Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Grunge was the Stone Temple Pilots' stock-in-trade on their first two albums, butTiny Musictakes the group beyond such stylistic limitations. There's still plenty of grinding, metallic alt-rock here, thanks to "Pop's Love Suicide," "Big Bang Baby," and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart." "Lady Picture Show" is a bracing blast of Beatlesesque pop, however, while "And So I Know" finds Weiland crooning over, of all things, cocktail jazz. The album's dozen tracks find the troubled singer musing (rather creepily) about the price of fame on "Adhesive" ("Sell more records if I'm dead... Hope it's sooner / Hope it's near corporate records' fiscal year"), and not apologizing for his bad behavior ("Tumble in the Rough" asserts, "I'm looking for a new stimulation"; bet you are, Scott). But they're rock stars, not role models, andTiny Musicis STP's edgiest, most accomplished effort.--Daniel Durchholz