Stone Temple Pilots - "Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" - COMPACT DISC VG+/VG+

Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, bassist Robert DeLeo, drummer Eric Kretz, and guitarist Dean DeLeo, the band's lineup remained unchanged from its formation until the firing of Weiland in February 2013. Vocalist Chester Bennington joined the band in May 2013[2] but left amicably in November 2015.

After forming under the name Mighty Joe Young, the band signed with Atlantic Records and changed its name to Stone Temple Pilots. Their debut album, Core, released in 1992, was a major commercial hit, and STP went on to become one of the most successful bands of the 1990s, selling more than 18 million albums in the United States and 40 million worldwide.[7][8][9] STP released four more studio albums: Purple (1994), Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996), No. 4 (1999), and Shangri-La Dee Da (2001), before separating in 2003, after which the band members partook in various projects (most notably Velvet Revolver and Army of Anyone). STP eventually reconvened in 2008 for a reunion tour and released their self-titled sixth album in 2010. After firing Weiland in 2013, the band recruited Chester Bennington, who they would tour with as their lead vocalist up until his departure in 2015. The band's only material with Bennington was the 2013 EP High Rise.[10] STP has since released two albums with Gutt on vocals: its second self-titled album in 2018[11] and eighth studio album, Perdida, in 2020.[12]

While initially rising to fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, further releases from the band explored a variety of styles, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova, and classic rock. STP's evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weiland's well-publicized struggles with drug addiction.

Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop is the third studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on March 26, 1996, through Atlantic Records. After a brief hiatus throughout 1995, the band regrouped to record the album together at Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, where they also lived at the time.[5] Like all of the band's albums up to that point, production was handled by Brendan O'Brien.

Tiny Music... initially received mixed reviews, similar to the band's earlier work, but has since received acclaim for radically reinventing the band's sound and image. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and all three of its singles—"Big Bang Baby", "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart", and "Lady Picture Show"—reached the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[6] The album has been certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The band promoted the album with a tour throughout 1996 and 1997, although it had to be cut short due to the singer, Scott Weiland's ongoing battles with substance abuse.

Tiny Music opens with "Press Play", an instrumental featuring a Rhodes piano and runs for 81 seconds.[16][18] "Pop's Love Suicide" and "Tumble in the Rough" move with a "newfound speed and ease", though Sadie Sartini Garner of Pitchfork noted their "casual arrangements and flat melodies" give them a slight feel.[10] "Tumble in the Rough" was the only Stone Temple Pilots track credited solely to Weiland for both music and lyrics.[14] According to Ultimate Classic Rock's Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, the song leans toward punk rock with a layered sound influenced by the 1960s, prioritizing texture, tone, and mood over directness.[16] "Big Bang Baby" explores themes of fame's emptiness, with references to Weiland's own death multiple times in the lyrics.[19] According to Garner, the song incorporates a direct melodic nod to the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and namechecks David Bowie's Station to Station, framing it as a commentary on stardom. The line "Sell your soul and sign an autograph" precedes a shift into the refrain "Nothing's for free," a moment where the irony becomes clear.[10] "Lady Picture Show" combines melodic elements of early '70s rock with a structure reminiscent of Beatles-style pop.[14][10] Garner compares it to "You Never Give Me Your Money", noting its emotional restraint and the detached, observational tone of Weiland's vocal delivery, which lends the song a subtle melancholy that the critic contrasts with the "clumsiness" of the band's breakthrough hit "Sex Type Thing".[10] Weiland's lyrics, as he explained in his autobiography Not Dead and Not for Sale, were inspired by the gang rape of a dancer, who later struggles to reconcile love with lingering trauma.[14]

"And So I Know" showcases Robert DeLeo's interest in jazz and bossa nova, creating a laid-back, swaying atmosphere. Bryan Rolli in Consequence highlighted the song's lithe quality, while NME labeled it "blatant easy listening", pointing to its gentle guitar-jazz style as a contrast to the typical emotional approach of many male-fronted rock bands of the era.[7][16] "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" incorporates a riff reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" and builds to a large-scale chorus where Weiland declares himself as "not dead and not for sale". The track also features a prominent guitar solo from Dean DeLeo, described by Rolli as "scorching".[7] "Art School Girl" blends British post-punk with jazz elements, according to Reyes-Kulkarni, and stands out for its irony and humor.[7][16] Rolli described the track as a satirical take on underground art culture, with Weiland adopting a mock-serious tone before the chorus erupts into noisy garage punk.[7] "Adhesive" combines elements of shoegaze and indie rock, with a slow, ambient arrangement that features trumpet solos reminiscent of Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain (1960).[7][16] Weiland's lyrics take a dark, introspective turn, reflecting on mortality and commercialism as he sings about selling more records if he were dead.[16] The track's spacious production and trumpet lines by Dave Ferguson contribute to its expansive atmosphere.[7] "Ride the Cliché" subtly incorporates progressive elements, blending them with classic rock influences.[16]

Following Weiland's death, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins posited, "It was STP's 3rd album that had got me hooked, a wizardly mix of glam and post-punk, and I confessed to Scott, as well as the band many times, how wrong I'd been in assessing their native brilliance. And like Bowie can and does, it was Scott's phrasing that pushed his music into a unique, and hard to pin down, aesthetic sonicsphere. Lastly, I'd like to share a thought which though clumsy, I hope would please Scott In Hominum. And that is if you asked me who I truly believed were the great voices of our generation, I'd say it were he, Layne, and Kurt."[38]

In 2016, The A.V. Club noted that Tiny Music "was an almost shocking leap forward in creative ambition" and that "[STP] got weirder and better than anyone gives them credit for."[39]

Artist: Stone Temple Pilots

Album: "Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop"

Format: COMPACT DISC

Grade: VG+/VG+

Grades: CD Booklet + inserts/media.

Generally cosmetic and I will indicate if something plays less than flawless.

I will do my best to send uncracked jewel cases but grades are regarding the booklet and rear jewel case. All CDs guaranteed to not skip unless notes.

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