Throughout the prolific career of Scott Weiland, the most obvious aspect would be that he does what he does the best while in good company. The first few Stone Temple Pilots records are regarded as some of the better albums to come out of the ‘grunge’ movement in the 90s, and the first Velvet Revolver album (albeit not as polished and sophisticated as the second) defied what ‘supergroup’ actually meant during that short-lived trend in the mid 2000s. Even with his solo albums, it was clear when he had a streak of creativity and when he was merely phoning it in. Now he is back for another go around with his latest solo album Blaster and his ‘new’ band The Wildabouts in tow. Is he phoning it in or is this a second, second wind?
After listening to his previous solo record, 2008’s Happy In Galoshes (not counting his Christmas record a few years ago) I think it’s safe to say that Weiland has surprisingly hit some decent notes with Blaster. It’s not a perfect album by any means but let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute, was anyone really expecting much from him at this point? As much as it pains me to say it, Weiland is sort of this generation’s ‘aging rock star’ much like how the kids in the 1990s looked at KISS. Asking any random kid above the age of 13 and below the age of 25, who Scott Weiland is, their answers would probably range from “Uh, I dunno” to “That skinny junkie dude that was in that band with those other old dudes from Guns N Roses?”. That’s the cold hard reality of the business too, anyone about the age of 40 is just not relevant anymore, or enough to gain good press without controversy or annoying the hell out of their core fan base (are you reading this Billy Corgan?).
Fortunately, when music is good it doesn’t matter if it’s relevant in the mainstream pop world. Such is the case with Weiland and the Wildabouts’ record. In a world where mainstream rock music is either overly pretentious or sounding too much like 90s dance music, it’s good to have a current record that plays up the influence of a time when guitars were big, grooves were sleazy, and the frontman was the most important member of any rock band. Blaster pretty much fills that void that’s been missing since….well, the first Velvet Revolver record!
Blaster starts things off with “Modzilla” and you are greeted with pretty generic, chunky power chords and an average groove that was ever so present in the last couple Stone Temple Pilots records, but by the time the second track “Way She Moves” comes on you will understand why you were such a fan of Scott Weiland to begin with. Personal issues and controversies aside, he is a fantastic song writer, great singer, and attention earning frontman. The ‘doot doot doot doooo’ back-up vocals and rhythmic groove, is reminiscent of both early Aerosmith and Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop era Stone Temple Pilots but in a way that it doesn’t sound like a nostalgia trip hoping to rekindle some flame that burnt out in 1999, like some other frontmen-now-solo acts. It really doesn’t stop there either, the lead single “White Lightning” already sounds far more charismatic than the last two Stone Temple Pilots albums combined. Unlike Weiland’s previous solo records, where it sounded like he was trying to be a poor man’s David Bowie, it sounds like he genuinely cares for the rock n roll product he is crafting. Personally I think being in a band environment is the big factor. Even though this is touted as a ‘solo album’, the Wildabouts sound and feel more like a band effort rather than a handful of for-hire studio musicians. There is a certain chemistry that artists have around each other after playing for a while, and it’s present here, maximizing what works and helping what doesn’t. Tracks like the unexpected T-Rex cover “20th Centry Boy” would be an embarrassing failure if it weren’t saved by this chemistry.
There are few hiccups here and there throughout the second half of Blaster, like the boring, cliché ridden “Youth Quake” or the ‘what was he thinking’ aspect of “Beach Pop” but for the most part, things are kept pretty simple: guitars, bass, drums, vocals, like any decent rock band utilizes. Edit those two tracks out and you would a pretty well stacked, above average rock n roll album that I think the mainstream needs. Tracks like “Blue Eyes” and my personal favorite “Amethyst”, prove that Scott Weiland is still capable of writing a decent radio friendly rock song, and tracks like the country flavored close “Circle” show that he is still able to experiment with a diverse group of genres and still make something catchy enough to keep it on a record. In fact with that said track, it kind of makes me wish he would go ahead and try a more acoustic, country tinged album one day. He has the chops and swagger to make that sort of thing work, much like the unplugged Stone Temple Pilots album from over twenty years ago!
Furthermore, Scott Weiland is still here and has made a remarkably solid album of rock songs with Blaster that will please any fan of his previous work at the same time solidifying his place in the industry as one of our last, great surviving front men in the genre. It’s not a masterpiece but rock n roll never is and never should be. Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts play to their strengths and do it surprisingly well! Blaster doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel at any angle, but keeps that wheel rolling.
Rating: 4.5/5