merry christmas.

-METALLICA v. CATACOMB & CERN
http://fairtilizer.com/track/70656

-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS v. THE PRODIGY
http://fairtilizer.com/track/70654

-MARILYN MANSON v. THE LOOPS OF FURY
http://fairtilizer.com/track/70651

-STEELY DAN v. CANINESOUNDS
http://fairtilizer.com/track/70653

. . .

http://www.aggro1.com/

. . .

-frail.limb.purity

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Behind the Sun is a five-piece rock band which formed on the edges of the west Negev desert in the south of Israel. Their self-titled debut album, which was a year and a half in the making, was released in June 2009 and features 12 original and epic songs. Their music and lyrics deal with (among other things) the breakdown of society, loss, decay, corrupt leadership, world terrorism, first hand experience of the horrors of war, personal relationships and the sanctity of life – pretty much what you would expect from a band living in such a harsh land.

I can’t get enough of the album at the moment, I’ve listened to it non-stop in the past few days. They have such a unique sound and quality musicianship. There is definitely a heavy desert sound to the music but it is mixed with so many other elements. To me they sound like a mixture of Opeth, Metallica, 70s progressive rock and grunge. Their influences match up with this description; they cite bands such as Alice in Chains, The Who, King Crimson, Opeth, Tool, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Stone Temple Pilots as inspirations. The music is just fantastic all the way through the album, I particularly love the guitar sound (the fabulous instrumentals ‘October ‘77′ and ‘Prelude’ showcase this). The vocals are really interesting too, they are reminiscent of James Hetfield in places, but still very unique.

My favourite song on the album has to be ‘Fifteenth Dawn’ (I love the military-sounding intro). I also really love ‘Second December’ (what a great/rocking album opener!), ‘Running Water’, ‘Wishful Thinking’ and ‘Nothing But a Stain’. Really though, there is no bad song on the album. The only negative thing I was going to say is that the album can seem a little long on first listen. I thought it was too drawn out and that it would never hold my attention longer than the first few tracks. However, when you have listened to it fully a number of times and are familiar with the songs, the hour flies by.

The band has so much potential and it seems likely they have a bright future ahead of them! I probably haven’t done them justice because I know very little about the technical side of music, but I strongly suggest you check out their MySpace page for yourselves and take a listen. They also have a free download of ‘Running Water’ available for a short period of time – go and get it!

MySpace | ReverbNation

So sure, we are all rather weary of anything that Scott Weiland says. His never-ending shenanigans are always getting him in hot water and/or incarcerated, but, according to Mr. Weiland, STP are “almost finished” with their comeback album, due out sometime in 2010. Read more here.

[photogallerylink id=5172 align=left] Check out pictures of Stone Temple Pilots at Almost Acoustic Christmas 2008.

I went temple mental last weekend. Well when I say ‘mental’ I mean that I saw two of ‘em. So maybe ‘mental’ was the wrong way to describe it. Loopy! Yeah, I went temple loopy. That still sounds wrong. I’ll try again. Crazy? No. Krazy? Definitely no. Nuts? Nah. Bonkers? Nope. Coo-coo? I don’t like that either…

*clears throat*

I went to two temples last weekend.

Better.

So anyway. On Saturday I went to Jangyu-Sa temple, and on Sunday I went to Changwon temple. Both really beautiful places, check the photos if you don’t believe me. Not now, carry on reading. You don’t want to break up the flow of things do you?

Right, Saturday first (seems pretty natural to start here). Me and a mate took his motorbike up to the temple. We could have walked, but it would have taken around two hours and since we were planning on hiking up the mountain behind the temple, we felt that taking 20 minutes to bike up the first half wasn’t cheating. This bike really wasn’t built to haul two fully grown people up a steep winding mountain road. Poor thing really struggled at times, but we made it in the end. Here’s some photos of the temple. Doesn’t it feel better that you waited to read the rest of this first before looking at the pictures?

These are two of the gatekeepers that guard the temple

And these are the other two. I personally wouldn't mess with anyone carrying a flaming sword.

This is the temple gate. The bell gets rung at 5am and 6pm (I think). That's when the monks get up and go to bed (I think).

This is the building that the monks live in. We didn't see any about. I can only assume that they were flying from treetop to treetop at the time.

The actual temple. Impressive no? You can go inside and pray and stuff, but we didn't really feel right doing that. There's hundreds of pieces of paper hanging from the ceiling with the names of families who have donated money towards the temple. The monks have to say a prayer for each of the families every day.

The view of Jangyu from the temple.

Then we started climbing.

On the way up we passed a whole bunch of Koreans doing the exact same thing, except they take it seriously. They had all the gear. Hiking sticks/poles, hiking shoes, hiking jackets, hiking trousers, everything! And some of them must have been 70 and maybe even older. The old people here never cease to amaze me. It must be something to do with a diet of pickled vegetables and soju. Maybe it pickles them. Maybe it preserves them. Not aesthetically, but physically. Everyday I see old Korean women doing the ‘Asian Squat’ (I’ve looked it up, it’s a real term) on the pavements, cleaning and preparing food and stuff. I just can’t do it. And I have tried. On numerous occasions. I just fall down.

This thing. It's not quite sitting, but it's not squatting as we Westerners know it.

But back to the mountain. It was tough on the legs. But worth it when we got to the top. Unfortunately it was a tad cloudy so we couldn’t see as far as we might have been able to see. On a clear day we would have been able to see Busan and the sea.

723 metres up.

Part of Jangyu.

There's a whole bunch of small rice farming communities over this direction.

You can just about see the reflection of the sun in the sea.

There's a peace pagoda at the top. It's just like Willen Lake it is.

On the way back down. Slippery and not great on the knees.

Apparently there are trails that connect over all the mountains in Korea, so in theory you could start anywhere and end up anywhere.

One day I might lose my mind and do it.

On to Sunday!

Changwon temple is bigger that Jangyu-Sa but Changwon is bigger than Jangyu so it makes sense I suppose. The temple itself was pretty similar really, but here’s a bunch of photos all the same.

raaaaarrrr!

There were loads of these little statues and stacked stones around both temples. i don't know why. I have a feeling it's about getting prayers answered. But what do I know?

So that’s that.

The weather for the hike on Saturday was awesome. Nice and warm, blue sky. Would have been perfect if it had been a bit less cloudy. Sunday was a bit cooler. And this week the temperature has dropped. I think it’s winter now. There’s a savage wind that’s busting around that cuts right through you. On my walk to work today it felt like I had two starved mice eating my ears and a small dog wearing a hoody chewing on my chin. Should have worn a hat. And some kind of chin warming device.

My bathroom is currently shockingly cold. I head in there in the mornings and start muttering incohearantly and making threats to the various things in there. Also, while I’m on the subject of my bathroom. It took me a while to figure out how to control the boiler but I did in the end. I know how to divert the hot water from the heating system to the taps. But whenever I try to have a shower the boiler treats me like a jerk. I can almost hear it saying “Oh you want hot water do you?!  Well here! have all the hot water in the world!” It’s freakishly hot. The problem with trying to scald me is that it’s not a huge machine, so inevitably it runs out in the end and replaces the ‘I hate you’ hot water with ‘I hate you’ cold water. I suppose it’s good for making sure I’m in and out of there in good time. I’ve named the boiler ‘HAL’. It seems to fit. But if it starts trying to talk to me I’m off.

I’m going to end with an observation. One of the books I’m teaching out of has photos of kids at various intervals throughout it. It’s probably to help the students better relate to the subject matter. Anyway, there’s this one girl who’s been popping up. Her name is ‘Kim’ apparently. As soon as I saw her I thought “She’s a bit weird looking. Why did they choose her?” Then I thought “She looks like someone I know or someone I’ve seen before but I don’t know who.” This was bugging me for a few days until it came to me out of the blue. My sudden exclamation of “AHA!” (not entirely unlike a bad impression of Alan Partridge) startled the kids into a couple minutes of “Teacher! What?” but here is conclusive proof that ‘Kim’ from ‘All of Us 1′ also played the part of ‘Chong Li’ in the 1988 Van Damme classic ‘Bloodsport’. Lookit.

Kim is on the left.

It’s uncanny!

There used to be a Swedish radio station really worth listening to. I grew up listening to tracks like these until the golden days of this radio station were put to an end sometime in 1996. The station is apparently still around namewise but i bet by now it’ll sound like every other commercial radio station out there. I really miss the DJ:s on Bandit 105.5.

The torch appears to have been passed though, to another nice little radio station called Rocket 95.3fM, but i’d still like to take this opportunity to revive the magic of the years leading up to 1996, before the end of Bandit 105.5

I’ve compiled this playlist of as many songs i can remember being played on that station, let me know if I’ve missed a song that really should be in here.

#20091211 – time capsule: 1993-1996 (Bandit 105.5) (82 tracks in total)

(get your player at www.spotify.com)

This is a re-post of a previous blog entry from 1996.

As I sit listening to pop-rock group Of Montreal, glancing around at posters and photograph collages of Green Day, The Cardigans, The Hives and my Jackson 5 album covers, I smile. The jangly guitars and heart-wrought vocals dance through my ears and fingers typing away. It’s second nature to have music accompany my writing, and nothing does me better than a guitarist, bassist and drummer riding shotgun.

10 years ago, I would have never admitted to liking rock music—let alone realizing it would be the force that would change me. Being a black male in the Chicago suburbs, admitting to liking rock was the equivalent of Jamie Kennedy’s Malibu’s Most Wanted: a subject of ridicule–if even acknowledged.

I had always loved music. As a kid, I grew up influenced by my parents’ diverse record collections. Everything from early Motown to album-oriented rock, blues, early rap and pop wafted though the house most hours of the day.

The group that first captured my heart was the Jackson 5. My parents were fans, and I had access to their 45s and LPs. I remember nights begging my dad to play their songs one more time, loving each play more than the last. That love exploded when my dad first took me to Rose Records at the age of eight. Browsing the album stacks, I found several Jackson 5 re-releases and took them home, beaming proudly.

But that affection soon changed. As kids talked about Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, I felt out of the loop with my J5 fervor. When asked what music I liked, I would mumble, “I like Dr. Dre.” It wasn’t a lie: I liked the G-Funk samples and comical videos, but like dating on the rebound, they didn’t compare to that quintessential love.

In an effort to get hip, I started watching MTV, BET and The Box, absorbing whatever was played. Some of it was good, some was bad, and some was not even worth mentioning…

(Shabba!)

In the sea of discovery, I made one connection, and it frightened me: rock. The soul-tinged howls of Chris Cornell, the wall of guitars and monstrous drumming of Stone Temple Pilots, and the wailing solos of Pearl Jam; I could not understand why I lit up when I heard them.

But nothing hit harder than Green Day. Maybe it was the teenage angst I was wrestling with, but it struck a chord that still resonates: the faux-British bleating vocals, the simple yet powerful three-chord guitars, the melodic bass in step, and the breakneck drumming of Mr. Tre Cool. I wanted to jump up and air guitar/air drum whenever their videos came on.

But the peer pressure! I was so afraid of what people would say to me, a black suburbanite, liking the very music they did. My biggest fear was of what my family would think. My brother Steve and my cousin Corey especially wouldn’t understand how I could prefer guitars to sampled beats and rhymes.

As my love for rock grew, I knew I couldn’t hide it much longer. And one day in 1996, out it came. Sitting in my grandparents’ basement, Steve, Corey and I were watching The Box when Green Day’s “Brain Stew/Jaded” video came on. As Steve normally did when Green Day came on, he imitated Billie Joe’s nasally whine (“Waooww!”) jokingly. As the second half, “Jaded,” came on, I was anxious beyond belief; I wanted nothing more than to jump up and imitate the intense guitar work. And Steve had worked my last nerve.

I told him to cut it out.

Surprised, he and Corey wondered where my outburst came from. Cornered, I admitted, finally, that I liked Green Day. All of the effort to contain my secret escaped in that moment. I braced myself for the teasing and laughing I expected to follow.

But it didn’t happen. Instead, there was surprise, apologies for making fun, and best of all, acceptance. That day, the Indiana Jones-like boulder on my shoulders crumbled. (In an interesting twist, Steve was with me at my first Green Day concert in 2004 and loved it.)

From then on, I strutted proudly in my musical likes. Unfortunately, others weren’t as liberated in their beliefs. When asked what groups I liked, I received puzzled looks when naming rock acts. “I thought you would like rap,” was a common response. More and more, I became similarly puzzled why they didn’t understand that I didn’t have to be pigeonholed because of my skin color.

As I accepted my rock fandom, I opened myself up to different sub-genres—Britpop, Swedish rock (The Cardigans), electronica, acid-jazz (Jamiroquai)—and also revisited the early influences, listening to more rap (sadly, my first CD was Crucial Conflict), R&B, pop and soul. I began going to concerts (Steve and Corey came with me to my first concert, The Cardigans), collecting posters and other merchandise, and becoming a student of past and current music. I even rekindled my love for the Jackson 5.

Becoming more open-minded to music opened me up to try different things and encounter new challenges I previously feared. It was also a great icebreaker, meeting some of my best college friends and adult friendships while connecting over our likes and dislikes. The foundation was laid by growing up in a musically inspired household, but it was forging my own path that led me to find myself.

Rock God Cred Report:

Click here to check Velvet Revolver covering Pink Floyd “Money”

Puntaje del Disco: 6,5

1. Dead And Bloated: 6
2. Sex Type Thing: 7
3. Wicked Garden: 7,5
4. No Memory: -
5. Sin: 5
6. Naked Sunday:  4
7. Creep: 6
8. Piece Of Pie: 6
9. Plush: 8
10. Wet My Bed: 3
11. Crackerman: 6
12. Where The River Goes: 5

Stone Temple Pilots se formó a comienzos de los años 90 con Scott Weiland en la voz, Robert DeLeo en guitarra y coros, su hermano Dean también en guitarra y  Eric Kretz a cargo de la batería. En plena era grunge y con notorias influencias de Nirvana y claras similitudes con Pearl Jam, en 1992 esta banda estadounidense lanzó su disco debut, “Core”.

Si bien “Core” se convirtió en uno de los mejores discos vendidos en la historia de Estados Unidos, las críticas al momento de su lanzamiento no fueron las más auspiciantes.  Los principales reproches se enfocaban en el claro intento de copia de bandas como Alice in Chains, la cual coincidentemente lanzó el disco “Dirt” el mismo día que salió el álbum de Stone Temple Pilots. Son innegables las influencias de las mencionadas bandas, pero aún así “Core” se las ingenia para ofrecer buenos destellos de grunge como en “Sex Type Thing”, que según Weiland no sólo trataba de sexo sino que se refería al poder abusivo del hombre hacia la mujer.  “Wicked Garden” por su parte es una destacable irrupción de rock ácido que combina bien con resto del disco. Luego de tal descarga, aparece “No Memory” que parece una cortina hacia el siguiente tema.

Después de dos temas como “Sin” y “Naked Sunday” que no merecen ninguna mención especial, el disco baja los decibeles con “Creep”, una tranquila balada que en nada se parece al tema de Radiohead. “Plush”, en cambio, fue uno de los más reconocidos hits del grupo que se alzó con diversos premios en 1994. Es recomendable la versión acústica, que si bien, con un sonido desenchufado, mantiene la esencia del tema.

Promediando los últimos tracks del disco se encuentra “Crackerman”, una canción que a modo de ver de las críticas de aquellos años es simplemente una parodia de Alice in Chains.

Piro

Scott Weiland, best known for his lead rolls in Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, is also an accomplished solo artist. His second album, “Happy” In Galoshes, was released about this time last year, but was shelved, promotionally speaking, as he rejoined his STP cohorts for some good old world domination. Now the ship is sailing again as Weiland releases the third single from his second solo album.

Reaction to “Tangle With Your Mind” was mostly positive, though there were some detractors, for sure. Dillon called in and said he didn’t care for the song at all. Conversely, Alex said, “Great song, man. Keep playing it.” Natalie sent a text that read, “it wasnt horrible but i didnt love it either.” One anonymous text said, “THIS is Scott Weiland? Would never have guessed. Not bad, but sounds suspiciously like Matchbox 20.” Other texts included, “Like it.” “Thumbs up” and “good!” Meredith gave some twitter feedback saying, “Fine, OK, might grow on me. Reminds me of Tom Petty, but [Weiland]’s a better singer.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear the song on Weiland’s MySpace page. You can also find Weiland on Facebook, Twitter and his official website.

What do you think of the song?

Stone Temple Pilots have postponed the rest of their stateside tour dates, and no, it’s not because Scott Weiland had another seizure on an airplane.

According to the band’s website, STP will spend the rest of 2009 in the studio instead of on the road in order to finish up their “highly anticipated record which will be coming out in the early spring of next year.”

Rolling Stone reports that the reunited band has already recorded about 18 tracks for the upcoming album, produced by Don Was.

Weiland anticipates a “big, long tour” to promote the not yet titled album.

Look for Stone Temple Pilots to take over a city near you in Spring/Summer 2010.

Well.

I’m beginning to get a little bit concerned that I’m becoming one of “those” music fans. The kind I used to make fun of for being to old, to stubborn and to locked into their own era of music, uninterested in expanding their listening experiences to anything beyond the music they know – the music they grew up with. People who still listen to “the Eagles” or “the Doobie Brothers” even though so much music has come out since then, and neither band was very good to begin with anyways. I was always confidant that this then would never be me. I’m young! I’m hip! I’m in the “know!” I keep up with whatever’s young and hip and in the “know!” Right? RIGHT?

Not quite. And Tuesday night proved that when I shelled out actual money to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Kool Haus in Toronto.

That’s right. Stone Temple Pilots. A band that hasn’t had a hit single, or even an album, in god knows how long. A band who’s lead singer I’m sure we all assumed was either dead or arrested. A band that hit it big over fifteen years ago, and who would recieve a collective “who?” from anybody under the age of sixteen today.

THAT band.

And they absolutely rocked. Seriously.

Vindication!

And, while some people would see the complete lack of any new material as a depressing reminder of just how irrelevant a band might be, all it meant for us was an hour and a half of SINGING ALONG TO EVERY DAMN WORD.

Which is always a good time.

The band kicked it into high gear right off the bat, opening with “Silvergun Superman” and then tore threw fan favorites like “Wicked Garden,” “Vasoline” and “Big Empty.” In fact,

This isn't from this show. But it's the best I could find.

during the show they played songs mostly off of their first two records, “Core” (1992) and “Purple” (1994) – which of course, is exactly what the majority of the audience (mostly males under thirty) wanted to hear (myself included).

The band was tight and professional, which was a little surprising to be honest. It was also the band’s only real weakness. At times they were a little “too tight” and “too professional.” I know that sounds horribly nitpicky (had they been sloppy and falling apart, I’m sure I would have bitched about that too) but the fact is that they were clearly just going through the motions at times – and looked it.

Still, when they launched into such crowd favorites as “Crackerman,” “Interstate Love Song” and their signature tune “Plush,” it was hard not to get caught up in the vibe, and be momentarily transported back to 1994. Which is, apparently, exactly where I want to be.

And I’m totally cool with that.

Here’s the full set list:

Main Set –

1. Silvergun Superman

2. Wicked Garden

3. Vasoline

4. Big Empty

5. Lounge Fly

6. Army Ants

7. Sour Girl

8. Creep

9. Crackerman

10. Plush

11. Interstate Love Song

12. Down

13. Sex Type Thing

14. Sin

15. Unglued

Encore -

16. Dead and Bloated

17. Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart

I remember seeing Stone Temple Pilots in the summer of 1999 when they played with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The Chillies had just released the highly (highly!) anticipated Californication and reunited with guitarist John Frusciante, who left some seven years earlier. STP was doing a delayed tour for their album No. 4, which was postponed because front man Scott Wieland was in jail for drug related charges. Needless to say the hype for No. 4 was not as big, even though there were some great tracks like “sour girl” and “down” on it.

The most intriguing thing about this whole line up, which also included Fish Bone, was that everyone, including all the local media, couldn’t stop talking about how amazing STP were, and even more, that they even out-rocked the Chillies, who closed the show. I couldn’t agree with this more, and it is definitely the answer that is always in my head whenever someone asks that question, what is the best concert you’ve ever been to?

But by saying that STP stole the show, what I really mean is that Scott Wieland did, with his skin tight leather pants, Travis Bickle mohawk and a pair of long, white, silky lady’s gloves the only thing covering his naked upper half. After telling the audience that he had been sober for 60 days (perhaps assisted by his time in jail?), he then proceeded to give the audience a performance that only a completely fucked up, stoned out of his mind Wieland can give, really emphasizing the past tense of his previous statement (he never said he was still sober). And it was incredible, with his intense, junkie eyes almost staring through the crowd, snake like dance moves and poses like a street performing contortionist mad out of his mind. They just continued to play hit after hit, with the eccentric Wieland on top of the front speakers doing his thing and utterly captivating the entire audience.

The only reason I mention this concert is because whatever he was on when he played that unforgettable night in ‘99, he was on the opposite last night at Toronto’s Kool Haus. I know this is going to sound bad and wrong in so many ways, but the fresh out of jail, cracked out Wieland is better than the fresh out of rehab, stiff and fragile looking one I saw on the stage last night.

The songs, yes, they sounded great and his voice was exactly what you would expect from a professional singer. But for me STP has always been 50 per cent music, 50 per cent persona, and the stage presence last night was completely non-existent. It almost looked like Wieland was in pain, and rather than bending his body in all sorts of ways it just looked like he had sore knees and forgot to take some Lakota.

There were very brief stints of some of Wieland’s famous dancing when they performed “Plush,” for instance, but it was still a mere shadow of what I have come to expect. During guitarists Dean DeLeo’s solos Weiland would just pick a spot on the ground and stare. When he was spinning in circles it looked less like he was into the music and more just confused, and you could even say cautious. At one point he almost managed to trip over the drum kit.

Right after the show someone I was there with asked me, “I wonder if he has Ozzy Osborne syndrome?” Meaning, has he just done way too many drugs for such a long period of time that he is reduced to a mumbling, incoherent mess. I wouldn’t say it’s that far yet, but there were some definite awkward moments.

In the middle of “sour girl” an extremely off tune duet between Wieland and DeLeo seemed to spring up out of nowhere, like each one was playing a different song (not to mention that Wieland seemed to be making up the words). But then they would play a pitch perfect and intense version of “down”, or have the entire audience chanting “STP, STP, STP” over some twelve bar blues, or even better, singing along to “creep.”

When they came back out for the encore, Wieland up again in his comfort zone, standing on the front speakers with a megaphone to his mouth, you could feel the anticipation in the crowd. It was half is he going to fall over, half what are they going to play? After a moment of silence the familiar lyrics of perhaps one of their best songs, “dead and bloated,” blasted out of the megaphone and for a minute it was just like being back in 1999. Wieland must have felt it too because perhaps for the first time of the night his dance moves seemed to really come back to him, although it was short lived.

Don’t get me wrong. This was still a good show, and if I seem to talk about Wieland a bit too much, it’s because he is essentially STP to people like me; people who like their rock stars gangly and completely fucked up, above any sort of regular societal norms (example: When Wieland did go to jail it was because he was picked up in Manhattan trying to buy drugs, dressed as a pimp no less).  

But when the four band members took to the front of the stage at the end of the show, bowing together and covering their hearts with their hands to show how much the applause meant to them, I couldn’t help but think this was my last chance to ever see this iconic symbol of the ‘90s LA rock scene. While I will always have their ’99 performance etched in my memory, I’m definitely glad I didn’t miss this.

This is my favorite STP song.

Interstate Love Song

Waiting on a Sunday afternoon
For what I read between the lines,
Your lies.
Feelin’ like a hand in rusted shame
So do you laugh or does it cry?
Reply?

Leavin’ on a southern train
Only yesterday you lied,
Promises of what I seemed to be
Only watched the time go by,
All of these things you said to me.

Breathing is the hardest thing
To do. with all I’ve said and
All that’s dead for you,
You lied – good bye

Leavin’ on a southern train
Only yesterday you lied
Promises of what I seemed to be
Only watched the time go by,
All of these things I said to you.

Mary Weiland, estranged wife of Stone Temple Pilots‘ frontman Scott Weiland, dishes on her destructive marriage, drug use and mental illness in her new book, Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Mental Illness.

>> Read more at SnarkFood.com now…

1. Apart from knowing “what’s real (and) what’s for sale” you should also realize what doesn’t make sense and calling petroleum jelly “vasoline” sounds really stupid, not clever.

2. Don’t do drugs, or else you’ll end up doing stupid things like blowing “a kiss and (try) to take it home.”

3. Again, doing too much drugs and alcohol will cause you to go “blind and out of reach.”

4. Ingesting huge amounts of “vasoline” will likely cause irreversible brain damage. The immediate effects are slurred speech and violent behavior.

5. If getting stuck in “vasoline” sometimes “blows (your) mind” you deserve to “keep getting stuck…all the (fucking) time.”

6. It’s not a stretch to imagine being able to “see the look,” but to “see the lies” is another matter. Should you be able to “see the lies,” the best response would be to “eat the lies” despite how ridiculous it all sounds. (edg)

The buzz for Stone Temple Pilots at Prospera Place in Kelowna, BC, was palpable from 6 blocks away. As I drove in from the main highway, down the waterfront street, and into the venue parking lot, I could see many groups of people hurrying from parked cars towards the arena. As I too walked from my car to the venue, the buzz grew and I could overhear small pockets of excited conversations all around me.

Inside the venue, people scurried to find their seats. The choice spots at the front of the rail had already been scooped up by eager fans standing in line hours before show time. Even with those spots gone, the General Admission floor was filled nearly to capacity by fans anxious to be as close to the band as humanly possible. A group of girls at the front were wearing white t-shirts all with the same hand-lettered message for singer Scott Weiland. Others wore glow in the dark bracelets or necklaces, and many clutched plastic cups of adult beverages, which they readily raised high in exuberant toasts to the band about to hit the stage.

Read more AT Rockstar Weekly
See more STP concer photos At Rockstar Weekly Gallery

The ’90s spawned the terms Generation X and Pepsi Generation. The revolutionary, plugged-in expanse between 1990 and 1999 symbolized the crystallization of youth culture—when technology, creativity and limitless possibility reached an amalgamated zenith. It was when rap and MTV became mainstream, Kurt and Big lived and died, and everything became inextricably linked with corporatism.

This list of definitive ’90s songs is by no means actually definitive. Instead, we wanted to take a moment to revel in our youth and explore the pop culture moments that make up our collective psyche. Regardless of whether you get with, smile at, or treat these moments with familiar scorn, chances are they fit seamlessly into your retrospective scope like Pizza Hut and slap bracelets. And don’t forget to share your favourites with us in the comments.

1991: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away

This song epitomizes everything that is the Red Hot Chili Peppers, in style, substance and even in the way they would record every song thereafter. To Chili Pepper purists, never has the band been as good as when the album Blood, Sugar, Sex Magic, in which this was the lead single, was released. Following this record guitarist John Frusciante would go AWOL and the Chilis would enter a dark period that included stints with Dave Navarro and a spot on the Beavis and Butthead soundtrack. Not until Frusciante rejoined the band seven years later would the Chilis even be a shadow of what they were when they cooped themselves up in a haunted LA mansion with Rick Rubin and recorded the perfect alternative rock album.—Jesse

1991: A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rhime

There is a reason that whenever Q-Tip tours (for his solo stuff, not as A Tribe Called Quest, sadly) he invites an audience member up on stage to help perform this popular Tribe classic. After all, besides serving as the group’s biggest hit single, it was the first to solidify the back and forth style of rapping that Tip and Phife Dawg would be known for throughout most of the ’90s. It’s almost sad to see this actually, because as much as Tip clearly loves this song, it just isn’t there without Phife, and nowhere is this more obvious than when you see it live.—Jesse

1992: Nirvana – Come As You Are

I would love to know how many people first learned to play guitar with this song. It was so simple to play, but it still managed to sound so good. Yeah, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was Nirvana’s big smash hit, but it was Cobain’s ability to follow it up with the puzzling and haunting melody and lyrics of “Come As You Are” that made Nirvana legendary. For every heavily distorted, almost out of control screaming fit of a song, everyone still knew he could create beautiful music like this (and “Heart Shaped Box”, “All Apologies”, a gorgeous unplugged album, etc…).—Jesse

1993: Stone Temple Pilots - Plush

Stone Temple Pilots (pre-1990, “Shirley Temple’s Pussy”) got a lot of flack for sounding like Pearl Jam — but as if I knew about that kind of shit back then and as if I really care now. “Plush” is a mealy-mouthed, choreographed pleasure, something about dogs and eyes of disarray (I think). I still don’t know the lyrics and I think I like it better that way — but I can sure as hell sing along and you better believe I feel, I feel something when I do. Like shit, I just listened to it five times while typing this. Someone, make out with me!—Jef

1994: Lisa Loeb – Stay (I Missed You)

Okay, I know I was like nine years old when this song came out but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel the same Reality Bites-esque generational angst that Lisa Loeb was singing about. Incidentally, this song was featured on the soundtrack for that generationally seminal film. Wikipedia notes that Ethan Hawke basically discovered Loeb and passed this song onto a pre-slapstick Ben Stiller (who directed Reality Bites). She’s a total one hit wonder, I know. But aren’t those tracks the power anthems of your youth? Plus the success of “Stay” is a crucial music moment—it was the first time an unsigned artist reached the top of the Billboard 100. And, oh yeah, seriously, Winona Forever.—Anupa

1994: Boyz II Men - On Bended Knee

Did you know Boyz II Men are still touring? A friend of mine saw them at Casino Rama (!?) recently and said it was the best show she’d ever seen. “On Bended Knee” is the musical manifestation of many a grade school dance — hands on hips, awkwardly closing space in the dark, shuffling around in circles not knowing what else to do. Some tunes bring about nostalgia, but almost everyone my age would probably agree the most visceral and vivid memories are sound tracked by this song. I won’t even get into “I’ll Make Love To You”. —Simon

1.  “Driving faster in (your) car” is not a good idea for a substance abusing depressive such as STP’s Scott Weiland. Cruise leisurely in a brightly painted ice cream truck instead.

2.  Do not “smoke a cigarette and lie some more.” It’s possible that it’s not your “conversations” that are “killing” her but your second hand smoke.

3.  “Falling faster in your car” isn’t really saying much since you can barely squeeze into that space below the dashboard as it is.

4.  Don’t wait until she’s “dizzy” and “conscience-laden” before thinking it’s “time to take her home.” Do it while she’s still sober and a mean bitch.

5.  Wearing your “soul” thin after too much “tripping” may be a clever play on words but “Stone Temple Pilots” just sounds completely made up and arbitrary.

6.  Be twice as wary of a girl whose “name is what it means” especially if her name is “Herpestina McYes-I-Have-Herpes.” (edf)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQRPM8Mm6RQ[/youtube]

Bits and pieces this Thursday.

• NYTimes.com has a podcast featuring the new Weezer album. Not wild about the podcast, but it sounds like there are some quality pop hooks on the record.

• Speaking of pop hooks, I just downloaded Stone Temple Pilots’ “Days of the Week.”

• My new favorite French blog has a post up about a vending machine that dispenses salads and other fresh foods. I’d love one of those in my office.

LOF met à la disposition de l’affamé pressé des sandwichs, des salades de pâtes et de légumes, des fruits en morceaux (selon la saison), des noix biologiques, des jus de fruits pressés, etc…

• Speaking of fruit, AppleInsider reports on Apple’s plans to overhaul their sync capabilities.

Alice in Chains – Dirt
Stone Temple Pilots – Core

We got pre-orders up for two early 90s grunge, hard rock, whatever stables, Alice in Chains’ Dirt (which is also on 180 gram) and Stone Temple Pilots’ Core (this should be on 180 gram, but I don’t know for sure at the moment).

1. It is good to sing in the manner of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder since his vocal style can lend some gravitas to a bunch of nonsense.

2. Accusing someone of running off “with the mask (you) found” is not cool since, technically, it isn’t yours either.

3. If it’s raining in her bedroom, it’s not because so much depends on the weather. It’s because you skimped on the roof repairs, you cheap douchebag.

4. The “eyes of disarray” may just be a bad case of strabismus.

5. Sending a pack of dogs to lead you to a nameless mystery girl may prove to be a waste of resources especially when you’ve “got time, time to wait for tomorrow to find her.” (edf)

I’m a music junky, but I’m not a fanatic fan of any band. That being said I do know of and enjoy listening to Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, but I know nothing of the people. So after reading Fall To Pieces by Mary Weiland (Scott Weiland’s soon to be ex-wife) I was surprised to find how angry some fans were about this book.

Fall To Pieces is an easy flowing memoir of Mary’s life: from poor, to big time model at 16, to rock star girl friend/wife, to drug addict, to mentally ill and to being a mother. Her writing style is effortless, it’s like a confession that you get at a sleep over party or what you write in your diary. She’s funny and frank – and while she has the chance to bad mouth a lot of people, or make herself into a victim, she doesn’t. In fact it almost makes you wonder what she’s not telling. I mean, come on, this is the era of constant celebrity feuds.

Yet never once does she blame anyone for her mistakes or her actions. What I read from STP/VR fan message boards is they were thinking she was going to slam Scott Weiland. She doesn’t, if anything it’s her saying she loves him but in the end she had to get healthy for herself. That meant not only staying clean but controlling her bipolar disorder while being a good mom.

I really enjoyed this book over all. Sure I kind of wish there was a bit more substance here or there, but she admits herself there’s a lot she doesn’t remember thanks to the drugs and alcohol. Also while I might have wished there was more, I couldn’t put down what I did have. So if you’re in the mood for a quick memoir go check out Fall To Pieces.