Are Scott Weiland's dark days finally behind him? Is a so-long awaited triumphant tour before him? Will Stone Temple Pilots finally fire on all cylinders?
Persistent substance abuse problems landed STP's frontman in deep with the law in 1999, culminating in a year-long sentence in the L.A. County Jail's rehab facility (from which he received a release to supervised treatment after 153 days). Now with the band planning its first full-on road trip in over three and a half years, both naysayers and fans are wondering if it's possible for Weiland to both stay on the road and stay clean.
The Stone Temple Pilots legend has more in common with your fabled Rock Acts Of Yore than it does with other alt-rock crossover successes; after all, you've got the incredibly charismatic, substance-addled singer; the wild stage shows; the infighting, back-biting, and inevitable moments of reconciliation between band members; the verbal sparring with other famous acts (Limp Bizkit, most blatantly); and the final evidence: that like so many legendary bands, these guys are a hell of a lot stronger, musically, when they're together than when they're apart. (Come on, can you name one song from the Talk Show album?)
And now that Weiland is free to resume his rightful place at the STP mic, the group can finally, and properly, go out in support of an album released more than six months ago, "No. 4." Judging by the relaxed and hopeful (yet cautious) banter between the bandmembers in recent interviews, it certainly sounds as if the substance abuse and personality problems that have dogged the band for so many years can remain in the past tense, and that our hopes for Weiland's wellbeing might finally be realized. Talk to the guys, and they'll tell you: they're ready to move on. Perhaps we can move on with them as well.
Recently, just a day after STP played a raucous, "secret" show at NYC's Irving Plaza, the MTV Radio Network's Roger Coletti sat down with Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz, and he got the skinny on the band's recent tribulations, its present state of mind, and its future plans.
