1994 In Review: Stone Temple Pilots - "Purple"

When I think about '90s bands who fell hard and far from grace, Stone Temple Pilots is one of the first bands that comes to mind. Through poor artistic decisions and great amounts of narcotics, they managed to snuff their own careers out to the point where the last album they made before originally disbanding, 2001's Shangri-La Dee Da, barely cracked the top ten.

Just seven years earlier, Purple found Stone Temple Pilots achieving a sweet spot not many bands ever get to see. Silencing critics who wrote Core off as a derivative Pearl Jam record with slightly louder guitars even as it sold in excess of 8 million copies, Purple showed significant artistic growth and a knack for hooks that propelled the album to the top and almost* maintained the torrid multi-platinum pace of Core, going platinum six times over and establishing Stone Temple Pilots as one of the world's most popular bands.

*"Almost" in the U.S. at least. Here in Canada, Purple actually sold better than Core, earning triple platinum certification as opposed to double.

It was right there in the songs: you'll find no better example of enduring '90s rock radio fare on display here than Interstate Love Song, an incredibly melodic megahit that I still can't skip today. That's to say nothing of Still Remains, or Pretty Penny, or Kitchenware & Candybars, all songs that could have been right there on the podium with Interstate Love Song had they been released as proper singles. Then, there's the buzzsaw psychedelics of Vasoline, Lounge Fly and Army Ants, the arena ready crunch of Meatplow and Unglued, and the side B salvo of Silvergun Superman and Big Empty, which sit somewhere in the crux of all of these sounds. 

They'd never be nearly this good again; Tiny Music followed in 1996, an ugly album threatening to collapse under the weight of opiates and expectation. This was followed in 1999 by the ill-advised, desperate trend-clutching of No. 4, with its downtuned guitars and anti-melodic nu-metal tendencies. By the time 2001 came along they realized their melody deficiency; they tried to remedy it with Shangri-La Dee Da, but the damage had been done both artistically and commercially. It was bad enough that it sold a fraction of even No. 4 let alone Core and Purple, but the real tragedy is that the majority of the songs' attempts at reconnecting with what made them famous were half-baked and forgettable, pale imitations of Purple. Even time apart couldn't fully heal the damage; their 2010 comeback album fell well short of the desired effect, as excitement rapidly turned to apathy in the wake of the album's release.

Of course, this is a fate of their own design; Core gave them the ball, and Purple ran with it so fast and so far there was no way to maintain the momentum. Drugs helped steer them off path, but ultimately the decisions they made musically threw them off of the cliff. And it's really too bad, because they're so much more talented than the majority of their recorded output implies. One good, loud listen to Purple gives you all the evidence you need.

June 7, 1994 • Atlantic

Highlights Vasoline • Interstate Love Song • Still Remains