STP Has a New Singer and New Song

[NYR2711]

STP has hired Chester Bennington from Linkin Park as its new singer and have a new song out. They are offering it as a free download, and the song is pretty good. They recently played a show for KROQ of 8 songs, thee was a video but it was taken down as of now, but he sounds pretty good with them. He will still be in LInkin Park, but will also sing here as well. He says that he likes this project because he sings more than screams. I suggest getting the download, its pretty good. Her is the article on it from Billboard, which has the link for the free song as well:

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1562992/stone-temple-pilots-hire-linkin-parks-chester-bennington-as-new-vocalist

 

With Scott Weiland newly ousted from Stone Temple Pilots, the long-running alternative rock outfit has brought in Linkin Park's Chester Bennington as its new vocalist.

[Phil]

Not feeling it, but I think it's being driven by the fact that I'm a Weiland fan, not an STP fan, so any incarnation of the band without him is a bastardization of it's name to me. Weiland's vocal style is what defined the Pilots sound. Sorry, Chester, but you just don't match up at all.

 

I'm fine with the group finding a new singer, but find a new name while you're at it as well. Velvet Revolver had the balls not to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots or Guns N' Roses, and Audioslave did the same by not calling themselves Rage Against the Machine or Soundgarden, because in both cases they were not their previous bands. They were a new act. I can't stand when new acts retain the old band name and try to sell tickets based on it.

 

Imagine Pearl Jam without Eddie Vedder. Still Pearl Jam? How about Nirvana without Kurt Cobain? Soundgarden without Chris Cornell? Every single one of these bands were identified by their vocalist's signature sound. You remove that sound and you remove everything that made the band the band.

[NYR2711]

I think in this case though, since Weiland really was a douchebag, its OK to keep the name. He was fucking over the fans by having subpar performances, showing up late and fighting with his band members. He wasnt even on the same bus as them. I love Weiland, but he blew it with two great groups in STP and VR. He is a great frontman, but his ego is too big.

[Blue Heaven]

im gonna give Chester a chance, the new single doesnt sound that bad.

[Phil]

I think in this case though, since Weiland really was a douchebag, its OK to keep the name. He was fucking over the fans by having subpar performances, showing up late and fighting with his band members. He wasnt even on the same bus as them. I love Weiland, but he blew it with two great groups in STP and VR. He is a great frontman, but his ego is too big.

 

I get that, but change that doesn't change the fact that STP is defined by his vocal pattern.

 

To illustrate, imagine you are around a table with friends at a bar. You are playing a game where you simply hum, or mouth-guitar the chorus riff of songs and your buddies have to guess the track. How many STP songs are you gonna be able to identify? One? Maybe two?

 

Now, imagine that same game but where you can just mimic the vocal pattern of a singer. Is it not 100x more likely you'll be able to nail Eddie Vedder or Scott Weiland?

 

I just hate when bands do this and hire a new singer and then keep the same name. The only band, literally, who did this to where I was OK with it was Alice in Chains, and that's because the new singer they picked up (William DuVall) sounds almost eerily similar to Layne Staley.

 

Zach/RATM split, so RATM picked up Cornell. New band. New name. Audioslave.

Axel/GNR split, so GNR pieces pick up Weiland. New band. New name. Velvet Revolver.

 

I don't think I'd dislike this half as much if they just renamed the band something else, especially because Chester is already among that group of lead singers who has an identifying vocal pattern that you can point out in an audio line up with ease. This group is not STP, and it's not Linkin Park. It's a new act. It needs a new name.

[NYR2711]

I get that, but change that doesn't change the fact that STP is defined by his vocal pattern.

 

To illustrate, imagine you are around a table with friends at a bar. You are playing a game where you simply hum, or mouth-guitar the chorus riff of songs and your buddies have to guess the track. How many STP songs are you gonna be able to identify? One? Maybe two?

 

Now, imagine that same game but where you can just mimic the vocal pattern of a singer. Is it not 100x more likely you'll be able to nail Eddie Vedder or Scott Weiland?

 

I just hate when bands do this and hire a new singer and then keep the same name. The only band, literally, who did this to where I was OK with it was Alice in Chains, and that's because the new singer they picked up (William DuVall) sounds almost eerily similar to Layne Staley.

 

Zach/RATM split, so RATM picked up Cornell. New band. New name. Audioslave.

Axel/GNR split, so GNR pieces pick up Weiland. New band. New name. Velvet Revolver.

 

I don't think I'd dislike this half as much if they just renamed the band something else, especially because Chester is already among that group of lead singers who has an identifying vocal pattern that you can point out in an audio line up with ease. This group is not STP, and it's not Linkin Park. It's a new act. It needs a new name.

 

I get what your saying, but if you change the name, you cant really do the songs you are known for. Audioslave and VR both did their own songs at their shows. Yes they did 1 or two STP and GNR songs at VR shows, but as a fan, dont you want to hear the songs that you loved from the past? Thats really why I have no problem with this. I love the old school STP songs and since Weiland is a douche, why shouldnt they get someone else to sing them? If he does a good rendition, thats all I care about.

[Phil]

I get what your saying, but if you change the name, you cant really do the songs you are known for. Audioslave and VR both did their own songs at their shows. Yes they did 1 or two STP and GNR songs at VR shows, but as a fan, dont you want to hear the songs that you loved from the past? Thats really why I have no problem with this. I love the old school STP songs and since Weiland is a douche, why shouldnt they get someone else to sing them? If he does a good rendition, thats all I care about.

 

You just cover the tracks. I don't see the issue.

 

When Brett Scallions left Fuel in 2006, they retained the same band name despite hiring a new singer because Toryn Green sounded so damn similar to Scallions anyway. It wasn't as big a deal to retain the band name in that case, same as with Alice in Chains, because the real signature sound of the band hadn't been violated the way it's now been with STP, or the way it was with RATM/Audioslave or GNR/Velvet Revolver.

 

Hell, I'm also one of the people who hated the idea of Ronnie James Dio being the singer for Black Sabbath. I love RJD, but RJD is Dio, not Sabbath. Sabbath was Ozzy's voice as a signature, so even though I enjoyed the records with RJD, it wasn't Sabbbath to me. It was "Heaven and Hell" — a title they came up with much later on.

[Niko]

Phil,it's because Jerry lays down most of the vocals that the AiC vocal sound wasn't lost. Jerry does backing and harmonizes like 90% of the time and always did.

[Phil]

Phil,it's because Jerry lays down most of the vocals that the AiC vocal sound wasn't lost. Jerry does backing and harmonizes like 90% of the time and always did.

 

I know. I'm just saying, DuVall's voice wasn't that far off from Layne's, so the signature sound of the band was still there because of Cantrell.

 

I actually think had Cantrell left, the band would have fractured anyway. He and Layne were sort of co-anchors.

 

I just don't like when bands do this, is all.