Stone Temple Pilots
Perdida
Rhino
2020
Stone Temple Pilots may have been around for what now three decades, but whereas I can’t deny their passion for their craft and a certain ability, I was hardly ever a fan of their songs with very few exceptions. Likewise, I thought that the late Scott Weiland had an interesting voice and some nice grit to it, but I hardly liked any of the many songs that he sung. Sad but true. Now, the band plucked their new singer Jeff Gutt, from a talent contest, but he seemed to be quite able to channel their late frontman sufficiently to not butcher their older songs and to continue without serious changes to the overall style.
On this album however, qhixh means loss, (to lose) in Spanish, the band loses most of their electric armor and goes very rustic, down an acoustic folk path that’s not what one might associate the band with, but isn’t too bad either. As always a bad Rolling Stone review is a good sign, since those guys seemed to lambaste their debut all those years ago, as if the band had had group sex with the writers wives… and he wasn’t too happy to be cuck’ed.
Opener and lead single “Fare Thee Well” has a Beatlesque air about it, but it’s also very Americana-esque at the same time, with its slide guitars. Gutt on occasion and maybe as a bit of a tribute channels Weiland, but not as much, as he seems to be himself, having found his own voice, here, which is considerably cleaner.
“Three Wishes” is a little reminiscent of “Pretty Penny”, but not to the point of self-plagiarism, perhaps done without realizing it, or just maybe tipping a hat to the past.
The title track, “Perdida”, feels very vintage, as if it was contemporary of The Doors and Love and that’s not something I’d just utter that easily, it might be simple, but therein lies it’s magnificence. Oh and Rolling Stone writers, please eat a bucket of shit (hehe)!
“I Didn’t Know the Time” is even more spartan and not necessarily for the better, but it closes with an interesting soft, flute solo, that feels very appropriate and natural.
“Years” is a breezy, yet melancholic song, which feels a little too catatonic for my tastes, but has its charms and you couldn’t discard it as a filler, even if you weren’t a fan. And is that a sax, I hear or a clarinet?!
“She’s My Queen” doesn’t necessarily shake things up, but it feels a lot more present and lucid, than its predecessors and the playful flute that accompanies it’s latter part helps, liven things up a bit, without disturbing the balance of powers.
“Miles Away” does stray away a little, introducing a violin to the mix, which makes things sound a little more European sounding… more artsy, even a little gypsy, if one counts the riff the violin’s playing.
“You Found Yourself While Losing Your Heart” has a pretentiously long title, but also a melody that accompanies that mouthful capably, so it’s far from being the worst thing ever with its poignant sentimentalism.
“I Once Sat at Your Table” is a short instrumental that says more with its title and melodies, than it doesn’t with the words it lacks.
Closing the album “Sunburst” is more typical of STP’s sound even in the acoustic template and as such, I am not the biggest fan of it. It’s also quite too busy to act as a footnote to an album that’s largely timid, if not slightly anemic.
Not being a fan of the band, I wasn’t disappointed by this album, as some fans might be and I didn’t find it pretentious; I’d rather say it felt pretty sincere. It’s up to the band’s real fans to really make of it what they will.
On this album however, qhixh means loss, (to lose) in Spanish, the band loses most of their electric armor and goes very rustic, down an acoustic folk path that’s not what one might associate the band with, but isn’t too bad either. As always a bad Rolling Stone review is a good sign, since those guys seemed to lambaste their debut all those years ago, as if the band had had group sex with the writers wives… and he wasn’t too happy to be cuck’ed.
Opener and lead single “Fare Thee Well” has a Beatlesque air about it, but it’s also very Americana-esque at the same time, with its slide guitars. Gutt on occasion and maybe as a bit of a tribute channels Weiland, but not as much, as he seems to be himself, having found his own voice, here, which is considerably cleaner.
“Three Wishes” is a little reminiscent of “Pretty Penny”, but not to the point of self-plagiarism, perhaps done without realizing it, or just maybe tipping a hat to the past.
The title track, “Perdida”, feels very vintage, as if it was contemporary of The Doors and Love and that’s not something I’d just utter that easily, it might be simple, but therein lies it’s magnificence. Oh and Rolling Stone writers, please eat a bucket of shit (hehe)!
“I Didn’t Know the Time” is even more spartan and not necessarily for the better, but it closes with an interesting soft, flute solo, that feels very appropriate and natural.
“Years” is a breezy, yet melancholic song, which feels a little too catatonic for my tastes, but has its charms and you couldn’t discard it as a filler, even if you weren’t a fan. And is that a sax, I hear or a clarinet?!
“She’s My Queen” doesn’t necessarily shake things up, but it feels a lot more present and lucid, than its predecessors and the playful flute that accompanies it’s latter part helps, liven things up a bit, without disturbing the balance of powers.
“Miles Away” does stray away a little, introducing a violin to the mix, which makes things sound a little more European sounding… more artsy, even a little gypsy, if one counts the riff the violin’s playing.
“You Found Yourself While Losing Your Heart” has a pretentiously long title, but also a melody that accompanies that mouthful capably, so it’s far from being the worst thing ever with its poignant sentimentalism.
“I Once Sat at Your Table” is a short instrumental that says more with its title and melodies, than it doesn’t with the words it lacks.
Closing the album “Sunburst” is more typical of STP’s sound even in the acoustic template and as such, I am not the biggest fan of it. It’s also quite too busy to act as a footnote to an album that’s largely timid, if not slightly anemic.
Not being a fan of the band, I wasn’t disappointed by this album, as some fans might be and I didn’t find it pretentious; I’d rather say it felt pretty sincere. It’s up to the band’s real fans to really make of it what they will.