It’s hard to believe that it has been 24 years since Stone Temple Pilots released Tiny Music … Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop. In 1996, STP wasn’t sure that this album would be released or if they would even continue on as a band. Frontman Scott Weiland was deep in his addictions and it was beginning to affect the band. In early 1995, Weiland was arrested for heroin and cocaine possession and sentenced to one year’s probation.
During this time, the band reached out Dave Coutts for a side project called Talk Show while Weiland formed his own side project called the Magnificent Bastards.
The Magnificent Bastards ended up and recording songs for the Tank Girl soundtrack and for a John Lennon tribute album.
In a 1997 interview with Guitar World Magazine, Dean DeLeo said:
“Robert and I had about 30 songs, and we sat in the room one night and basically went down the list and marked next to every song: Scott, Scott, Dave, Scott, Dave, Dave, Scott….”
The band eventually put their issues aside and regrouped to write Tiny Music… which spawned three number 1 singles: “Big Bang Baby”, “Lady Picture Show”, and “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart”.
You can stream the entire album below and catch Stone Temple Pilots on the road with Nickelback on August 27th at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater.
