Stone Temple Pilots were able to make alternative rock into stadium rock; naturally, they became the most critically despised band of their era. Accused by many critics of being nothing more than rip-off artists, pilfering from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, the band nevertheless became major stars in 1993. And the influences of those bands are apparent in their music, but Stone Temple Pilots do manage to change things around a bit. STP are more concerned with tight song structure and riffs than punk rage. Their closest antecedents are not the Sex Pistols or Hüsker Dü; instead the band resembles arena rock acts from the '70s -- it's popular hard rock that sounds good on the radio and in concert. No matter what the critics might say, Stone Temple Pilots have undeniably catchy riffs and production; there's a reason why over three million people bought their debut album, Core, and why their second album, Purple, shot to number one when it was released.
Following the success of Purple and its accompanying tour, the band took some time off, during which the group's lead singer, Scott Weiland, developed a heroin addiction. In the spring of 1995, he was arrested for possession of heroin and cocaine, and was sentenced to a rehabilitation program. Following his completion of the program, Stone Temple Pilots recorded their third album. Released in the spring of 1996, Tiny Music...Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop, entered the charts at number four. Shortly after its release, Stone Temple Pilots announced that Weiland had relapsed and entered a drug rehabilitation facility, thereby canceling the group's plans for a summer tour. Weiland's drug problems and the group's inability to support Tiny Music with a tour meant that the album couldn't replicate the success of its predecessors -- by the end of the summer, it had fallen out the Top 50 and had stalled at platinum, which was considerably less than what the group's two previous albums achieved.
Still battling his personal demons, Weiland recorded a 1998 solo album, 12 Bar Blues, while the remaining members of STP recruited vocalist Dave Coutts to record a self-titled LP under the name Talk Show. To the surprise of many onlookers, Stone Temple Pilots then reunited, although shortly after completing 1999's No. 4 Weiland was sentenced to a year in a Los Angeles county jail for violating his probation stemming from an earlier conviction for heroin possession. A newly rejuvenated Stone Temple Pilots and a sober Weiland emerged stronger than ever during the new millennium. The band got back to basics on Shangri-La Dee Da, released in summer 2001. Two years later, STP issued the ambitious greatest-hits package Thank You. The audio-only edition featured 15 tracks -- 13 hits spanning the group's entire career, an acoustic version of "Plush" dating from 1992, and the new track "All in the Suit That You Wear." Thank You also appeared in a CD/DVD format that included three hours of videos, live performances, and behind-the-scenes footage. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Inverting his stage name from Black Francis to Frank Black, the former Pixies lead singer/songwriter embarked on a solo career after he broke up the band in early 1993; actually, he began recording his solo album before he told the band the news. Working with former Pere Ubu member Eric Drew Feldman, Black occasionally heads into the ferocious post-punk guitar territory that marked such landmark albums as Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, but more frequently he plays up his considerably underrated melodic side. His self-titled 1993 debut album was an adventurous sketchbook of pop styles ranging from surf rock to heavy metal, from Beatlesque pop to new wave. Black's second album, 1994's Teenager of the Year, was a sprawling and diverse album that amplified all the best points of Frank Black. Although it received favorable reviews and had an alternative radio hit with "Headache," it slipped off the charts two weeks after its release. Black parted ways with Elektra and 4AD in early 1995, signing a new record contract with American in the U.S. and Sony in Europe. Black released his first album for American and Sony, the hard-rocking Cult of Ray, in January 1996.
The Cult of Ray hardly found the wide audience Black had hoped for, selling considerably less than his two previous efforts. Early in 1997, American was forced to close briefly as they straightened out their financial problems. Black was lost in the shuffle. He had recorded an album with the Catholics -- essentially just a renamed version of his Cult of Ray supporting band -- but was unable to release it due to American's problems. Eventually, he wrangled himself free from both American and Sony. Early in 1998, he signed with Play It Again Sam in England, and he released Frank Black and the Catholics that spring. He was left without an American record contract until spinART picked up the album for release in the U.S. in August. Pistolero followed in 1999. Dog in the Sand was issued two years later. In 2002, Black returned with two albums, the ambitious Black Letter Days and The Devil's Workshop, a more laid-back effort. Show Me Your Tears, which was inspired by Black's therapy sessions, followed a year later.
Black returned to prominence in 2004 with a Pixies reunion, a project that included North American tours that spring and fall; an appearance at the Coachella festival; dates in Europe and the U.K. that summer, including a performance at the T in the Park festival; =Pixies, a DVD retrospective; a new best-of collection, Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies; and last but not least, the possibility of a new Pixies album. That fall, Frank Black Francis, a double-disc set of early Pixies demos and reinterpretations of Pixies songs by Black and the Two Pale Boys, arrived in the midst of all this activity. The Pixies reunion tour continued into 2005; that summer, Black released Honeycomb, a collection of songs recorded in Nashville, TN, featuring performances by session greats such as Spooner Oldham, Reggie Young, Anton Fig, and Steve Cropper. He reunited with this crew and added a host of other guest stars for 2006's sprawling double album Fast Man Raider Man, which he supported with a string of dates opening for Foo Fighters. Though 2007's Bluefinger was a concept album about the life and death of Dutch painter/punk rocker Herman Brood, it featured some of Black's most ferocious rock in years -- so much so, in fact, that it was credited to his Pixies persona Black Francis. Frank Black returned the following year with The Seus EP, which preceded the mini-album SVN FNGRS, a set of songs inspired by the Irish legend of Cúchulainn. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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