Interstate Love Song (8/20/94) #18a US, #53 UK, #1 AR, #2 MR
Unglued (12/24/94) #8 AR, #16 MR
Pretty Penny (3/18/95) #12 AR
Notes:
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Awards:
Purple
Stone Temple Pilots
Review:
“Stone Temple Pilots had hits with Core, but they got no respect. They suffered a barrage of savage criticism and it must have hurt, since their second effort seems a conscious effort to distinguish themselves as a band not indebted to grunge.” STE They “come up with an album that’s harder, more concise, and filled with thunderous, punishing riffs.” DD “That didn’t get them anywhere, as they were attacked as viciously as before, but Purple is nevertheless a quantum leap over their debut, showcasing a band hitting its stride. They still aren’t much for consistency, and there’s more than a fair share of filler over this album’s 12 Gracious Melodies” STE.
“Still, this filler isn’t cut-rate grunge, as it was on the debut; it has its own character, heavily melodic and slightly psychedelic.” STE STP may have been “considerably more mainstream than their peers, but time has proven that that’s their primary charm, since they were unafraid to temper their grunge with big arena hooks and swirling melodies.” STE “Headbangers will rejoice over the grinding guitars of Meatplow, …Lounge Fly, and Unglued” DD, as well as “the tight, concise Vasoline.” STE The band also shine when they “back off the throttle for the hushed (though still intense)” DD “acoustic-based Pretty Penny.” STE
What really stands out, though, are “the record’s two masterpieces.” STE “Big Empty is ominous and foreboding, yet remains anthemic, a perfect encapsulation of mainstream alienation.” STE The song “puts a respectable spin on the phrase "power ballad’.” DD
It “is surpassed only by Interstate Love Song, a concise epic as alluring as the open highway.” STE The latter is a “catchy, hook-filled… [song that] asserts itself as one of the most memorable alt-rock singles of the '90s.” DD
“These two songs are so good (really, mainstream hard rock didn’t get better than these two cuts) that the unevenness of the rest of the record is all the more frustrating, but the filler here is better than before – and those singles are proof positive that STP was the best straight-ahead rock singles outfit of their time.” STE
6.0
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10.0
