People We Covet: Stone Temple Pilots

When it comes to music, I can listen to just about anything. But I have my favorite genres--classical, dance pop, and rock--and within those categories, my favorite artists. You may have noticed that I'm a big fan of Madonna, for example. But my very favorite band of all time is Stone Temple Pilots.

I chose to write about my boys as the People We Covet this month because their fifth, self-titled album, which has been a long time in the making (they were on hiatus for several years, from 2002 until their reunion tour in 2008), drops today. If it sucks, I'm going to be really upset. Because I truly do love them.

I was introduced to their music early in high school by my brother, who had their first album, Core, playing in the car one day. Even though that album isn't the best ever,  I liked them enough to keep listening. While their second album, Purple, is widely regarded as their best, my favorite is No. 4, the aptly-named fourth album. It has everything from hard-rocking riffs ("Down," "No Way Out") to a chill-out--albeit psychedelic--song ("I Got You") to the real work of art that is "Sour Girl," my favorite song ever and, of course, one of my Top 100.

In addition to making great music--in spite of all of the hateful and, quite frankly, inaccurate accusations of being a rip-off band--STP puts on a good live show. Two summers ago, during their reunion tour, I finally got to see them in concert thanks to my mom and dad, who took me as a birthday present. (Although I had an opportunity to see them during the Family Values Tour in 2001, I passed, and when they officially split in 2003, I was so devastated and hated myself for not going to that show. I also saw Scott Weiland, STP's singer, live with Velvet Revolver in 2004, which was a good performance in its own right, but was no substitute for the real thing.) They opened the show with "Big Empty" (one of their best-known songs, from Purple), and I absolutely lost my mind. Here were my guys, right in front of me, together again; I couldn't have been happier.

If you're not familiar with Stone Temple Pilots, you might consider checking out their greatest hits album, Thank You, or taking a look at Below Empty, a really great fan website that has more information about STP than you ever wanted to know, probably: a band time-line, discography section, and archive of articles, among other things, including a forum. Or you could start your listening experience with Stone Temple Pilots today. I highly recommend their music and hope that you will come to love them as much as I do.

Buy the new album through Tower Records for $9.99.

-Cate-