Episode 76: Stone Temple Pilots’ “Core” (1992)

Summary

Accelerated Culture – Episode 76: Stone Temple Pilots’ “Core” (1992)

Podcast: Accelerated Culture – The Rise of Alternative Music in the 80s and Beyond
Episode: 76 – Stone Temple Pilots’ “Core” (1992)
Date: November 9, 2025
Hosts: Lori and Scott Free

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Overview

This episode of Accelerated Culture dives deep into Stone Temple Pilots’ debut album Core (1992), dissecting its origins, sound, cultural context, and legacy. Hosts Lori and Scott Free blend personal anecdotes, musical analysis, band history, and thoughtful discussion of the album’s lyrical themes, creative process, and its contentious place in the grunge canon.

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Episode Structure and Main Segments

• Personal Updates and Concert Recaps (01:08–08:52)
• Stone Temple Pilots: Are They "Grunge"? (11:31–16:15)
• Band History and Musical Roots (16:15–32:56)
• “Core” Album Background (23:49–32:56)
• Track-By-Track Analysis (33:07–94:22)
• What Happened Next: Band Trajectory and Aftermath (94:22–100:12)
• Preview of Next Episode (100:13–100:51)

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Recent Events

• Scott Free catches up on recent concerts: Sir Chloe, Depeche Mode's concert documentary, and David Byrne’s “Who Is the Sky” tour, praising Byrne as “just charmingly awkward and earnest and funny... an amazing showman” (05:00).
• Lori and Scott exchange Halloween stories, with Scott describing a “corporate hellscape” themed party complete with shredded job applications and cubicle-inspired décor.

2. Personal Connections to STP and "Core"

• Lori’s connection: Owned Core since its 1992 release; recently upgraded to the 2017 remaster. Immediately drawn to Scott Weiland as frontman, noting, “I was a fan, right out of the gate” (11:05).
• Scott’s connection: Knew the hits but never listened to the record in full before preparing for this episode.

3. “Are Stone Temple Pilots Grunge?”

[12:01–16:15]

• Scott explores the fraught application of the “grunge” label; considers industry marketing pressures vs. true musical lineage.

“Stone Temple Pilots, not a Seattle band... they were making music in the ’70s hard rock tradition, owing more to Zeppelin and Aerosmith... I prefer Nirvana’s records, but I gotta say that Stone Temple Pilots were better musicians.” (15:21)

• Lori points out Scott Weiland’s musical chameleon nature and broad influences.
• Both agree: While Core fit the early ‘90s heavy guitar zeitgeist, the band ultimately transcended grunge labels.

4. Band Formation and Musical DNA

[16:15–23:49]

• Scott Weiland’s roots: social distortion, hardcore, post-punk, modeled first band “Soi-Disant” after Duran Duran, Ultravox, The Cure, U2 (17:12).
• The DeLeo brothers: eclectic New Jersey childhood soundtrack (Zeppelin, Hendrix, AM Gold, jazz, and country), shaping their complex musical sensibility.

“That sort of weird, eclectic mix really kind of shaped some of their musical tastes and their approach to songwriting.” (19:03)

• The lineup coalesces: Weiland, both DeLeos, and Eric Kretz form STP after jamming, initially under the name Mighty Joe Young.
• The iconic STP logo’s origins: homage to the oil additive brand, cycling through possible names before landing on “Stone Temple Pilots” (23:08).

5. Album Creation and Context

[23:49–32:56]

• Recorded at Rumbo Recorders (owned by Daryl “The Captain” Dragon of Captain & Tennille) in three weeks—remarkably fast for a debut (23:52).
• Core was a product of a hungry music industry seeking the “next Nirvana.”
• The album’s title: A nod to musical roots, essential elements, and Adam–Eve/”core of the apple” symbolism.
• Commercial and critical impact: “Went eight times platinum... a great, great start for this band” (30:44), peaking at #3 on the Billboard charts, with international success.
• Despite early negative reviews and charges of being grunge copyists, Core is now regarded as a classic.

6. Track-by-Track Breakdown

(Detailed analysis for each song; key moments, quotes, and context highlighted)

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Tracklist Analysis and Highlights

1. “Dead and Bloated” [33:21]

• Sound: Aggressive, heavy, “punching you in the face right out the gate” (34:00).
• Lyrics: Stream-of-consciousness, not rooted in event or narrative.
• Notable production: Scott Weiland sings the intro into a guitar pickup for that distant, thin effect (36:14).

2. “Sex Type Thing” [37:39]

• Sound: Hard-hitting, unrelenting riff.
• Theme: Written as an anti-date-rape song, taking the villain’s perspective to critique toxic masculinity.

“I never thought that people would ever seriously believe I was an advocate of date rape.” —Scott Weiland (41:01)

• Controversial and misunderstood at the time.

3. “Wicked Garden” [43:49]

• Theme: Loss of innocence; showcases lyrical strength—“I want to burn you to life now, out of the chains that bind you” (45:19).
• Not released as a single but gained fame via MTV Unplugged.

4. “No Memory” [48:16]

• Brief, atmospheric instrumental; a palate cleanser mid-album. Draws comparisons to Rush for bass complexity (49:43).

5. “Sin” [51:11]

• Anger/internalized, references to addiction and religious guilt.
• Standout vocal performance: “Just the raw power of Scott Weiland’s voice... booming, sonic” (53:45).
• Guitar inspired by Alex Lifeson (Rush); incorporation of both Led Zeppelin and Rush influences (55:01).

6. “Naked Sunday” [57:15]

• Lyrical motif: Disillusionment with organized religion.
• Musically, inspired by sped-up James Brown, with “ridiculous, slappy, funky bass” (58:13).
• “Scott was really going for that crazy, snake oil salesman on top of the soapbox thing” (60:09).

7. “Creep” [62:19]

• Hit single, softer—quiet/loud dynamic.
• Lyrical focus: Insecurity, “half the man I used to be,” youthful alienation.

“That's just the idea of being a young person somewhere caught between still being a kid and becoming a young man. It's that youth apathy, that second guessing yourself, not feeling like you fit in.” —Scott Weiland (65:16)

• Became a radio mainstay; written in the backseat of Robert’s car (66:37).

8. “Piece of Pie” [68:16]

• Aggressive and complex, strong “Black Album” Metallica similarities.
• Demonstrates STP’s jazz roots in bridge; “the bass work... moving around in a way that you do not hear a lot in rock” (69:44).

9. “Plush” [71:47]

• Signature track; based on a real-life kidnapping story but also a metaphor for obsessive relationships.

“It’s sort of a metaphor for a lost, obsessive relationship” (72:21).

• Guitar riff inspired by ragtime; “You would not expect to hear a lot of ragtime on a really hard rock album. And yet, there it is” (77:52).
• Won Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance; ushered STP into stardom.

10. “Wet My Bed” [80:41]

• Short, Tom Waits-esque interlude.
• Loosely inspired by Scott’s tumultuous relationship with (future wife) Mary Forsberg (81:57).
• Captures Weiland’s chaotic personal life and experimental studio process.

11. “Cracker Man” [87:29]

• Driving, fast-paced, built on a powerful riff.
• Inspiration: A homeless character in Scott’s life; referenced Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”
• Pre-dates Dean DeLeo joining the band.

12. “Where the River Goes” [89:59]

• Epic 8+ minute closer, mid-tempo, powerful.
• Represents the pivotal jam that cemented Dean DeLeo’s place in the band.
• Lyrical inspiration: “Dean’s playing felt as big as a mountain and as high as the sun.” —Scott Weiland (91:29)
• A strong favorite for Scott: “This highlights some of the best things that the band does…” (93:26).

Favorite Tracks

• Scott: “Where the River Goes,” with “Creep” a close runner-up (93:31).
• Lori: “Plush,” for its karaoke value and personal attachment, with “Wicked Garden” considered (94:00).

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Notable Quotes

• Scott Free (Grunge Label, 15:21):
  "Stone Temple Pilots, not a Seattle band... they were making music in the ’70s hard rock tradition, owing more to Zeppelin and Aerosmith... Stone Temple Pilots were better musicians."

• Scott Weiland (on “Sex Type Thing,” 41:01):
  "I never thought that people would ever seriously believe I was an advocate of date rape. It's really not about sex at all. It's about control, violence, and abuse of power."

• Scott Free (on “Plush” guitar influences, 77:52):
  "You would not expect to hear a lot of ragtime on a really hard rock album. And yet, there it is."

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Band Legacy & What Happened Next

[94:22–100:12]

• Follow-up albums: Purple (1994), Tiny Music... (1996), No. 4 (1999), Shangri-La Dee Da (2001).
• Internal strife led to break-up, side projects (Weiland with Velvet Revolver), and several reunions.
• Multiple frontmen after Weiland’s departure: Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Jeff Gutt (X Factor).
• Both Weiland (2015, drug overdose) and Bennington (2017, suicide) tragically died.
• Despite turbulence, STP endured, touring with new singers and continuing their musical legacy.

"The most creative, most passionate people really feel things to an extreme. And that was true of Kurt Cobain, and that was true of Scott Weiland... ultimately, it cost him his life." —Lori (99:27)

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Notable Moments & Memorable Side Tangents

• Karaoke Rubber Duck Story (72:21): Lori recounts singing “Plush” at karaoke while clutching a rubber duck, changing the lyrics to “when the ducks do find her”—a personal and humorous take.
• Scott’s Halloween Corporate Hellscape Party (06:38): Complete with job applications shredded at the door, performance reviews for guests, and a full office cubicle scavenged for authenticity.
• Rush Reunion Excitement: Scott detours to celebrate securing tickets for an unexpected Rush reunion tour (55:36).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Formation & Debate about Grunge: [11:31–16:15]
• Band & Album Origins: [16:15–32:56]
• Track-by-Track Analysis Begins: [33:07]
  • “Dead and Bloated” – [33:21]
  • “Sex Type Thing” – [37:39]
  • “Wicked Garden” – [43:49]
  • “No Memory” – [48:16]
  • “Sin” – [51:11]
  • “Naked Sunday” – [57:15]
  • “Creep” – [62:19]
  • “Piece of Pie” – [68:16]
  • “Plush” – [71:47]
  • “Wet My Bed” – [80:41]
  • “Cracker Man” – [87:29]
  • “Where the River Goes” – [89:59]
• What Happened Next / Aftermath: [94:22–100:12]
• Favorite Tracks Discussion: [93:31–94:22]
• Preview of Next Episode (“The Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey’s Dead”): [100:13–100:51]

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Tone & Style

• Authentic, wry, and deeply knowledgeable. Lori and Scott balance reverence for STP’s impact with humor, honesty, and personal reflections.
• Technical yet approachable: The discussions mix musical theory, production trivia, and lyrical insights with anecdotes and relatable contexts.
• Candid: The hosts address Scott Weiland’s struggles and the band’s turbulent history without flinching or sensationalizing.

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Next Episode Teaser

[100:22]
Next up: The 1992 album Honey’s Dead by The Jesus and Mary Chain.

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This summary was crafted to retain the episode’s depth, flow, and personality. For longtime fans or the uninitiated, it delivers a comprehensive blueprint of STP’s “Core,” its place in music history, and why it’s still worth turning up loud.

Transcript

[Scott Free]

Accelerated Culture fans love new wave deep dives. Hit synth and swagger for articles and PDFs on Duran Duran in excess and more synth and swagger.com.

[Lori]

Welcome to the Accelerated Culture Podcast. A sonic journey through the vibrant and revolutionary sounds of the 1980s and 1990s and now 2024 Webby Honoree for best Indie Podcast. I'm Lori, along with my co host Scott Free, and in this podcast we explore how new waves stormed the airwaves in the early 80s and gave way for the rise of alternative music in the 90s. Find us on the [e-mail] hello and welcome to another episode of Accelerated Culture.

[Scott Free]

I'm Laurie and I am Scott Free.

[Lori]

Scott, what have you seen? What have you done in the last two weeks I haven't talked to you?

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it's been a busy couple weeks. There's been a lot of cool stuff going on musically in Chicago. Shortly after we recorded the last episode, I went and saw a show. Got an invitation out of the blue day of the show from my friend Shelly to whom I gave a shout out last time for hooking us up at the garbage show at the Salt Shed. So I guess once again shout out to Shelley who just said hey, do you want to go to a show tonight? And I had never heard of either of the bands playing but what the hell? And went and saw Sir Chloe at the Vic. Sir Chloe is an interesting New York indie rock band most notable for the charismatic little lead singer. Basically take Wednesday Adams, Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim and Susie sue. Stick them in a blender and you have lead singer Dana Foote and an all female band behind her that legit kind of rocks. She is cute as hell in a very goth sort of way and they make some good music. Their opening act was equally equally remarkable, although remarkable is a non committal word I'm remarking on them. The opening act was Susie Clue, so you've got several people who are clearly playing instruments on stage but largely being drowned out by the backing tracks, which are like trip hop inspired pop and then with a hot girl lead singer who's breathily cooing the melodies while mostly auditioning for a Victoria's Secret Angels ad campaign reboot with the wings and all. Give lead singer Susie Clue a couple months of dance lessons and I think she's going to be a very big deal. She's just got the whole pop star package thing and apparently getting some momentum. Then went and saw in the theaters during a limited theatrical release Depeche Mode M A concert documentary on Depeche Mode's Memento Mori tour. Centering on three sold out nights in Mexico City. The documentary goes between the three live shows, highlights from each of those intercut with short interstitial pieces on the theme of death and Mexico's unique cultural embrace of death, historically, tradition wise and in contemporary Mexican art. It's a really good concert documentary in some ways. Feels like the Depeche Mode 101 movie from way back in the 80s, but new and updated and sad. It's about death. And the Memento Mori tour came hot on the heels of band member Andy Fletcher's death, so there are nods to him, certainly. But it's just always really good to see Dave Gahan and Martin Gore playing live and they clearly have a deep love for each other. The rest of the touring band is so tight. It's a great show. I saw the tour in Detroit last year and then happy to see the movie. And then most recently on Halloween night, saw An Evening with David Byrne, the who Is the Sky tour. David Byrne.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Did four nights at Chicago's Auditorium Theater. You won't often hear me use words like joyous, but it really fits here. David Byrne is just charmingly awkward and earnest and funny and just an unlikely but amazing showman. And the production, the stage production was pretty incredible. There's this huge projection, background and video floor. The musicians are as much a marching band as conventional rock band. Marching around, dancing around, playing their instruments as a full band, as well as backup singers and dancers. If they were singers, they were also dancers and just so much energy and jubilation. They were doing a mix of David Byrne's solo work and plenty of Talking Heads favorites. Yeah, the show was just a brilliant display of musicianship, stage production, choreography, performance, just showmanship in general. Highly recommend. If David Byrne is coming to your town and you have a chance to go see him jump at that chance, I guarantee you will not be sorry. It is an amazing show.

[Lori]

Cool.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I've been busy.

[Lori]

Yeah, I can tell.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

You never did tell me how. How the Halloween party was.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it was fun. We had the controversial theme, a corporate hellscape.

[Lori]

Relatable.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Well, some people were like, I don't want to go to a party that's in a corporate hellscape. I work every day in a corporate hellscape.

[Lori]

Right.

[Scott Free]

Is it literally in hell? Is there fire, is there and are there demons? I, you know, got the prosthetic latex horns and feather wings and a suit and. Yeah, if you really embraced the Hellscape. Part of the corporate hellscape. It was a blast. You know, we had a desk at the gate to the party and made people fill out job applications. The job applications were hilarious. When they finished the two page application, we would stamp it and feed it directly into a shredder without reading it. Found that hilarious. We had performance reviews for people's performance at the party and those were spectacular. Yeah, no. Oh, also the host of the party, you know Dan Brown.

[Lori]

I know Dan Brown, yeah.

[Scott Free]

Commitment to a bit, kind of his thing. He went out the week of party to a far flung northern suburb of Chicago to an office that was going out of business and getting rid of their office furniture and got a complete office cubicle with desk and filing cabinet and everything. Set it up in the middle of the party, put a laptop on it. Had old doom, but in the office playing. Or people could play solitaire or minesweeper or take notes in notepad. There were projections. There were the whole thing. It was a great party.

[Lori]

Sounds good.

[Scott Free]

Short answer, too late. Long answer, everything. I just said, great party.

[Lori]

Good, good, good. Well, I have nothing interesting to speak of. I've just been working. Yeah, I've just been working. Yeah. Well, you saw my costume for the work costume contest.

[Scott Free]

Did a very respectable bo katan.

[Lori]

Thank you. Thank you. I'm bitter because two years in a row I have not won the contest. So. Yeah, next year maybe. I guess. That brings us to the topic of the week.

[Scott Free]

Oh, we doing an episode on an album or something?

[Lori]

That's the rumor.

[Scott Free]

Might as well.

[Lori]

All right, this week I chose Stone Temple Pilots debut album, Core. It was released on Atlantic Records on September 29, 1992. And I assume, Scott, that you were familiar with this one before we went into. Went into this episode.

[Scott Free]

Well, I mean, it's a yes and it's a no. Obviously, Stone Temple Pilots were inescapable in 1992, if you were listening to alternative rock radio or you were watching mtv. And so there were three or four singles off this album, and I definitely heard those. At no point, however, did I own the album or to my recollection, listen to the album all the way through. So there was certainly some familiar stuff. Hell, a couple of these songs that probably heard 300 times at this point. They were on such heavy rotation and remain so to this day. But there was plenty of stuff on this album that was new to me.

[Lori]

Fantastic.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. And you?

[Lori]

Well, I actually have owned it since it came out in 92. Although this episode motivated me to go and get the 2017, remaster version.

[Scott Free]

Okay.

[Lori]

But, yeah, no, I remember the first time I heard it. And of course, you know, everybody around me was like, oh, they're ripping off Pearl Jam. They're just trying to be Pearl Jam.

[Scott Free]

No, they were.

[Lori]

Not at all. No. But I do remember seeing the lead singer, Scott Whalen, on MTV with this bright shock of, like, fluorescent pink or fluorescent orange hair.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, the Ronald McDonald hair.

[Lori]

I hope you never said that about me when I dyed my hair.

[Scott Free]

No, it was. It was not just the color. It was also the length of that he had at that time.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

It had a certain Ronald McDonald thing to it. You know, it's just a connection.

[Lori]

But, yeah, so I was a fan, like, right out of the gate.

[Scott Free]

Okay.

[Lori]

Although I didn't know a whole lot about the band.

[Scott Free]

Not all that much to know at the time. Right. It's a debut album.

[Lori]

Well, yeah, that's true. But, you know, over the years, as I picked up their other albums, you know, I mean, it's not like the Pixies, where I was so obsessed. I found everything that I could that any of them had worked on, you know.

[Scott Free]

Okay. So, like, that's our respective histories with the band in this album. But before we get into the band's history, a question. Is Stone Temple Pilot a grunge band? And to answer that, you kind of have to define what is grunge, which we have touched on in at least two episodes so far for, obviously, Nirvana, Nevermind, and for Pearl Jam. 10.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Is it a grunge album? And what does that mean?

[Lori]

Are you asking me?

[Scott Free]

I am.

[Lori]

Oh, okay. Well, I think initially with this album in 92, I think that they were kind of lumped into the grunge sound, and they were influenced by some. Some of the other major bands at the time. I know that Scott Wayland was a fan of Nirvana, but also other bands that came out at the time, like Social Distortion, that were kind of leaning more towards rockabilly. Sure. I think maybe you could call this first album grunge, but I think over the years, they really got away from that. As a matter of fact, they did receive a Grammy for a song on this album for Best Hard Rock performance.

[Scott Free]

Right.

[Lori]

There's some, like, overlap between, like, grunge, hard rock, heavy metal, even, you know. Yeah.

[Scott Free]

I mean, that. That's kind of the thing is, like, if we look at Nirvana, Nirvana considered themselves more of a punk band and bristled at the grunge label that was sort of thrust upon them. It wasn't 80s punk. It was kind of its own new generation. But it was where punk met metal. Very heavy, fast, but then doing that Pixies loud, quiet, loud thing, but distortion and that angst. Pearl Jam definitely considered grunge, but, you know, coming more out of a classic rock in the Buffalo Springfield vein. And, you know, the connection between them. They. The bands knew each other, but it was mostly the Seattle connection. Stone Temple Pilots, not a Seattle band. And there were those, particularly in the music press, who decided that if a band was not coming out of the Seattle scene, then they were imitators. And they were not really a grunge band. Although, you know, that gets to the whole. Like, is it only a grunge band if it comes from the Seattle grunge scene? No. Otherwise, it's just like a sparkling alternative hard rock guitar band. So some in the record industry lumped them in with the grunge scene because it was convenient from a marketing standpoint. But many fans and many critics wouldn't allow that because they were San Diego and la, they were California bands, so they couldn't be grunge. But ultimately they didn't want to be grunge in the first place. They were making music in the 70s hard rock tradition. Owing more to Zeppelin and Aerosmith than they did to progenitors of, say, Nirvana or the more coming out of the hippie classic rock scene of, say, Pearl Jam. So I posed the question, because they get lumped in that way, but ultimately they're kind of their own thing. And what you said about hard rock, to this day, you will still see Stone Temple Pilots played on alternative stations. They're now getting rotation in classic rock stations. Because that's just how old we are. And in what I call cockrock stations, your Z rock, you're in Chicago 95.5, the hard rock station. They still get played all the damn time. So they have lasted in a way that certainly goes beyond the original grunge label. And again, as you say, the career that they had in the albums that followed this transcended that specific label. And they were just a hell of a good band, musicianship wise, songwriting wise, the complexity of their songs. You know, I'll go ahead and say that I prefer Nirvana's records, but I gotta say that Stone Temple Pilots were better musicians.

[Lori]

Okay. You had mentioned, Scott, that they really did not want to be lumped in with the grunge moniker. No. One of the sources that I'm going to be relying on pretty heavily for this episode is singer Scott Whalen's own memoir. It's called Not Dead and Not for Sale. He explained about being a teenager in San Diego shaped by the sounds of Social Distortion, Hardcore, post punk, big beat, garage bands were popping up everywhere. But I was not impressed with what I heard in the local clubs. I thought I could do better. I formed a post punk band. And that band that he formed, the first band was actually in 85 and it was called Sois Disant D I S A N T. It is French for self styled or self proclaimed. Yeah, that band didn't end up lasting a whole long time. Scott explained why were modeling ourselves after the first Duran Duran album and bands like Ultravox, the Cure, and you two.

[Scott Free]

Separate from the Scott Wayland Experience with whatever you said. You have the brothers Deleo, the elder brother Dean Delio, born in like 1961, to give you an idea of age difference here, and the younger brother Robert, born five years later. They grow up in a small town in New Jersey. I saw a great interview by Rick Beato. He interviews a lot of musicians and he gets really technical into the gear and the music theory and playing. He interviews Robert DeLeo, who would go on to become the bass player of Stone Temple Pilots. Robert Deo talks in this interview about growing up in New Jersey and the sort of musical journey that he and his brother grew up on. So they would spend a lot of time in the basement of the family home listening to the family's records. And it was like a surprisingly eclectic collection, according to Robert. I was listening to rock music, but I was reaching for jazz. So you'd be listening to a lot of 78s and 45s and. And a lot of those were really old from the beginning of the 20th century. So he listened to a lot of Gershwin and Joe Beam, Cole Porter, Henry Mancini. So he's listening to jazz. And as we get into the album, you're going to be like, okay, no, that makes a lot of sense with the bass playing that you're hearing that. Yeah, he was reaching for jazz, as he said. And then they would be listening to the rock radio of the day. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. In addition to that, just by virtue of growing up in the 60s and 70s, they would hear a lot of what is referred to today as AM gold, the rock and country, an incredibly eclectic mix that got played on AM radio. You know, you're driving in the 60s or 70s in the back seat of the family car and you are going to be hearing John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Fleetwood Mac, actual country music, but that sort of Weird, eclectic mix really kind of shaped some of their musical tastes and their approach to songwriting. We'll hear some of this as we get into it. And it's buried way deep down there in this very heavy record. You don't listen to it and go, oh, yeah, that sounds a lot like John Denver, but it's in there. It's all part of the mix that eventually forms their style of play.

[Lori]

Back to Soi Disant for a second. Yeah, they were playing a show. And let me just go directly to Scott Weyland here. It was during this period when at one of our gigs, a tall, skinny bass player came on stage and he joined us for a rendition of Louie, Louie, the Star Spangled Banner of Rock and Roll. The guy was 6 foot 2, weighed 155 pounds, and was the best bass player I had ever heard. He looked like John Taylor from Duran Duran. His name was Robert DiLeo and he grew up around the Jersey Shore. He slapped the bass and the mode of the great funksters like Larry Graham of Slamming in the Family Stone and Louis Johnson of the Brothers Johnson. He was deeply steeped in the various forms of rhythm and blues. He said one of his idols was James Jamerson, the fabulous Motown bassist and founding member of the famous Funk Brothers rhythm section. So that's how they met the younger brother, Robert. And soon Robert introduced Scott to his older brother Dean, the guitarist. And they came up with the idea of starting their own band.

[Scott Free]

They had to demand, kind of coerce Dean into coming out of retirement as a guitar player. They needed to fill the guitar player slot. They had Dean get his guitar out of his attic. And, you know, muscle memory is an amazing thing. His chops came back incredibly quickly.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

And.

[Scott Free]

And when he played with them, they were immediately like, oh, wait, this guy is way better than the guitar player we had before. He can legit solo. He's not just a rhythm player. And at that point, he was in.

[Lori]

Scott had said for months he was just our friend in San Diego, our bassist's brother, a super hip guy who helped us book gigs. And then with one jam, he became an integral part of the band. And we will talk about what that jam session was when we get to the album tracks, because it became one of the songs on the album. Then they recruited a drummer named Eric Kretz, and that is the first lineup of the band. They chose the name Mighty Joe Young after the movie. However, there was already a blues musician recording under that name, so they decided to change their name. Now the story of the band's Name is interesting because when I was really little, either my sister or I. I don't remember which of us had a bicycle with a sticker on it that said stp, which was a brand of transmission fluid.

[Scott Free]

Yep.

[Lori]

And it has a very distinctive logo, and Scott Wayland loved that logo. So they were trying to come up with band names that fit those initials.

[Scott Free]

Sure.

[Lori]

Initially they came up with Shirley Temple's.

[Scott Free]

It's weird that that one didn't stick.

[Lori]

I'm really glad it didn't stick. But eventually they settled on Stone Temple Pilots and they were signed to Atlantic Records in 1992. The album was recorded in just three weeks at a place called Rumbo R U M B O Recorders.

[Scott Free]

Fun point about this.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Rumbo recording studio was owned by one Daryl Dragon, who you may recognize as the Captain from Captain and Tenille. No, I'm telling you. Yep. Wow. Yeah, baby. Captain and Tenille.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Wow.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Produced it in three weeks. They recorded the entire album. Three weeks in May of 92 is pretty incredible. The band had been playing together for a while. So while this was their debut, some of these songs, as you mentioned, came into this recording session. Maybe not quite fully formed, but already ready to go. Some of the information I'm getting here on the recording of Core comes from an article from September of 2024 from the year grungebroke.com review of the album Core. It was an amazing time, man. It was so beautiful. Remembers Dean DeLeo when remembering the recording of Core. And that was some of my greatest memories of Scott. He was so on his game. He was so healthy. He was electric and vibrant. There was an innocence, yet determination within all of us. Now, if you're hearing he was so healthy then and being like, well, say, why is that notable? Yeah. When we get into the. Usually the final segment of the episode, the. What happened next. If you have not paid attention at all to music news in, say, the last 10 years, you may have missed the fate of Scott Wayland, but it wasn't pretty.

[Lori]

Right? Right. So Scott was known just as much, I think, for being in and out of drug rehab as for his vocal abilities.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, he was a passionate man. He was an incredible vocalist and he was a bit of a disaster area.

[Lori]

So spoiler alert.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

He died of a drug overdose.

[Scott Free]

He didn't make it. No, no. And that was even after tumultuous relationship with the band and in and out of the band and. Yeah, yeah. But in this, their debut and major label debut for that matter, this was not one of those Bands that, you know, started off on a small indie label and worked their way up like, they pretty much came out the gate with a monster freaking hit on Atlantic Records, which is impressive. Right Place, Right Time, when music radio and the music companies were hungry for hard guitar rock, had it been five years prior, would have gone nowhere, but grunge had hit, and so people wanted more heavy guitar rock. And although this wasn't grunge per se, it was close enough and went huge.

[Lori]

Yeah, it went eight times platinum. And I think you said in our previous episode that the record labels were all looking for the next Nirvana. And I think that, like you said, right place, right time. I remember there was a lot of criticism that Scott Whalen's voice sounded, some people said like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, other people said sounded too much like Alice in Chains. But Scott Weyland is. He's even referred to himself as a musical chameleon. He can mimic a lot of different styles.

[Scott Free]

I would say that's accurate, but the default, I would put closer to a less gravelly, more melodic James Hetfield. But, you know, we'll get into that later.

[Lori]

Oh, interesting. Okay.

[Scott Free]

One more thing from Dean about the recording of the album. Once again from the year grunge broke. Every detail of the album was carefully considered, right down to its sequencing notes. Dean deleo. That musical ride and how we put these songs in order was essential to us. It was very thought out. Core is Scott Wayland, Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz referencing the musical idols of their youth. 60s psych rockers, the Doors, 70s arena goliaths, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin and 80s rockers like the Cult. And I read that and I was like, oh, yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense. Right? Yeah. Heavy driving, but fast, like the Doors. Less so, although there's occasional vocal interludes and flourishes where you can see Scott channeling Jim Morrison, but more on the Zeppelin tip and Aerosmith, and then, yeah, the Cult. That makes some sense. Are all thrown into the melting pot, stirred and seasoned with the angst and sludge that characterize the early 90s. And I think that's a really good description of it.

[Lori]

All right, yeah, yeah, I'll go with that. The album was titled Core, and Scott explained that the reason for that was we wanted to get to the essential elements of what we were all about, the core of our music. There's also some allusions to Adam and Eve, the apple, and you can see that on the COVID of the album now. I went down a real Rabbit hole here, trying to find out who is the model on the album. Because very early on, Scott Weyland was actually working for a modeling agency for Barbizon. Not as a model, although he might have been able to. But his job was basically driving around the models, driving them to and from various photo shoots.

[Scott Free]

He was the shuttle guy.

[Lori]

Exactly, exactly. Which is also how he met his second wife, Mary, that we're going to talk about. However, I could not find much about who the COVID model is. I know that the album cover was designed by Kevin Hossman. And I did find somewhere buried in a thread on Reddit, a gentleman who said that he used to date the gal who's on the COVID but he never said what her name was. She had a very brief modeling career before she went on to something else.

[Scott Free]

I'm gonna say that guy on Reddit was in one of those uncomfortable positions where you've been dating somebody for, like, two weeks, but you don't know their name, so you can never ask because it's just too late.

[Lori]

Has that happened to you?

[Scott Free]

No, I'm just making shit up.

[Lori]

Okay. All right, good save. So Core peaked at number three on the US Billboard charts. As I mentioned, it was eight times platinum here in the States. And I mean, it was an international hit. If you look at the charts. Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, uk. I mean, it hit everywhere. This was big. It was a great, great start for this band that, you know, just started as a couple of teenagers jamming with each other. Despite initial criticism from the music press, it's now regarded as a grunge classic. As we discussed, you know that this first album kind of is grunge. They would eventually get away from that in their subsequent albums.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I think it fits in as much as there is any particular sound that ties the grunge Big four, plus Stone Temple Pilots and Temple of the Dog together. It's heavy guitar distortion and a certain level of aggression. Some bands had it more than others. As we get into the track by track, oh, my God, this band has it in spades. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's. It's aggro at times, mercilessly so. But, yeah, I'd say it fits into that pantheon pretty well.

[Lori]

One other thing worth noting before we get into the track by track. Besides being the lead vocalist, Scott Whalen was also the principal songwriter. And a lot of the lyrics are based on things from his life, Things from the news.

[Scott Free]

Yes, to him being the primary songwriter, certainly where the lyrics are concerned. But as we also get into the track, by track, you're going to see that the DeLeo brothers, and even Eric Kretz for that matter, would bring riffs and sections of songs. And the collaboration is really where the magic in this band happened.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. Yes, it's the. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

[Scott Free]

Indeed. Well, I think we've said all we can say about the history of the band and the production of the album. I think that brings us to the track by track.

[Lori]

Excellent. Okay, so the first track is called Dead and Bloated. Let's listen.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday. Dead friends. I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me. Cause I'm dead and long hair. Oh, yeah, yeah. Rancher sales is natural. I feel a cold.

[Scott Free]

Coming out of the gate. Strong, all hard rock, just this side of metal. Swagger and bravado and growl. Yeah. Just punching you in the face right out the gate.

[Lori]

Absolutely. From those very first lines. I am smelling like a rose that someone gave me on my birthday. Death pen bed. Which is a really interesting kind of mix of metaphors. Right.

[Scott Free]

I like the turn of phrase.

[Lori]

Yeah. You know, smelling like a rose. But then on the deathbed, which implies. Right. I mean, then doesn't smell great. Scott Whalen was interviewed by Song Facts and he stated that the song is not really about anything. It's just stream of consciousness words. I mean, at the age of 21, 22, I didn't have a whole lot of life experiences. So it's more about the vibe, the angst and that kind of a thing, as opposed to actual life experiences. And then Dean DeLeo in another interview said that the song was about the big question mark that stood in front of the band.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

So.

[Lori]

Such as where they will be and what will happen to their family in the future.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, the comparisons, vocally in particular, but really just the whole tone of the band, the instrumentals, everything that come to mind for me at least, are like Deep Purple, but maybe without the organ. So it's a pretty big but. Or Aerosmith, but with a deeper voice, which, like, honestly, this is the one. The first one right off the gate where I'm just like, honestly, that could be Metallica. It's again, a little smoother voice than Hetfield's, but that hugeness of the riff, it doesn't have the speed metal that they had in their earlier days. But, you know, black album era, Metallica. I think there's a real similarity there.

[Lori]

Okay. And this one was co written between Scott Weyland And Robert De Lio. That might be part of the reason why I think the bass is just so in your face face in this one. I mean, it just hits you over the head.

[Scott Free]

I have a bit on that collaboration again from the beer grunge broke Scott, when conceived the song's enormous riff, recalls guitarist Dean Delio. Scott hummed that verse riff to Robert, the bass player, and he transposed it onto the guitar. Scott also sang the intro into my guitar's pickup. In the studio, we were aware of how microphone pickups could be, and I had just finished part of the song because the guitar was plugged in. Scott wanted to sing the intro into the bullhorn megaphone. And we suggested sing it into the pickups and see what happens. And that's why that intro is this really thin, distant sounding voice, all treble. And because he wasn't using a microphone, he was singing into a guitar as a microphone.

[Lori]

Oh, how cool. Yeah. Great opening to the album. And it really gives you an idea of what you're in for for the next 55 minutes.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah. So big, so hard.

[Lori]

That's all I got on that one.

[Scott Free]

That seems like plenty. It's a good start. All right, I guess that brings us then to track two. Sex type thing.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

I am, I am, I am. I said I want to get next to you. I said I'm going to get close to you. You wouldn't want to have to hurt you, too. Hurt you too.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Dang. Another one just hitting you like a guitar. Swung like a baseball bat and just cracking you in the back of the head.

[Lori]

You got it so hard. It's a really rocking, hard rocking song about date rape.

[Scott Free]

Right.

[Lori]

And it was very controversial when it came out because Scott is taking the position of the antagonist. But he actually had intended this as a very feminist song to kind of be satirizing the date rape mentality that many guys have. Scott Wayland was supposedly inspired by a high school girlfriend or ex girlfriend who had been the victim of a gang rape.

[Scott Free]

Right.

[Lori]

And so he kind of poured all of that into the lyrics. As a matter of fact, he actually said in his memoir that he was raped by an older boy when he was 12 years old. So having been on the other side of that, I think that kind of supports that idea that this is like an anti rape song. I'm thinking like when we did the Nirvana album, when we did Nevermind, how there was all that controversy about Holly because Kurt Cobain was again singing from the perspective of an antagonist, where he was talking about Polly Wants A cracker. I think I should get off her first. I think she wants some water to put out the blowtorch where he's like being a psychopath, right?

[Scott Free]

I mean, it's pulled from the POV of the villain, intended to highlight the terribleness of their position and have you sympathize with the victim. But it is played so straight here that it's not surprising that it was misinterpreted. Satire is generally done well where there is some question as to whether it's serious or it is satirizing. If it's just so obviously ham fistedly, hey, this position I'm taking is dumb as fuck. Then it can't be taken seriously as satire. This, however, is playing it so straight that it was easy for bad guys who actually were cool with the date rape to be like, yeah, that's my jam. And Scott Whalen found himself having to defend the song and to defend his artistic authorial voice in this as satire. I have a quote from this once again from the year Gronge Broke. I never thought that people would ever seriously believe that I was an advocate.

[Lori]

Of date rape, he said in an interview. It's really not about sex at all. It's about control, violence and abuse of.

[Scott Free]

Power as far as the music goes. Once again from the year grunge broke. Dean Dileo recalls the inspiration for the song's dissonant chromatic riff. I was in my driveway with the windows open on a beautiful summer day having Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin album playing when in the Light came on. When it comes to that lick around the three minute mark, you can fit the sex type thing lick right in between that. I immediately ran inside, transposed it onto the guitar and called Robert. I've got this pretty cool lick here, man. Thank you, Jimmy.

[Lori]

Nice. So Sex Type Thing was the first single released off of the album. It's also the first song I ever heard by them. It went to number 23 on the US mainstream rock chart and it was.

[Scott Free]

Also on heavy rotation on mtv.

[Lori]

Oh yeah.

[Scott Free]

You know, Scott was a good looking guy and this video was pretty intense in that 90s quick cut sort of way he looked. The part that he was playing in the narrator narrative voice of it. And yeah, again, you can look at that and not necessarily see it as satire. And that was part of the problem. Yeah, you have to think about it a little too hard. And the types who would take it as a theme song or a justification weren't thinking about it real hard. They just liked the agro.

[Lori]

Well, and I Did remember reading somewhere, and I apologize, I don't remember what source this was from, but that this was actually one of the first songs to actually deal with the subject of date rape head on, even if it did end up being misinterpreted.

[Scott Free]

So, yeah, he would also tell Request magazine, so many guys are brainwashed as children to fit into these macho stereotypes where they treat women disrespectfully and have this improper view of sexuality. Although that Kind of man is one I utterly despise. In a sense, I feel both characters are victims.

[Lori]

Again, not to draw too many similarities to Nirvana, but Kurt Cobain had said some similar things in interviews. Talking about toxic masculinity fighting the patriarchy.

[Scott Free]

Man, one hard as fuck rocking song at a time.

[Lori]

Yeah, yeah. The next track is called Wicked Garden.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Can you see like a child can you see what I want? I want to run through your wicked garden but that's a place to find you Cuz I'm alive, so alive Now I know the dark find you hey.

[Lori]

You see Such a good song. So this song dates back to 1990. It appeared on the band's original Mighty Joe Young demo, and they re recorded it, had it produced by a guy named Brendan o' Brien and included it on their album. Scott Whalen said, it's a song about people allowing all their innocence and purity to be lost from their lives. And lyrically, I think this is Scott at his best. Can you see without eyes? Can you speak without lies? I want to drink from your naked fountain I can drown your sorrows I'm gonna burn you to life now out of the chains that bind you I really like that.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, right on. He is a fine, fine lyricist for sure.

[Lori]

Oh, indeed.

[Scott Free]

It's another hard rocker. And like, it's a relatively complex hard rock track, chord structure wise. Really well played, well produced. Scott Whalen's vocal performance is right on. I will admit that at this point in the album, three tracks in, where they're all just this aggro thing going and like, I'm no detractor of hard rock and like we've made comparisons already to Nirvana and they were lumped in as the same and there were significant differences. But Nirvana was well known for their borrowing of the Pixies loud, soft, loud thing or the quiet, loud, quiet thing. And, you know, it was that sort of variation that created drama. And there are times on this album where it's just loud, loud, loud. This isn't as hard as, say, the previous track, but it's got some of that as far as the writing of the song goes, there's another article that I will be making some use of here from loudwire.com entitled 33 Years Ago, Stone Temple Pilots make their first impression with Core. Published on September 29th of 2023 by one Chad Childers. Childers, something like that, where Dean DeLeo is talking about Wicked Garden. It's a good example of Robert and I each having parts and bringing them together. Robert had the intro and the chorus and I had the verse, and it was one of those things where we just brought it together. I think he actually put that together at my house. Wieland added his lyrical touch to the song, offering his take on the loss of innocence and purity. Also then from a Rolling stone article from 2017, Stone Temple Pilots breakdown core track by track by Corey Grown, September 28, 2017 Robert DiLeo says that's an early song for us. It was two brothers throwing shit against the wall. It was probably the first demo that we did at my house in Burbank, so just kind of how it comes together.

[Lori]

A lot of people think this song was a single, but it wasn't. The cause of the confusion, I think, is the STP MTV Unplugged that they did. And in particular the unplugged acoustic version of this song got a ton of airplay on mtv. Many people actually consider it maybe one of their best performances, that Unplugged performance of this song. So.

[Scott Free]

Right on.

[Lori]

Yeah. Okay.

[Scott Free]

All right. I suppose we can move on then to track four. No memory. Oh, thank God. It came down a notch or two. Like four or five notches. This is way down. Is it too many notches down? No, I don't think it is too many notches. I can breathe for a second instead of the relentlessly aggro stuff that we were getting up to this point. But even in just a 1 minute and 20 second long song, you can get that the Deleos are damn good players. Robert De Leo in particular is just really moving around on that base. I. I read that he really digs Rush and like this could be Getty Lee moving around the base like on the Trees or something like that. Like, it's a short piece but lets the guitar player and the bass player really shine for a second without quite so much distortion. So you can hear like how precise they are. And yeah, they got skills, man.

[Lori]

The brothers to Leo, indeed. This is one of the two short tracks on the album by Short. Like you said, It's a minute 20, right? I don't know that they have Many other instrumental tracks. I can't think of any off top of my head.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it seems like a bit of a waste doing an instrumental track when you've got a vocalist like Scott Whalen. But you. You know, sometimes you need a little pallet cleanser.

[Lori]

Exactly.

[Scott Free]

Even at a really nice, fancy, delicious meal, sometimes you need a pallet cleanser.

[Lori]

And this one was written by Dean DeLeo, by the way.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, well, I have a little bit on that.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Once again, from the Rolling Stone article where Eric Kretz is talking about the writing of this track. We've been in the studio for two and a half weeks, and Brendan o', Brien, the producer, you'll recall, said we needed to add something to the album. Dean had that cool guitar part just sitting in the vault, and it's one of those you just do in the studio. You take a few hours and you keep developing and putting on more layers and more sounds, trying to make it a beautiful, ethereal piece. And as we were finishing it, we were like, oh, my God, this would be a great intro to a song like Sin, which, Spoiler alert, track five is Sin. The chords lined up and, yeah, as we will hear shortly, it does make a great intro.

[Lori]

All right, well, I guess let's listen to Sin, shall we? So, unlike some of the other songs on this album, on this song, I feel like the anger or the. You keep using the word aggro. I think it's directed inwards. Right. Holy water clouds my thinking Sinking low now keep on drinking down you go Suffer long Down you go Sin makes.

[Scott Free]

Me strong that remains to be seen. Scott Weyland, spoiler alert. It does not make him strong.

[Lori]

No, no My sins have made me blind Sink into the holes in my eyes Dead by dreaming Sleep, you steal mine Pools of cold sweat Hatred burns me so it seems like especially that reference of sinking low now keep on drinking. He was a very, very conflicted soul. He really was. Right. He was actually at one point diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And when he was in a manic phase, he was just charming and the life of the party and channeled everything into his art. But then when he would hit a depressive phase, that's when I think he would spiral into drinking and heroin and opiates and.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, and it doesn't help. Don't do drugs, kids. Stay in school.

[Lori]

I really, really want to note, if I haven't already, just the raw power of Scott Whalen's voice. I mean, booming sonic. I don't know what. You know, it's just so present well.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it's an instrument. He's not just saying words. He is playing it like it's deeper than a trumpet. But yeah, it's really sending it. And he can give it that gravel or he can give it that clarity. He's. Yeah. A powerful vocal performer. From the year Grunge Broke article that I have been referencing, Sin opens with a series of powerful single chords played on the downbeat of Eric Kretz's slow open drum pattern before locking into a tight, cashmere esque guitar riff. Waylon's vocal melody is deeply infectious. The song's chorus feels euphoric despite the serious subject matter. Throughout the song, Waylon warns about the harm organized religion can inflict and comparing how holy water clouds the conscious mind much like alcohol. Ooh, you would know.

[Lori]

Yeah, because he was raised Catholic. He was a choir boy.

[Scott Free]

There you go. And then from the Rolling Stone article, Robert De Leo talks about his guitar work on that. When I look back at Sin now, it is a bit Rush inspired guitar wise. I'm a huge fan of Alex Lifeson. He was one of my first guitar idols. And while I feel like it's a lot more Led Zeppelin than Rush in the overall sound of the song, I am a huge Rush fan. So any chance to drop Alex Lifeson's name, especially when the guitar player on the song is dropping it himself, I will take that.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Oh, by the way, Rush tickets went on sale for the Rush reunion tour that nobody thought would ever happen because Neil Peart died and he was the primary lyricist and one of the songwriters and without him, is it Rush? Well, apparently Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have decided that there can be a Rush tour and they recruited a German woman named Annika Niles and they are going on tour next year. And my brother Dr. Dave and I got tickets bringing one of the nephews with and we are going to see Rush. I thought I was never going to be able to see Rush again. I get to see Rush, but we're talking about Stone Temple Pilots and I'll get back to that after. No Memories Quiet ethereal music interlude like again, it's heavy. But then at the 408 mark of sin, the song takes it down a notch. It's 12 string steel string guitar, much reverb and yeah, damn, Robert D. Leo is a badass bass player. But then at the 455 mark we are pounding again. Some really strong Guy Deleo guitar work as well there. The band is really solid. Like yeah. And my early concerns that this was Just going to be nothing but aggro has been somewhat put aside because they show that they do have more range than that.

[Lori]

Scott, you alluded to some of the religious themes, the mention of the holy water and everything. I think we're gonna see a lot more of that on the next track.

[Scott Free]

You do think that, do you?

[Lori]

I do think that. I wonder why.

[Scott Free]

Well, I don't know, but perhaps it's because Track 6 is entitled Naked Sunday.

[Lori]

Best kind of something.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

War you the I am the justice and the father of love. Thanks for all the suffering. You my judge.

[Lori]

Rock. The base on this one is insane.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah. Like, for a song that is only two chords, I mean, it really does put in the work and go hard and like. Yeah, Robert. Ridiculous slappy, funky bass line. And apparently it was inspired by James Brown, but just sped way the hell up.

[Lori]

Wow.

[Scott Free]

But I've been Talking about the DeLeo's every song because their guitar and bass work, they are impressive. But do not sleep on Eric Kretz, the drummer, like he is just banging the hell out of that kit.

[Lori]

I'm regretting that I never got to see them live. I think that they would have been incredible live.

[Scott Free]

Well. Well, when we get to what happened next, you won't see them live with Scott Wayland, but.

[Lori]

I know, I know.

[Scott Free]

Say you won't see them live.

[Lori]

But, you know, very few bands, with a possible exception of ACDC Tam, survived the loss of a lead vocalist. Yeah, you know, I mean, in excess they tried to replace Michael Hutchins with JD Fortune. Didn't work when Van Halen replaced David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar. I mean, I know he had his.

[Scott Free]

Fans, but I mean, he did have a huge career. But yeah, that was not Van Halen. That was Van Hagar. And that was something else.

[Lori]

Exactly.

[Scott Free]

You not even seen started on the Gary Chiron album.

[Lori]

Oh, dear.

[Scott Free]

We don't talk about Van Halen. 3.

[Lori]

Well, hey, back to Scott Whan, though.

[Scott Free]

Okay.

[Lori]

Very interesting compression on his vocals. Almost as if he's singing into a Meg megaphone.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. And he's ranting like a deranged preacher.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. And I mean, he's clearly talking to God, right?

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

You're the champion of sorrow. You're the love and the pain. You're the fighter of evil. Yet you're one and the same. Been waiting a while to meet you. For the chance to shake your hand. To give you thanks for all the suffering you command. And when all is over and when I turn to dust, who will be my judge? And which one do I trust? That's somebody that's very disillusioned with religion.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. Relatable. In the Rolling stone article, Dean DiLeo talks about the writing of this song. That song came very late in the process of making the record. It just started as a rehearsal room jam. The entire song is two chords. I was strumming them and Robert planned out the rhythm. It was just created by all of us because it was really just all of us kind of jumping in on these two chords and doing our thing to it. Robert says, I was trying to do an R B, James Brown kind of thing on bass. It's James Brown sped up and louder. And then Eric Kretz, drummer jumps in. I know Scott was really going for that flailing, crazy snake oil salesman on top of the soapbox thing. He wanted to take on a great character in that middle section. We wanted it to be very tripped out vocally. And it was a really good, energetic song to be playing live back then. I back in the 90s when shows had mosh pits, it was just a such a fun, energetic, chaotic song to throw into sets. I remember arms flailing.

[Lori]

Yeah, I believe it. I believe it.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, we missed them live. What are you going to do? And it isn't the 90s anymore. And there probably aren't mosh pits. And I don't know about you, but if there's a mosh pit at a show these days, I am not going in there.

[Lori]

The joints can't handle it anymore. It's fun getting old.

[Scott Free]

Ah, we old.

[Lori]

Yep. Next we have the third single from the album. This is called Freep.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Take time with a wounded hand Cause it likes to heal I like to steal I'm half the man I used to be Tame Feeling well I'm half the man I used to feel.

[Scott Free]

Well.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

I'm happy Man I used to be Be half the man I used to be.

[Lori]

Not to be confused with the Radiohead song that came out probably around this time. Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Very different song.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. Scott whand getting a little bit more pensive, I think. A little bit more introspective, contemplative.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, it is a definite change of pace. So again, my earlier concerns that this whole album was just going to be so unrelentingly have been somewhat put to rest with this song.

[Lori]

Yes. And then just to get this out of the way, my group of friends back when this came out used to refer to this as the John Wayne Bobbitt song.

[Scott Free]

Fascinating.

[Lori]

You remember who John Wayne Bobbitt was.

[Scott Free]

Oh, don't we all?

[Lori]

Okay. At least gentlemen of a certain age do, I'm sure.

[Scott Free]

Indeed.

[Lori]

Half the man I used to be.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lori]

Okay. Very interesting lyrics again. Feeling uninspired Think I'll start a fire Everybody run Bobby's got a gun Think you're kind of neat Then she tells me I'm a creepy Friends don't mean a thing Guess I'll leave it up to me it seems kind of like. Especially when she tells me I'm a creep he feels kind of emasculated. Half the man I used to be yeah.

[Scott Free]

They talk about how that is a. A very demeaning word. Robert Leo talks about that. So once again, from the year grunge broke, Robert DiLeo says, I was thinking about a song along the lines of Heart of Gold by Neil Young, which is in the key of D minor, the saddest key of all, which I cannot hear without going Spinal Tap. But whatever. Scott was thinking about the lyrics. And we were struggling at that time in our lives. What Scott was thinking about was a real life situation. Creep is a very demeaning word. It was one of those instances where we looked at ourselves in the mirror. So, yes. Introspective, to be sure. Yes.

[Lori]

Yes. As a matter of fact, in a November 2014 interview, this was about a year before his passing, Scott Whalen said, that's just the idea of being a young person somewhere caught between still being a kid and becoming a young man. It's that youth apathy, that second guessing yourself, not feeling like you fit in.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Lori]

There was a video for this song, Scott, but the video version, the verses are completely different. Isn't that weird?

[Scott Free]

Well, fascinating. And worse and worse. I mean, this is a masterful performance. So I would have to think it would be worse.

[Lori]

Yeah, I. I don't like it as much.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. I mean, this is one of those songs that you have heard a thousand, thousand times. It's still on regular rotation. As I said at the beginning of the episode, this is one of those. It's still on regular rotation on alternative, on a classic rock radio, on your rock stations, and for good reason. It's got the quiet, loud quiet. The Scott Whan harmonies are just, you know, Chef's Kiss. Right. The strums, electric acoustic guitar. It's sing alongable. Yeah. It's a classic for a reason.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I think I still hear this on WXRT from time to time.

[Scott Free]

Oh, for sure. Let's see here from Once Again, the Rolling Stone retrospective on the album Dean DeLeo says Creep was one of the songs that Scott and Robert wrote around the time that they worked across the street from each other. They wrote it together in the back seat of Robert's car parked behind the guitar shop. Eric, the drummer, then goes on. It was definitely how we heard a lot of country back in the 1970s on AM radio in the backseat of a car. Creep is not a country song, but it's definitely not a rock song. It's something right down the middle, like Gordon Lightfoot or John Denver or Fleetwood Mac.

[Lori]

I'll buy that for a dollar.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, right. It's the soft rock, but it has. Then in the. I'm Half the man I Used to Be. It rocks a little harder. Right. Distortion comes in. Yeah.

[Lori]

Okay. So as we mentioned, this was the third single off the album. It went to number two on the US mainstream rock chart, number 12 on the US alternative chart, and the US rock chart, and it also charted in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

[Scott Free]

Good for them.

[Lori]

Yes. Not bad for a debut album, huh? Anything else on Creep?

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I got nothing. That brings us to track eight. Piece of pie.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Warm room, yeah, yeah it's staring me down Wearing a crown of ever I'm standing around dressed like a. The clown don't know my name, you know where to find me.

[Scott Free]

And we're back to the grind. And, like, it grinds. This song is hard.

[Lori]

Yeah. And you know this one, Scott. I can really hear where the comparisons to Alice and Chains are apt. And also that, you know, I mentioned Scott being like a musical chameleon. Even just within the same verse, you can hear he's doing several different vocal stylings.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. This is one where I am surprised there aren't more comparisons to Black album Metallica.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Because this wouldn't feel out of place there. Particularly those big guitar riffs and the musical complexity that comes in. There's that bridge, descending bridge. These guys listen to some jazz in their time and it actually shows. But they do it in a way that's so hard that it's just basically metal.

[Lori]

Yeah. I would not have made a connection to jazz if you hadn't told me that.

[Scott Free]

Oh, listen to the bridge. You'll hear it. And the bass work. Particularly freaking Robert DiLeo on that bass. He is moving around in a way that you do not hear a lot in rock. Now, I stand by it.

[Lori]

The only piece of information I have on this one is back when they were still Mighty Joe Young, they performed a song called Piece of Pie. That was when they were a funk band. But Aside from the name, it has absolutely nothing in common with this song.

[Scott Free]

It was just a totally different flavor of pie that was like a key lime pie. And this is more of like a chicken pot pie.

[Lori]

There you go.

[Scott Free]

They're both high.

[Lori]

But, you know, this one's got meat to it.

[Scott Free]

That's right. Yeah. From the. Your grunge broke. I. I think it's a good description. A sludgy, heavy riot. Scott sounds maniacal and wickedly mischievous.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. I like that about him.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. And Dean DeLeo remarked that the lyrics to that song by Scott are extraordinary. And it illustrates how brilliant he was at a young age. I think he was 23 when he wrote that material.

[Lori]

Sounds about right.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. I don't have a lot to say about those lyrics, mind you, but that's now officially all of the notes I have written on this one.

[Lori]

Okay. All right. Well, then I guess we can. What's that?

[Scott Free]

Sometimes they fall through the cracks. Oh, my God. There's so many notes on Plush, though. Dear Lord.

[Lori]

Oh, my goodness. Okay, well, then let's not waste any time. Let's listen to Plush.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Where you going for tomorrow? Where you go where the master found and I feed and I feel when the dogs begin to smell her where she stand alone.

[Lori]

Okay, before you get into your notes, I have a stupid story about this.

[Scott Free]

Please.

[Lori]

Okay, so this is one of my go to songs for karaoke. It's just perfect for my vocal range. And as you know, Scott, I have an unhealthy. Or maybe you don't know, I have an unhealthy obsession with rubber ducks.

[Scott Free]

I knew you like rubber ducks. I didn't know it was unhealthy or obsession level, but what do you got?

[Lori]

I. Well, I. I have. I think at this point, point over 90.

[Scott Free]

That's a lot.

[Lori]

That's a lot. Yeah. But for whatever reason, we were at Alice's singing karaoke. I sang this song, and for some reason, I had a rubber duck with me. I don't remember. Maybe somebody gave it to me as a gift that night because I don't usually carry them around. I was with one of my friends, and she and I were joking around about the lyrics. And instead of when the dogs do find her, we changed it to when the ducks do find her. And so all my friends were cracking up, but nobody else even noticed it.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

So this song was written in a hot tub at the Oakwood Apartments. It's loosely based on a newspaper article that Scott had read in the early 90s. A girl had been found Dead after being kidnapped in the band's hometown of San Diego. So there was an episode of VH1 Storytellers where Scott Whalen said a girl was kidnapped and then later found tragically murdered back in the early part of the 90s. So it gave me fuel to write the words to this song. However, this song is not about that, really. It's sort of a metaphor for a lost, obsessive relationship, which is an interesting juxtaposition of the two comments. But that whole thing about when the dogs do smell her. Yeah, well, they're cadaver dogs, right?

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Well, that makes Eric Kretz's bit about that make no sense. So we just give him.

[Lori]

What? What did he say? I'm curious.

[Scott Free]

The line in the song about dogs is basically because dogs have always fascinated me, because their sense of smell is so incredible. Someone comes to your house and walks around the corner. They don't have to see you, but they can still smell the scent. I put that part in there because of the uncertainty of who's going to be around when we're gone, what's going to be happening, and how much everyone in the band loved dogs, how much we loved having dogs there for watchdogs and certain types of protection. They're a man's best friend. And, yeah, that's the. Kind of an odd thing, but it all made sense at the time with the mask in the lyrics. It was around the Day of the Dead, the Mexican festival, and there's a lot of masks. We were always excited about ethnic art. If you look at ethnic art, masks are a big part of it. It could come from a million places.

[Lori]

So they can both be true, I suppose.

[Scott Free]

But if he didn't write the lyrics, then.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Yeah.

[Lori]

Well, there was an interview with music radar in 2017, and Dean DiLeo explained that it was Scott and Eric thinking about the future of themselves and their significant others.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Scott.

[Lori]

So I think it can be both. I think it can be on a literal level. You know, we're talking cadaver dogs. We're talking, you know, missing person, murder victim. But also then everything that you just said, you know, that makes sense.

[Scott Free]

I say a lot of things.

[Lori]

The title of the song, Plush. They actually considered calling the entire album Plush, but Scott chose that name because it refers to his voice and his words being another texture or another layer in the song.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, and I read a little bit about this as well, that Scott really liked the word plush, because the sound of the word plush feels like the feeling of plushness. It's not quite an Onomatopoeia. Because it's isn't about the sound of plushness, but in saying the word, you feel the feeling, you feel that texture. I thought that was a cool observation.

[Lori]

Definitely.

[Scott Free]

So I've mentioned the Rick Beato interview with bass player Robert DiLeo. And in it, Rick Beato states that the guitar riff is one that the bass player, but really multi instrumentalist Robert DeLeo came up with. Rick Beano. When I heard this song, I thought, oh, these guys know what they're doing. This here is. This is a sophisticated song. Tell me about the guitar riff. To which Robert replies, it's kind of ragtime guitar, you know, and he plays a ragtime plucked guitar part. And sure enough, yeah, it's kind of that. But I just took it down and put it a different root chord on it. And then Rick replies, having that chromatic lick in there too is so weird. It's the blues, but you don't hear that in rock songs with distortion. They then compare it to Led Zeppelin and Jimmy page. And Robert DiLeo talks about Jimmy Page's huge influence on him and wanting to recreate the Jimmy Page type mystique. So, yeah, I thought that was cool. That of all the things, those weird musical influences that the brothers got off those family records in their basement in New Jersey when they were kids do rear their head in weird places. You would not expect to hear a lot of ragtime on a really hard rock album. And yep, there it is.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, this was the single that was starting to get play, really, at the beginning of the band's career. It's the second single, as I said, and they were touring in support of Megadeth. Dave Mustaine had noticed this band and really wanted them opening for him. And they were talking about how in the early part of that tour, they're not a Megadeth style metal band. And crowds were booing them or hated them. And how Dave Mustaine would come out on stage and be like, I handpicked these guys. You're going to listen to him, man. And the crowd would be okay with it, but, you know, they were opening and they were on first. And so they would come into these 8,000 seat venues and there would be maybe a thousand people watching them and people would be filing in while they were playing. Then Plush was released as a single. And by the time that tour was done, the crowd was there in full, completely filling the place for the opening band so that they could actually see stp. And that's when they knew that this album was going to Be a big, big deal. As you mentioned, this track got the best hard rock performance Grammy in 1994. It also won an MTV Video Music Award. It made it to number one on the mainstream rock radio charts and. And crossed over to number 18 on the pop charts. So this was just a legit full on hit.

[Lori]

Yes, absolutely.

[Scott Free]

But yeah, this one shows that the band is really just a direct descendant of classic early 70s rock, particularly Zeppelin. Like it rocks, but it isn't that thrashing, relentless rock that I've been teasing about through much of the album. It rocks, but it's still melodic. The DeLeo's complex chord structures and progressions and that big riff. It's seemingly simple, but it's actually complex and really compelling. And then again, as with most of the album, Scott Whalen's voice is just so expressive here, almost crooning until. Until he's really going for it. Right?

[Lori]

Yes. To me, this is a signature Stone Temple pilot song.

[Scott Free]

Oh, for sure. It's one of their very biggest hits, is it not?

[Lori]

Well, okay, if we're talking about the US mainstream rock chart, it did go to number one. However, if you're looking at the alternative charts, then there were some other ones that charted a little bit higher.

[Scott Free]

So Interstate Song probably up there anyway. Yeah, whatever.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

Then you just wanted me to do evens. So I would have to say track 10 is wet my Bed. I thought you'd never ask if I.

[Lori]

Had to say Shirley Temple's. You have to say Wet My Bed. That's only fair.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Hey everybody. Where did Mary go? Where did Mary go? And where's my only cigarette? Please think for me. I can't bear to. I'll just lie here for a while. Wet myself, Wet my bed.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

My.

[Scott Free]

My main note here is Jesus, Scott, pull yourself together.

[Lori]

Yeah, it definitely does seem to be about probably one of his drug induced stupors. It's a shorter song. It's only a minute and 36 seconds.

[Scott Free]

Yep.

[Lori]

I do have quite a bit on this one actually.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. From basic review of it, the year Grunge Broke's take on it, I. I think is pretty great. Serves as a Tom Weights esque carnival interlude.

[Lori]

I like that. Yeah, definitely. So Scott's second wife was Mary Forsberg. He was involved with two women at the same time. Janina Castaneda would become his first wife. But he met Mary Forsberg. She was a Barbizon model. I mentioned earlier, he was transportation for the models. She had to be about 16 or so. So this would have been 1990 or 1991. And she just, from the very first time she met him, was completely smitten. And he would go back and forth between the two ladies, between Janina and Mary, and Mary's memoir, which, by the way, is very, very engrossing. It's called Fall to A Memoir of Drugs, Rock and Roll and Mental Illness. She says, when he asked if I wanted to hear something from the album, of course I did. I sat on the pool table while he fiddled with the tape, winding it forward and back until he found the song he wanted. The music started, and suddenly I heard my name. Something like, where did Mary go? Where did Mary go? It was a song he'd written, Wet My Bed, and I was in it. Or somebody named Mary was in it, and it was about her or about me. I didn't know for sure, but my face was on fire. Did you check the bathtub? The bathtub? She sleeps there sometimes. Water cleanses, you know. He turned around from the tape player and looked at me, and there it was. Oh, my God, I'm going to marry him. And neither one of us moved. Days later, he was gone.

[Scott Free]

Oh, damn.

[Lori]

Yeah. So he married Janina in 94, two years after this album came out, but he still continued to see Mary on the side, and he eventually did divorce Janina and mary. Mary in 2000. So he would appear in her life for a period of time and then disappear again. And that's kind of what she's talking about here. And then the whole thing about having the bed ready for her, you know, they were going to hook up or whatever, and then where did she go? You know? Because he really is out of his mind, so.

[Scott Free]

Well, dang.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

A little bit about the recording of it.

[Lori]

Sure.

[Scott Free]

From the Loudwire article. Just a bit. The first track recorded came from an improv session between Scott Whalen and Robert dileo. The song became notable to fans due to one of those impromptu studio moments that turns up at the end of the. With producer Brendan o' Brien walking into the room and stating, all right, what now? At the end, it didn't take long for the band to answer the question. And then Dean deleo says, I learned so much about guitar playing and a certain level of musicianship, recording techniques, and really, Brennan's whole philosophy, which is, you can't overthink this. We're going to just play, and hopefully we capture something. That's how we approach this record. We set up to play live. We were all in one room. We had speakers in isolation booths, and the drums and Rob and I stood in front of Eric and we just played those songs live.

[Lori]

Oh, cool.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Robert DeLeo says in the Rolling Stone article, it was about creating something musically that Scott had in mind. He was very into Jim Morrison, too, and I think it has a very Morrison esque feel to it. It was just another little passing thing that we were trying to be artistic with, to go from song to song. That's about it. And drummer Eric Kretz says, if you listen carefully, you hear us whispering in the background. We were reading from magazines. It was just like, we need to make this sound weird. And I believe Scott said, we sound like the fucking Beatles in there. You can hear him smoking right up to the microphone, the lighting of the cigarette and the burning of the paper. Dean then says, we were in there for a couple of hours. It turned from a spur of the moment idea to what we're now hearing on the record.

[Lori]

How cool, right? And we have now talked about this song several times longer than the song actually is, as we do.

[Scott Free]

Well, that seems like as good a time as any to move on to track 11.

[Lori]

Awesome. All right. Track 11 is called cracker Man. On this one, I can really hear where the comparisons are coming. Eddie Vedder of Pearl, Jamie. Except for the fact that you can actually understand what Scott is singing.

[Scott Free]

Zing. Who is Cracker Man? It was a homeless guy that Scott knew who called himself Cracker Man.

[Lori]

Trippin as. I'm thinking about a boy. His name was sue. So I appreciate the Johnny Cash reference there. He's a man, he's a man Cracker Man, Cracker Man. He's a woman. Too.

[Scott Free]

Good for him.

[Lori]

Trying not to read too much into it.

[Scott Free]

Fair.

[Lori]

There's the beginning of the song, the first verse. Rubber band, rubber band Gun in hand, gun in hand I want to use. Does that mean he wants to use the gun?

[Scott Free]

Seems like it.

[Lori]

Or does he want to use drugs and he's got the gun because he's going to. Yeah, I don't know.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, we don't know. Who knows what goes on in the mind of Cracker Man?

[Lori]

The Shadow knows.

[Scott Free]

So, once again from the year grunge broke, the song's powerful riff and straightforward pace are exhilarating. After the chorus, they lock into a wickedly catchy halftime breakdown before returning to the pummeling melodic onslaught. I think onslaught is the right word for this one. It is sometimes punishing, but, you know, if you're here for the rock, well, you're getting to the end of the album and it's still Rocking just as hard One note. This song actually predates Stone Temple Pilots as we know it from an earlier iteration. It was originally an R B song with a King Crimson twist. Bend your brain to understand what that's going to sound like. And it was from before Dean even joined the band.

[Lori]

Oh, wow.

[Scott Free]

And it was also one of the band's favorites with which to open live shows.

[Lori]

And you're just now rubbing it in that I never got to see them.

[Scott Free]

I didn't see them either, but I did read that. Okay, I guess that brings us to the 12th and final track on the album. This is where the River Goes.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

I want to be as big as a mountain I want to fly as high as the sun I want to want to know what the R I want to know where the R go.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Strap in. That is a long ride coming in at eight minutes.

[Lori]

Yeah, eight and a half.

[Scott Free]

Yeah. Damn, that's a lot of song.

[Lori]

That is. And so earlier when I talked about how they first jammed with Dean DeLeo and they decided, okay, you gotta be in the band, this was that jam session that originated this song.

[Scott Free]

Okay. Yeah. From the year grunge broke, the article I've been referencing, that was one of the first songs we wrote together as a band in one room, and it came together quickly, recalled Dean DeLeo. I brought in the riff. The band became heavier once I joined them.

[Lori]

You think?

[Scott Free]

Yeah, right.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

That was the one where we said the band was competent, they were good. But they heard Dean DeLeo's guitar playing and how he could do a wicked solo, and they're like, oh, wait, this changes everything. This guy has to be in the band.

[Lori]

There you go.

[Scott Free]

Right. Scott wrote the lyrics, and particularly, I want to be as big as a mountain I want to fly as high as the sun. These lines reflected the feeling Scott experienced the first time the band jammed with Dean on guitar. He said to us, Dean's playing felt as big as a mountain and as high as the sun. Whelan wrote in his 2011 autobiography, he elevated us to a heavenly place. That is some high praise for a bandmate right there.

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. And he also said in that autobiography that you referenced that Jane's Addiction was one of his early influences.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah. You can totally hear that here. Right?

[Lori]

Oh, yeah. I mean, like, even just the concept of a mountain. Right. Like Jane's Addiction coming down the mountain. Right. And. But it's not a copy of Jane's Addiction. Right. I can see parallels, but it's definitely its own song.

[Scott Free]

Oh, for sure. And, yeah, the pace of it and the big guitars, but it doesn't have quite the same amount of shimmering, almost psychedelic guitars that Jane's went for. Yeah, the voices couldn't be much farther away than they are. Scott Whalen's sort of deep and growling or crooning voice from versus Perry Fell's sort of high nasal wine. Like. Yeah, structurally I think there's similarities and also in that sort of plotting makes it sound boring. But mid tempo, driving, forward, marching, marching sort of pace that this song has, but all the while actually fully rocking. Yeah, I, I, I think for me this is this highlights some of the very best things that the band does without having that sort of just mercilessly aggro thing that I was complaining about in the first half of the album.

[Lori]

Well, well, what's your favorite song on the album, Scott?

[Scott Free]

Well, you know, I'm always torn on these. I what I just said about where the River Goes, the final track on the album, really puts it right up there at the top for me. So I'm gonna say that's it. But it is really difficult to not have Creep as a favorite.

[Lori]

Okay.

[Scott Free]

But I'm giving it to the one that's new to me, where the River Goes. And you, Laurie, what's your favorite track on the album?

[Lori]

Well, I've been back and forth on this one too and like you, I don't love taking the big single off of the album and saying that's my favorite.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

So I was leaning towards Wicked Garden. However, because it is one of my go to karaoke songs, I am going to have to say Plush.

[Scott Free]

That is fair.

[Lori]

So then we have what happened next. No.

[Scott Free]

Jeez.

[Lori]

Yes. I'm going to give everybody the Cliff Notes version here. And if you want to dig into more, there's there's plenty of stuff out.

[Scott Free]

There so I can jump in actually with some of the what happened immediately. You know, the album was released, the singles were big. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart, was certified, I think we mentioned earlier, eight times platinum by the RIAA. There was plush as the best hard rock performance in the 1994 Grammys. Best new artist in the 1993 MTV VMAs.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Best.

[Scott Free]

This, I think is telling about the public's feelings about grunge, about Seattle grunge versus grunge. Like music from elsewhere in the country. In 1994, Stone Temple Pilots were voted in a Rolling Stone poll of both fans and critics. They were voted both the best and the worst new band of 1994. Fans voted them the best. Critics voted them the worst in this Rolling Stone 1994 poll, which I think is kind of amazing feat.

[Lori]

Yeah.

[Scott Free]

But then what happened?

[Lori]

Well, they went on to record several more albums. Their next album, Purple, was released in 1994. And I hope when we get to 94, Scott, you and I can maybe do a deep dive on that one. That's my favorite STP album. 96, they released Tiny Music Songs from the Vatican gift shop. In 1999, they released the aptly named Number Four. Their fourth album, 2001, Shangri La Di Da.

[Scott Free]

I'm not sure if that's an amazing or terrible name.

[Lori]

Just like we're not sure if they're the best or the worst. New. A new band of 94.

[Scott Free]

Perfect.

[Lori]

Yeah. And then there was an altercation between Dean and Scott. Now, according to Mary, his second wife, she says that they narrowly came to blows. But other sources have said that it was like an actual fist fight, a donnybrook. So then Atlantic Records released a greatest hits album called thank you. And then the DeLeo brothers, in an interview with Guitar One magazine, revealed that they were calling it quits, that the band was done right after that. Scott Wayland was recruited to join the rock super group Velvet Revolver.

[Scott Free]

With Splash, as I recall.

[Lori]

Yes. With Slash and Duff.

[Scott Free]

Oh, Duff Kagan.

[Guest or Audio Clip]

Yeah.

[Lori]

Yes. From Guns N Roses. So Velvet Revolver did two albums. There was a reunion in 2008. It started with Scott's then wife, Mary Forsberg. She invited the deleo brothers to play at a private beach park party. So they made up, reformed the band. So 2010, they released their sixth album, which was just called Stone Temple Pilots, and it debuted at number two. So the public was ready for this. But then towards the end of 2010, on February 27th of 2013, Stone Temple Pilots fired Scott Weyland. There were lawsuits involved over who had the right to use Stone Temple Pilots. Ultimately, they settled out of court with the deleo Brothers and Kretz keeping the name.

[Scott Free]

The really weird twist that I think nobody saw coming was in 2013, they needed a new lead singer. And so they got Chester Bennington from Lincoln park, and they actually released, recorded, and released an EP with him. He toured with them, but left the band in 2015.

[Lori]

And, you know, I gotta tell you, this band really had some bad luck because Scott Whalen died of a drug overdose in 2015. 2017, Chester Bennington died of suicide. He hung himself.

[Scott Free]

Yeah, I think if there's a lesson there, it is. Don't become the frontman of Stone Temple Pilots. But that was a lesson that not everybody learned, because then X Factor contestant Jeff Gott joined the band in 2017.

[Lori]

Well, they toured throughout the 2000s with Jeff, with actually with Live. In 2024, they toured with live.

[Scott Free]

Oh, yeah.

[Lori]

Yeah. That's all I. That's all I have on that. I think that they were just an amazing, amazing band, but the most creative, most passionate people really feel things to an extreme. And that was true of Kurt Cobain, and that was true of Scott Wayland. And Scott chose to deal with that by shooting heroin. And ultimately, it cost him his life, which is really a shame, because I really think he would have had a really good storied solo career beyond the two solo albums that he released. I think that he'd still be going strong if he was still with us. So it makes me sad. Yeah.

[Scott Free]

Dang.

[Lori]

Yeah. So, Scott, I guess that brings us to the end of the episode. What are we doing on our next episode, my friend?

[Scott Free]

That is a great question, Laurie, and I think you're gonna like the answer to it, knowing how you love this band. Like I love this band. We will be doing the 1992 offering by the Jesus and Mary chain, honey's dead.

[Lori]

Oh, love it, love it, love it, love it.

[Scott Free]

Yeah.

[Lori]

Yes. All right, so please join us in two weeks for a little bit of Jesus and Mary Chain action. This is your host, Lori, and me, scott free.

[Scott Free]

We'll see you back here in just a couple weeks. Thanks for listening.