Audio By Carbonatix
The early ’90s were ripe for the taking, musically. People were tired of the Sunset Strip’s hair-metal scene. Alternative rock — particularly grunge — ushered in the slow death of hair bands, giving record labels a new genre to fawn over. Although not from Seattle, Stone Temple Pilots reached massive success with their 1992 debut, Core. Scott Weiland just so happened to infuse that record with his scratchy, snarky rock vocals, establishing his band as early forerunners of music’s newest obsession: alternative rock. In 1996, while on tour in support of one the decade’s finest albums, Tiny Music . . . Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, Weiland’s heroin addiction killed Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland, never one to settle down, spent a six-year stint with Velvet Revolver, heading back to the studio, hooking up with Steve Albini to record his second solo album, 2008’s Happy in Galoshes. He’s kicked his habit, put a bigger focus on his music, and is touring with his solo material, showing fans his passion that made him an icon nearly two decades ago.
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