Stone Temple Pilots is the sixth studio album by the Stone Temple Pilots. The album was released on May 21, 2010, and is the band’s first album since 2001’s Shangri La Dee Da. The album is the result of the band’s reunion, which occurred in April 2008 with their North American tour. After Stone Temple Pilots had begun playing together, the band decided to record again, but a lawsuit filed by Atlantic Records on June 12, 2008, made the sixth album an uncertainty.
Atlantic eventually withdrew the lawsuit, and the band’s attorney called the legal situation a “misunderstanding”. The album is also the band’s final release with the full original lineup, as vocalist Scott Weiland was dismissed from the band in 2013, and died in 2015.
Robert DeLeo, against Atlantic Records‘ wishes, insisted that he and his brother Dean DeLeo produce the record themselves, which began production in early 2009. Because recording took place during breaks in the band’s touring schedule, production took nearly ten months to complete.
Three studios were used simultaneously, including Robert‘s home studio and Eric Kretz‘s Bomb Shelter Studios. Scott Weiland recorded vocals at his own Lavish Studios. Don Was came in as an additional producer to help keep the band’s separate recording sessions in sync, as well as to work closely with Weiland during the recording of his vocals. The album was completed in December 2009, and mixing and mastering were finished by February 2010.
It received generally favorable reviews. Most critics agreed that Stone Temple Pilots was heavily inspired by country and rock music from the 1960s and 1970s. The band confirmed these assertions and that lyricists like Bob Dylan, and guitarists like Speedy West and Brad Whitford were influences.
Between the Lines was the first single, released on March 22. The second and third singles, Take a Load Off and Cinnamon, were released later in the year. The album Stone Temple Pilots sold 62,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200.
Tracklist:
- Between the Lines
- Take a Load Off
- Huckleberry Crumble
- Hickory Dichotomy
- Dare If You Dare
- Cinnamon
- Hazy Daze
- Bagman
- Peacoat
- Fast As I Can
- First Kiss on Mars
- Maver
Bonus tracks - Samba Nova
- Vasoline (live from Chicago)
- Hickory Dichotomy (live from Chicago)
- Between the Lines (live from Chicago)
Stone Temple Pilots
Scott Weiland: lead vocals
Dean DeLeo: guitar, production
Robert DeLeo: bass, backing vocals, production
Eric Kretz: drums
Production
Chris Lord-Alge: mixing
Don Was: additional producer
Ted Jensen: mastering
Russ Fowler: engineer
Bill Appleberry: engineer, keyboards
Doug Grean: engineer
Mike Gerlach: assistant engineer
Jared Hirshland: assistant engineer
Arik Garcia: assistant engineer
Keith Armstrong: assistant mixer
Nik Karpen: assistant mixer
Brad Townsend: additional engineering
Andrew Schubert: additional engineering
Shepard Fairey: cover image
Mark Obriski: art direction & design
David J. Harrigan III: additional design
Chapman Baehler: photography
Dana DuFine: management
Scott Weiland (October 27, 1967 December 3, 2015).
