1996, he was ordered by a Pasadena judge to spend up to six months under 24/7 medical supervision. After Weiland completed five months in a drug treatment program, the charges of cocaine and heroin possession were dropped in October 1996. Weiland's 1996 stay in a rehabilitation center proved unsuccessful and in January 1997 he checked himself into another drug treatment center. This resulted in another canceled tour.

Despite their fans' loyalty, the band's patience with Weiland seemed to be coming to an end. Guitar Player Magazine reported in May 1997 that the Stone Temple Pilots would honor their five-album recording contract, but they expected the next album to be recorded without Weiland, with a new sound and a new name.

[edit] Hiatus, No.4 and Shangri-La Dee Da: 1997-2002

In September 1997, while Stone Temple Pilots were on hiatus, Weiland began recording a solo album, 12 Bar Blues, which was released in March 1998. While Scott worked on and promoted his solo album, the remaining members of Stone Temple Pilots formed the short-lived band Talk Show, with former Ten Inch Men singer Dave Coutts. Neither release did well commercially, but both received some critical acclaim.

Stone Temple Pilots soon reunited, releasing No.4 in 1999. Singles released from the album included "Down" and "No Way Out", but they scored one of their biggest hits since the success of Core and Purple with the single "Sour Girl". "Sour Girl" was inspired by Weiland's failing relationship with his then wife, and peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. The popular music video for "Sour Girl" featured actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. Shortly after No.4's completion, Weiland was sentenced to a year in a Los Angeles county jail for violating probation.

During the summer of 2001, the band released their fifth album, Shangri-La Dee Da, which produced two modest rock radio hits, including "Days of the Week" and "Hollywood Bitch". The band began work on a sixth studio album in 2002 that reportedly would go back to their Core era sound and planned on finishing it in January 2003, but when Dean DeLeo and Scott Weiland nearly got into a fist fight during the last show of STP's fall 2002 tour[13], it marked the end of Stone Temple Pilots. On November 11, 2003, Atlantic released a greatest hits album, Thank You, with a bonus DVD. The album included a previously unreleased single called "All in the Suit That You Wear". Thank You also included an acoustic version of "Plush" which was recorded on MTV Headbanger's Ball in 1992 (a video of the performance is included on the bonus DVD). Although the band has not had a platinum record since No.4, their music is still played regularly on radio stations.

[edit] Break-up and other projects: 2003-2007

The DeLeo brothers' most recent band, Army of Anyone, released its debut album on November 14, 2006. It features Ray Luzier, a session drummer, and Richard Patrick of the industrial rock band Filter. Army of Anyone went on indefinite hiatus in May 2007 after Richard Patrick announced he was working on a new Filter album, meaning that the band could possibly be defunct.

Weiland joined the successful supergroup Velvet Revolver along with former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Matt Sorum, and Duff McKagan. The band released two albums, Contraband (2004) and Libertad (2007).

Scott Weiland revealed on March 20, 2008 at a Velvet Revolver show in Glasgow that this would be the band's final tour. Matt Sorum posted a message on his website the next day discussing the band's situation and said, "You could tell who was unhappy last night," and "Some people in this business don't realize how great of a life they have." Weiland shot back by telling Blabbermouth.net, "Well, first of all, the state of my family affairs is really none of his business, since he is too immature to have a real relationship, let alone children. So don't attempt to stand in a man's shoes when you haven't walked his path." Weiland also mentioned that he is going to annihilate the stage during Velvet Revolver's last few shows, confirming that the band is likely done.[14] However, VR guitarist Slash revealed that Velvet Revolver would continue to write a third album with a new singer.

In October 2004, "Plush" appeared in the popular video games Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and The Bigs and later in the 2008 Playstation 2 game "SingStar 90s". Additionally, Guitar Hero II, released in November 2006, features the band's song "Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart" as a playable track. The song "Vasoline" is featured in both the game Rock Band and in the PlayStation 2 karaoke game SingStar Amped. "Interstate Love Song" and "Sex Type Thing" are also featured in Rock Band as downloadable tracks, which were released on January 8, 2008 and February 19, 2008 respectively. [7]

[edit] Reunion: 2008-present

On January 20, 2008, a Miami Herald blog reported that Scott said that the public "should be on the lookout for an STP reunion in the coming months." Billy Morrison also claimed on a December 29, 2007 edition of Camp Freddy Radio that STP have venues on hold for shows and that "it's no secret, half of LA knows it," implicating a reunion tour.

STP headlined the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio to kick off their reunion tour on May 17, 2008. [15]

STP also performed on the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23, 2008 for Miller Lite Carb Day in front of an estimated audience of 40,000.

STP headlined 98.9 KQRC's "Rockfest" in Kansas City, Missouri, for over 50,000 people at the WWI Liberty Memorial.

Stone Temple Pilots held a press conference and mini concert in Hollywood at Harry Houdini's estate on April 7, 2008 to announce their full US tour that will last from May until November. STP's reunion tour is currently the highest grossing tour in the United States according to Pollstar.com.[16] Dean DeLeo stated at the press conference that STP will head into the studio following the tour and record a follow-up to Shangri-La Dee Da.[17] Scott Weiland said recently on Kevin and Bean on KROQ in LA that a DVD could be included with the next album.[18] STP publicly performed for the first time since 2002 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on May 1. Weiland (dressed in a Bob Dylan outfit) and the band performed "Vasoline" and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" on-air, with "Interstate Love Song" playing during the end credits. "Silvergun Superman", "Sin" and "Big Empty" were also performed but not televised.

According to Dean DeLeo, the reunion started out with a simple phone call from Weiland's wife, Mary Forsberg. She invited the DeLeo brothers to play at a private beach party, which led to the reconciliation of Weiland and the DeLeo brothers. [19]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Stone Temple Pilots discography

[edit] Studio albums

Core 8x platinum (USA)
2x platinum (CAN)
Silver (UK)
Purple 6x platinum (USA)
3x platinum (CAN)
Silver (UK)
Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop 2x platinum (USA)
Platinum (CAN)
No. 4 Platinum (USA)
Platinum (CAN)
Shangri-La Dee Da Gold (USA)
Gold (CAN)

[edit] Awards / Nominations

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stone Temple Pilots Reunion To Start At Ohio Festival Feb 13, 2008
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Stone Temple Pilots". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2005-06-13.
  3. ^ [1] Feb 13, 2008
  4. ^ Rock On The Net: VH1: 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists
  5. ^ BOMB SHELTER STUDIOS, Los Angeles
  6. ^ Stone Temple Pilots tickets, concerts and tour dates. Official Ticketmaster site
  7. ^ NEW ROCK 99.7 THE BLITZ
  8. ^ Stone Temple Pilots to record new album April 7, 2008
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ [3]]
  11. ^ [4]
  12. ^ Stone Temple Pilots on MSN Music
  13. ^ The Recorder
  14. ^ BLABBERMOUTH.NET - SCOTT WEILAND Fires Back At MATT SORUM: 'Ego And Jealousy Can Get The Better Of Anyone'
  15. ^ NEW ROCK 99.7 THE BLITZ
  16. ^ Pollstar.com April 24, 2008
  17. ^ Stone Temple Pilots to record new album April 7, 2008
  18. ^ Kevin and Bean Show Podcasts April 18, 2008
  19. ^ [5] Feb 13, 2008

[edit] External links

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Stone Temple Pilots
Scott Weiland · Dean DeLeo · Robert DeLeo · Eric Kretz
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
Related bands