I was only fortunate enough to see Scott Weiland with Stone Temple Pilots once, but it was an intoxicating experience. The man had a magnetism. A sensational performer, he was one of those singers you simply couldn’t take your eyes off. I had a ticket to see him on a UK solo tour, too, but never got that second chance. His death in 2015 robbed us of a singular talent.
“Live” captures him on his 2009 American tour supporting “Happy In Galoshes”. Previously available as a Record Store Day vinyl release, his first solo live album now arrives on CD and digital formats for the first time. Across these nine songs, you get a sense of what made him so compelling.
“Paralysis” immediately brings out the crooner in him. There was so much more to that voice than the obvious rock star swagger, and you listen to this thinking he could have turned his hand to almost anything. There’s a freedom about the performance that suits him.
“Killing Me Sweetly” underlines that. He talks about one of the joys of making solo music being the opportunity to do things outside the Pilots’ sound, and the Latin feel here makes the point beautifully. He’s clearly proud of these songs, and the pleasure comes from hearing him explore their possibilities.
Then “Vasoline” arrives, and you do wonder whether this is what everyone has been waiting for. Whatever else he did, those Stone Temple Pilots songs carried a particular weight. The familiarity is immediate, but so is the reminder of just how good they were.
His version of Velvet Revolver’s “Do It For The Kids” is a mad reworking, taking another part of his history somewhere rather different. There’s something appealing about hearing him treat familiar material with that freedom.
“Unglued”, though, brings another reminder of the brilliance of STP. You can talk about the frontman all you like, and rightly so, but what a band they were. Those songs still have the power to stop you in your tracks.
“Blind Confusion” returns to the solo material, and again you hear his belief in that record. Then comes “Interstate Love Song”, which might just be the Pilots’ finest moment. Certainly, listening here, it’s difficult to argue against it. Some songs have a hold on you that the years do very little to loosen.
“Barbarella” reaches back to his first solo album, “12 Bar Blues”, a record that had some stunning moments of its own. “Missing Cleveland” closes things with perhaps just a little Beatles-ish colour, leaving another glimpse of the breadth of his musical imagination.
Of course, no live album can replace the joy of being in the room. But I can trace my fascination with Stone Temple Pilots back to seeing them perform “Sex Type Thing” on Channel 4’s “The Word”. They were sensational. The DeLeo brothers had plenty to do with that, but it was Weiland’s magnetism that first captivated me.
It still does here.
Rating: 8/10
