| Stone Temple Pilots |
Article Index for Stone |
Website Links For Stone Temple Pilots |
Information AboutStone Temple Pilots |
Stone Temple Pilots (abbreviated '''STP''') were a popular Rock band in the 1990's, comprised of Scott Weiland (vocals), brothers Robert DeLeo (bass) and Dean DeLeo (guitar), and Eric Kretz (drums). STP's five albums have sold over 17 million copies. The band had fifteen top ten singles on the Billboard charts, including six # 1's, and one # 1 album (1994's ''Purple''). STP won the 1994 Grammy for the "Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal" for their song ''Plush''. In addition to their original material, they have also covered songs by Led Zeppelin , The Doors , and The Beatles . These bands were some of the bands the group cited as influences as well. In 2003, the band released the greatest hits compilation ''Thank You''. Around this time, bandmembers began going their separate ways. Since the band's demise, Weiland has moved on to become the frontman of and currently plays drums in the band Spiralarms. HISTORY Weiland and Robert DeLeo met at a Black Flag concert in Long Beach, California and discovered that they were dating the same woman. They got to know each other, rather than fight over the woman, who eventually fled to Texas ; the two moved into her old San Diego apartment and started playing together. Robert got his brother Dean DeLeo to join their jamming sessions and also found Eric Kretz , who was then with another band, to play drums. The band's original name was "''Mighty Joe Young''". In 1992, Don Mullen, a booking agent for Triad Artists, said them perform and led them to Atlantic Records . On April 1, 1992, they signed a contract and began recording tracks with Brendan O'Brien . During the recording, STP's lawyer called and told them there was a Blues musician who had already claimed the name Mighty Joe Young. In an MTV interview they said they changed the band's name to "''Stereo Temple Pirates''" after seeing the STP Motor Oil Company logo. After calling their manager to inform him of the name change he suggested they change "pirates" to "pilots". Soon after they changed the word "Stereo" to "Stone" and the Stone Temple Pilots were born. In September 1992, STP released their first album, '' Core '', including the hit songs ''"Plush"'', ''"Creep"'', ''"Wicked Garden"'', and ''"Sex Type Thing"''. The critics initially disregarded the group, writing them off as a derivative of Grunge bands such as Pearl Jam , Soundgarden , Nirvana , and Alice In Chains , however, the debut was commercially successful. After the "Plush" video appeared on MTV , showing the band through a distorted lens, many supposed Scott Weiland and Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder were the same person. The still long-haired Vedder reported receiving messages complimenting him on his new short, red hairdo. In 1993, STP recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged that aired on February 2nd, 1994. While an acoustic version of ''"Plush"'' appears on their greatest hits CD ''Thank You'', it was taken from their performance on MTV's "Headbanger's Ball", not the MTV Unplugged show. In 1994, STP released their second album, '' Purple '', which debuted at No. 1 and stayed there for three weeks. The music was markedly different from Core , with a focus on studio experimentation and tight song structure. ''"Big Empty", "Vasoline", "Interstate Love Song", "Unglued"'' and ''"Pretty Penny"'' were the album's biggest hits. 1995 saw the band take a turn in the wrong direction, when Scott Weiland got involved with a side music project, Magnificent Bastards , and with Heroin . In May 1995, Weiland was arrested for possession of crack cocaine and heroin. Weiland was given one year's probation and during this time the group recorded their next album '' Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop ''. Although this CD got better reviews than their previous albums, it failed to generate as many sales. This album employed more experimentation with various styles of music while retaining the band's Hard Rock roots. Still not having kicked his drug habit, Weiland was ordered by a judge to go into a drug rehabilitation program. Weiland had left the program at Impact House, without notice, but returned the next day. In October of that year, suggestive pictures of Weiland and Courtney Love surfaced and, luckily for Weiland, '' Hustler '' publisher Larry Flynt refused to publish the pictures. On November 4th of that year, Weiland was released from the rehab program and STP began touring again in Los Angeles, but again, Weiland went back in rehab, starting rumours that the band was breaking up, which turned out to be untrue. In September 1997, while STP was on hiatus, Weiland released a solo album, '' Twelve Bar Blues '', while the remaining members of STP formed the one-time band Talk Show , with former Ten Inch Men singer Dave Coutts . Neither release did well commercially. STP soon reunited, releasing '' No. 4 '' in 1999. ''"Sour Girl"'' was this album's biggest hit, with a swirling, psychedelic pop melody. The video for "Sour Girl" features Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Sarah Michelle Gellar who is said to be a "Big fan of the band". The song ''"Down"'' also charted. Shortly after its completion, Weiland was sentenced to a year in a Los Angeles county jail for violating probation. During the summer of 2001, STP released '' Shangri-La Dee Da ''. ''"Days of the Week"'', a power pop song, was this album's biggest hit. The song ''"Hollywood Bitch"''also charted. On November 11, 2003, STP released a CD/DVD entitled '' Thank You '', a Greatest Hits album. Meanwhile, since 2002, Scott Weiland has formed the hard rock/ Heavy Metal band Velvet Revolver with former members of Guns N' Roses , plus Dave Kushner . Band members (and brothers) Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo recently announced the formation of a new band " Army Of Anyone " led by Filter frontman Richard Patrick , along with Ray Luzier who played for former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth . Eric Kretz currently plays drums in the band Spiralarms . DISCOGRAPHY Albums Singles AWARDS / NOMINATIONS |
|
|