High Rise is an EP by Stone Temple Pilots, released on October 8, 2013 through their self record label Play Pen, LLC. It is the first release by the band without former lead vocalist Scott Weiland, who was fired from the band in February 2013, and the only release to feature Chester Bennington of Linkin Park on lead vocals. Bennington later departed the band in 2015 and died in 2017. Two singles were released to promote the EP; Out of Time and Black Heart. The EP received generally mixed reviews from critics.
On February 27, 2013, Stone Temple Pilots fired lead vocalist Scott Weiland. Weiland responded to the firing with his own statement:
“I learned of my supposed ‘termination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out.”
He also claimed that the band had no right to perform under the Stone Temple Pilots moniker with another singer.
The firing resulted in legal action. The three remaining members (guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz) sued Weiland to prevent him from calling himself a former member of STP. Weiland counter sued the other three members for wrongfully attempting to fire him, for misleading the public by referring to their performances with Bennington as STP, and to dissolve the band STP. Both lawsuits were later settled out of court, allowing the Bennington-fronted band to continue using the STP name.
On May 18, 2013, Stone Temple Pilots performed their debut concert with Chester Bennington of Linkin Park on lead vocals, appearing as special guests at the 21st Annual KROQ Weenie Roast, benefiting Heal the Bay. They performed their first single with Bennington, Out of Time. The next day, the band released a free digital download of the song via their official website. The updated website also featured new promotional pictures of the band including Bennington. Coincidentally, Bennington had exclaimed years before in interviews that being a member of Stone Temple Pilots was his lifelong dream.
Bennington said in May 2013 of new material that the band would not likely record a full-length studio album in the near future, explaining:
“We don’t have a label. Everything we’re doing is on our own, so we’re just taking it one track at a time. We would love to sit down and hammer out a record, but the reality is we’re gonna make music, we’re gonna make a lot of it, and we’re gonna be in a position to release a single at a time, go out and really give people music the way they want to get it.”
This explained the band’s decision to release an EP as opposed to a full album.
On October 3, 2013, Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington‘s complete stream of the EP could be seen and heard on Pandora Radio for Pandora Premieres, including the singles Out of Time and Black Heart that were featured on the EP officially.
Tracklist:
- Out of Time
- Black Heart
- Same on the Inside
- Cry Cry
- Tomorrow
Stone Temple Pilots
Chester Bennington: lead vocals
Dean DeLeo: guitar
Robert DeLeo: bass, backing vocals
Eric Kretz: drums
Additional personnel
Production by Stone Temple Pilots
Recorded at Homefry Studios
Recorded & Engineered by Russ Fowler
Assistant Engineer: Jared Hirshland
Studio Guitar Tech: Bruce Nelson
Studio Drum Tech: Jarrett Borba
Mixed by Ben Grosse at The Mix Room in Burbank, California
Mix Assistant: Paul Pavao
Mastered by Tom Baker at Baker Mastering in Calabasas, California
Original “Check It” Image Art Work by Chester Bennington
Band Photo by Chapman Baehler
Layout Design by Great Daane Graphics
Published by ChesterChaz Publishing (BMI)/Brain Tan Music (ASCAP)/I, Myself And Me (ASCAP)/Fast Fog Music (ASCAP)
Chester Bennington appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Chester Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017).
