Stone Temple Pilots's New Frontman is WHO?!

About a week or so ago, my friend and I were talking about music, like we usually do, and he told me that Stone Temple Pilots kicked out Scott Weiland... again. I wasn't too surprised about that; he had been booted before due to drugs and no-shows, and I guess that was the case again. It's pretty sad, of course, but what had really surprised me was who they replaced him with.

Linkin Park's Chester Bennington.

I know.

I admit... I gave a WTF face about it when I first heard about this. I haven't been a fan of Linkin Park lately and I associate them with Transformers and songs on the radio that get overplayed. Not only that, their songs had begun to sound too similar and if it weren't for lyrics, I couldn't distinguish them apart. I'm use to "New Divide" which sounds way too similar to "What I've Done", two songs that played about five times an hour on Live 105 at one point. I mean, those songs are okay, but when they're played ad nauseum and associated with shit like Transformers, it just gets old quickly.

My friend, however, assured me that the combination works. Not only does he sings the old songs pretty well, the new song which STP and Chester wrote together, sounds very much like an old STP song. Apparently, they knew each other since 2001, something my friend told me, and later reinforced in this video.

And to be fair, I really liked Chester and Linkin Park back in the days in 2000 and 2001 when Hybrid Theory came out. And after listening to the album again just recently, I still like most of that album. Aside from "In The End," which I love to do in Rock Band, "One Step Closer," "Papercut," and "A Place for My Head" are still favorites, and it's surprising that I still remember the lyrics to those songs. While I thought Meteora wasn't as good as Hybrid Theory, I still liked "Somewhere I Belong" and "Numb." Sure, I lost interest when Minutes to Midnight FINALLY came out, thinking that the wait wasn't worth it, and I got tired of Chester's scream-singing, I still didn't hate them. I was just disappointed.

So I decided to check it out. After typing in "stone temple pilots chester bennington" into the YouTube search engine, I checked out his version of "Trippin' On A Whole In A Paper Heart".

Not too bad. I thought he did a good job. Sure, it wasn't as good as the original album version, but most stuff sounds better in a studio. Plus, he sings it better than Scott can sing it now. Trust me, I've seen him live a couple of years ago, and while it wasn't bad, Weiland definitely doesn't have the voice that he use to and it was a slight disappointment. I hate saying that, but it's true.

So he did well on one song, but how about "Sex Type Thing?"

You know, since this was live and in the nosebleeds, I really couldn't tell at first it was Chester... until he went high and then I was like... ahhh okay. Not bad, especially during the low part. So two songs down and he's way more than adequate. But how will Chester do on my favorite STP song, "Interstate Love Song"? I found a video that has minimal crappy crowd vocals from the show at BFD, a show I could have gone to if it weren't for my seething hatred toward the Shoreline.

Not bad... it's not the best, but it's not bad. Aside from a couple of hiccups that may have either been performance-based or the lack of capabilities from the camera's microphone, I didn't find anything wrong with the performance. In comparison, this is Scott Weiland with a new backup band playing with a Southern twang after getting on that Southern train only yesterday. (Haha... see what I did?)

It's probably one of the better live performances I've seen from him but it's still not the same from all those years ago. Then again, that can be an unfair comparison, despite all the life choices he made that consequently got him kicked out of STP for a second time. He doesn't sound bad here, but like I said, it's just not the same.

So how about that new song? (I tried to link the video but it just wouldn't work.) I dig the music. I'm still on the fence about it. On one hand, it sounds like a STP song, musically, but I'm just so use to Scott Weiland. I can probably get over it if I heard more songs. When Chester sings high, it just doesn't sound as STP-y. It's not bad at all, but to me, it's not quite STP, which is weird since the only thing they replaced was the singer.

Man, I wonder if this is how AC/DC fans felt when Bon Scott died and Brian Johnson stepped in. I'm not going to compare this to the whole Green Bay Favre/Rodgers or the San Francisco Smith/Kaepernick situations because I like Rodgers (new) and Smith (old) in those comparisons... yeah yeah, Kaepernick is okay, just give me a couple of seasons to be fine with what Harbaugh did to Smith. Chester's fine, and I understand why they had to replace Scott, but I'll have to get use to it. The ultimate test will be to see him live with the band. Those videos aren't going to convince me because the pitchy sounds could be from camera microphones not picking it up properly, and crowd sing-a-longs could be fucking with the sound as well. I hope Scott does well, but unless someone really wants to go to the show and desperately needs me to go with them, I won't be going to his show at the Fillmore next Friday. But hey, anything can happen in a week.

Well I know one thing is for certain... both Scott and Chester are still better than Jaguar Love... or at least the frontman to Jaguar Love. Seriously, why does he sound like a baby with chronic nasal congestion and a vice attached to his nuts while high on cocaine or meth or whatever the fuck skinny white boys take to get high that's not marijuana?

Weezermania??? "Blue Album" Came Out Today... 19 Years Ago!

So according to Rolling Stone's Facebook page, Weezer's first album, titled "Weezer" but nicknamed "The Blue Album" because... well... you can guess why, came out on this date 19 years ago... back in 1994, if my math is correct. I think they did it so they can get some hits for their 1995 article on Weezer's rise to fame, but I'm glad they did it because it gives me something to write about.

It's been a while since I've listened to Weezer's songs back-to-back. Sure, there will be a song randomly playing as I listen to music on my phone on the way to work, but I really haven't listened to an all-Weezer playlist or an album in a long time. In fact, while I was writing this last paragraph, I was listening to Metallica because a conversation between me and a work friend about a particular politician reminded her  of "And Justice for All."

At several points in my life, Weezer had overtaken The Monkees as my favorite band of all time. I know, I know... "How can a band as awesome as The Monkees be dethroned as my #1 band?" you're definitely not asking yourself. Well, my first concert was a Weezer/Foo Fighters double headliner over at the Oracle back in 2005. Yeah... I started REALLY late with concerts. Weezer's Green Album, really named Weezer but nicknamed Green Album because... well... if you can see the Blue Album above, you can guess why again, really won me over, and Make Believe, the more emo of the five albums Weezer came out with at the time, spoke to me on a personal, emotional level. Even though they're not my all-time favorite band at this point in time, they're always going to be in my Top Five Personal Favorites, and 90% of my playlists and mix-CDs contain at least one Weezer song.

The Blue Album and Pinkerton, the first two albums by Weezer always switch spots over my top favorite album from them. Most people who like Weezer in general will agree that those two albums are the best in their discography. Some will say it's because of Matt Sharp, the original bassist, who co-wrote some songs off the first two albums before he left on bad terms with Rivers Cuomo, the frontman/lead guitarist... or is Brian Bell the lead guitarist? I can never get that right. Back when they toured with two nights playing "Blue Album" and "Pinkerton" respectively, in its entirety, I chose to go to the Pinkerton show. To be honest, I chose that one because I knew it would be easier to get tickets since most people know the songs off the Blue Album.

Most people who know Weezer know the three big songs off this album: "Sweater Song," "Say It Ain't So," and "Buddy Holly." I was first introduced to the band from the "Buddy Holly" video, which put the band inside the Happy Days universe, with clips of the show integrated into the music video to look like they're there, playing at Arnold's.

To be brutally honest, I hated that video when I first saw it. I thought it was a gimmick, trying to do the whole Forrest Gump meeting JFK and LBJ thing. Back then, I wasn't as rock-centric as I am today, despite Weezer being more power-pop or post-grunge pop-rock... whatever you want to call it. When I revisited the music video and the album in general back in college, I fell in love with it. The songs just speak to my inner... ha! more like outer... geek.

If it weren't for my days in college, and Napster, I don't think I'd be as rock-centric like I am today. Would Weezer be considered college rock back then?  I know that was a term used for alt rock but I don't know if they were considered college rock or if that term was made for bands like Local H or Cake.

Back on topic, there's a lot of songs off the first album that I genuinely love. I would say I can listen to seven of them without ever feeling the need of skipping them. I know one of my friend's favorite songs from them is "In the Garage." I think the song reminds her of just geeking out with her brothers, playing D&D and reading X-Men. I love it for similar reasons, and I love it being unapologetic about being the nerd, loving the nerdy hobbies with similar-minded folks, secluded in a safe place.

Personally, I love "Say It Ain't So." I don't know... I think the emotion behind the song, the topic it's covering, and the way Rivers just sings this song hits me personally... that and it's just one of my favorites to sing in Rock Band. If I go into my old iPod and check the #25 songs listed, this may be #1... that or it's "Buddy Holly" I forget... but this is definitely one of my favorite songs ever. I don't know if it's my #1 favorite since all my favorites move like water when it comes to placement, but it's definitely a song that will instantly get me into listening to Weezer on a constant basis the minute I finish listening to it, possibly singing along as well.

Happy anniversary, Blue Album. You have definitely helped shape my music tastes for the better and get me through some rough patches in my life. If I remember to talk about it during the 20th Anniversary, I may have more to say. I don't know... but for the time being, this album is a major reason why Weezer is in my top 5 favorites of all time.