After the Seattle grunge scene in the early 1990's found itself popularised in the mainstream music charts through such groups as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, a slew of imitative rock groups such as Candlebox, Live, Bush and Silverchair appeared. Criticised by the music press as being derivative of the musical style and image of the era, many of these acts never escaped the shadow of their musical forefathers.
One of the bands to emerge from this time was San Diego act Stone Temple Pilots. Fronted by vocalist Scott Weiland who is currently better known for several well publicised arrests and a stint with the remains of Guns & Roses in rock supergroup Velvet Revolver, in 1992 the band released their debut album Core. Powered by several hit singles such as
Plush,
Sex Type Thing and
Wicked Garden, Core was commercially successful despite being hounded by critics for the bands obvious grunge leanings and Weiland's Vedder-esque vocal delivery. Released two years later in 1994, Purple is the groups second studio effort and a mighty fine one at that.
The album sees STP retaining their grunge influence, but carving their own increasingly unique niche in the 90's rock scene. Opening track
Meatplow delivers in riffs with filthy, crunchy rhythms from guitarist brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo, the anthemic hook to the lyrics which swings off some surprisingly intuitive guitarwork demonstrating an excellent songwriting ability. Furthering this is big radio single
Interstate Love Song, a perfect concoction of harmonious singing and the groups evolving pop sensibilities which is quite deserving of its popularity and frequent airplay even 16 years later. The two-note guitar line in
Vasoline might be considered a little bland to some, however it could just as easily be described as "economical" considering the track is extremely well written with a memorable structure. This description is important as it ultimately lends itself to every song on the album, from the sweeping studio effects of
Lounge Fly and its layered percussion to the pompous riffing and choruses of
Unglued to the stomping punk tinged
Army Ants Purple brings plenty of fresh variety to the table amongst softer efforts such as
Pretty Penny, a beautiful, soft acoustic ballad with layered instrumentation and the bluesy rock of
Big Empty.
Purple is a superb moment in 90's rock which is well worth your attention. The production is solid with walls of crisp-yet-filthy guitars interweaving erratic leads with the predominant focus on rhythm, studio effects and multilayered percussion strongly bolstering some anthemic songwriting which could otherwise have descended into something a lot poorer in the wrong hands. Though it never steps out of the realm of modern rock (apart from the hidden lounge flavoured track at the end) there is quite a variety of music on here. Purple is consistently entertaining.
