Stone Temple Pilots

There is no mention of its title anywhere on the album, but it was named for Scott Weiland's favorite color -- that of bruises. Pugnacious aggression is at the core of this album's success, infusing it with a sneering disregard for convention or history while borrowing from and perverting both. Purple melds brooding, ragged vocals with grinding guitar whine and off-kilter lyrics, and aphorisms that borrow more than a little from Guns n' Roses, such as on the prophetic "Unglued," which confesses "This confusion is my illusion." The album remained at the top of the chart for 15 weeks.

By now, dissing Stone Temple Pilots has become as predictably indie rock as worshipping
Sonic Youth. The higher the quartet's 1992 debut creeps past triple platinum, the more
alternative-rock hecklers sling Pearl Jam wanna-be jokes like rotten fruit. The accusations
wouldn't be so harsh if Pearl Jam hadn't already been labeled Nirvana rip-offs, making STP
knockoffs of a knockoff. STP's singer, Weiland, does sound like Eddie Vedder, p... More >