Can STP Break Out With Weiland Behind Bars?
With the reunited Stone Temple Pilots album, No. 4, due in
stores on Oct. 26, news that lead singer Scott Weiland has been
sentenced to jail for violating his probation would seem to torpedo
the rock band’s long-awaited comeback.| But industry insiders say
that may not be the case, and that even with Weiland behind bars
and the band unable to tour, No. 4‘s chances for success
remain relatively bright. Besides, they say, the last thing Weiland
needs now as he battles his heroin addiction is to be out on tour
roaming from city to city.
Guarded optimism for the band’s success stems from the fact that
weeks before its official release to rock radio, STP’s new single,
“Down,” is already being embraced by influential stations. Plus, a
“Down” video, using live band footage filmed last month, will soon
be on its way to MTV.
And while STP’s reign during the early Nineties grunge era might
seem like eons ago, a look at the charts proves hard rock, lead by
Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and Blink 182, is once again hot.
“It’s a good time for them,” says Joe Kvidera, general manager of a
Chicago Tower Records store. “I can’t imagine the jail time will
make any difference at all. The curiosity is if they’ll be good
this time out.”
The last three years have been chaotic ones for the multi-platinum
San Diego-based band. Soon after Tiny Music…Songs From the
Vatican Gift Shop was released in early ’96, Weiland skipped
out on a court-ordered rehab center. Later that year, STP had to
cancel tour stops when Weiland relapsed. Last year, touring in
support of 12 Bar Blues, Weiland was arrested in New York
City for buying $100 worth of heroin. This past Friday, the
thirty-one-year-old singer was sentenced to twelve months in jail
after violating his probation for the third time this year.
As for the mandated jail time, one source suggests that in the
best-case scenario eleven months from now Weiland walks out of
prison, “clean and with a hit album.”