NOTHING GETS in the way of a lucrative rock reunion quite like a jail stint -- even an extremely short one. Just ask the members of Stone Temple Pilots, the multi-platinum-selling, stadium-rocking, alterna-grunge band that recently reunited after more than half a decade's "separation" (don't call it a breakup) to mount a 65-date tour of North America's top-tier summer music festivals and amphitheaters (with a stop at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday).
Last month, faced with the very real possibility that singer Scott Weiland would spend up to eight days behind bars for a 2007 drunk driving charge, each member of the SoCal rock quartet voiced a different perspective on how disruptive Weiland's sentencing had been on band unity.
"Seeing a friend go through something like this, it's an uneasy feeling. It's a drag," said the group's guitarist, Dean DeLeo."
"To be honest with you, it's going to be a lot easier for me than it is for him," drummer Eric Kretz said of Weiland, a guy who by his own estimation has attempted to detox "40 or so" times in between various arrests, overdoses and relapses.
Robert DeLeo, Dean's brother and STP's bassist, seemed more concerned about his own self-preservation than his bandmate's debt to society: "I gotta take care of myself, man."
Seated at a conference table in a Burbank rehearsal space, the scarecrow-thin Weiland made known his feelings on the matter. "I live my life the way I live my life," Weiland said, loosening his paisley tie and brushing tresses of pink-dyed hair from his face with visible contempt. "I don't have to make any apologies."
Staying power
Despite having sold around 35 million albums worldwide and topping charts no fewer than six times since 1992 with hits such as "Plush," "Sex Type Thing" and "Interstate Love Song," Stone Temple Pilots originally were dismissed by rock cognoscenti as Pearl Jam-soundalikes. But the group has learned to take any criticism in stride, likening themselves to no less an act than Led Zeppelin.
Judging by certain empirical data (if not cultural impact), the comparison isn't far off the mark. Like Led Zep, the Pilots' hits remain in steady rotation on rock radio nationwide (locally, KROQ-FM keeps the STP songbook alive), and they are one of the most consistently played acts on Lithium, Sirius Satellite Radio's '90s nostalgia bandwidth. Additionally, the band's back catalog sells at a consistent clip.
Maybe it has something to do with the still-commanding presence of one of the last bad boy rock stars -- Weiland's snarling charisma, otherworldly androgyny and smoke-and-whiskey tunefulness are among STP's most identifiable hallmarks; his narcotic combustibility its biggest liability -- but it's easy to understand why concert promoters would see a Stone Temple Pilots tour as a golden ticket.
Now, the group's members are taking pains to ensure that fans remember them fondly -- even though STP never officially faded away. "Success to us does not mean the number of records sold," Dean DeLeo said. "It means making an indelible mark on the face of music."
Added Weiland: "Our biggest goal when we first got together was to create a legacy, musically. Now there's a whole new generation of kids getting into the band. The respect has multiplied like a snowball that goes, um, downhill."
Three days after making those remarks, Weiland would check himself into and be released from the Van Nuys Municipal Court lockup, having served just six hours of his jail sentence. Not what you'd call hard time -- even for a flamboyant frontman with a predilection for skin-tight trousers and mascara -- and the band's tour would kick off as planned at Columbus, Ohio's Rock on the Range Festival on May 17.
It was Weiland's second taste of freedom in three months. In March, he sprang himself from Velvet Revolver, the hard rock group comprising several former Guns N' Roses members.
That group scored a hit with its first album, "Contraband," winning a Grammy and touring the world, but its 2007 follow-up "Libertad" never caught on. VR's coffin was effectively shut after Weiland announced on stage at a gig in Glasgow, Scotland, that the group would be no more -- without having finalized the decision with his bandmates first.
By then, Dean DeLeo had called Weiland about resurrecting Stone Temple Pilots with the tantalizing offer of a big payday to play a bunch of summer festivals.
Weiland recalled: "I went to [Velvet Revolver guitarist] Slash and said, 'Listen, we have some opportunities this summer. With the Velvets, we're going to be done touring because this record isn't performing the way the last one performed, and to continue to try to flog a dead horse is ridiculous.' "
The singer's appraisal of Velvet Revolver's commercial doldrums and rationale for breaking up particularly irked the group's drummer. "Matt Sorum threatened to kick my ass on his website," Weiland recalled.
On Velvet Revolver's behalf, Slash portrayed the split somewhat differently in a written statement: "This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott Weiland isn't 100% committed to either. Among other things, his increasingly erratic onstage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on."
Never a dull moment
So far, STP's festival convoy has rumbled through Rockfest in Kansas and Calgary's V Festival, but the tour hasn't been without its share of speed bumps. On May 31, radio personalities Opie and Anthony reported witnessing a bitter shouting match between Weiland and Robert DeLeo at K-Rock FM's "Return of the Rock" show in Holmdel, N.J. -- during which the singer reportedly threatened to kick DeLeo off the tour. And earlier this month, the group's label, Atlantic Records, sued Weiland and Kretz for trying to end their contract early, dashing hopes for a new album.
"Stone Temple Pilots were deeply disappointed to see that Atlantic filed a surprise lawsuit against two members of the [group] when they were in the middle of what were believed to be cordial and positive discussions about [Stone Temple Pilots] returning to the studio to make a new album after five years," the group said in an e-mailed statement earlier this month.
Although STP seemingly thrives on conflict, its members haven't always enjoyed the tumult that so often accompanies fame. The bandmates went their separate ways in late 2002, bottoming after performing gigs with Aerosmith. "We were shoulder to shoulder for 14 years. It takes a big effort to keep a relationship together with four men," Dean DeLeo said. "You get tired of one another's routine."
While Weiland toured with Velvet Revolver, the DeLeo brothers joined with Filter singer Richard Patrick to form the alterna-rock quartet Army of Anyone in 2005. However, after its sole album failed to catch fire commercially, the group went on "hiatus" two years later. "We probably could have gotten this thing off the ground if we were prepared to go on the road for a year or two," Dean DeLeo said. "But quite honestly, man, I'm far too lazy to do that."
Which is around the time big-ticket rock fests started putting a lot of cash on the table to get STP to reunite. It brings up the question: Precisely how much of a factor was money in getting Stone Temple Pilots back together?
"I love the legacy of what we did, the footprint of it," said Dean DeLeo. "I absolutely adore playing music with these guys. Do you ask most people what their paycheck is? We get paid handsomely, too."
chris.lee@latimes.com
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Monday, 16 June 2008
Definitely, Maybe - 6/24/2008
Poor young Maya (Abigail Breslin) is having a difficult day. Her Manhattan public school just implemented a sexual education program, opening up a world of questions she's not ready to answer. She's still coming to terms with her parents' pending divorce. Convinced she needs to get to the bottom of their crumbling relationship, Maya asks her father, Will (Ryan Reynolds), to tell her the story of how he and her mother met. "It's complicated," he offers, desperately avoiding the difficult task.
He isn't exaggerating. And while Will's story has more levels than a New York skyscraper, the pleasure comes in his recounting as Definitely, Maybe cruises along.
Writer-director Adam Brooks turns his clock back to 1992 to explain how Will, a gopher on Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, eventually met Maya's mother. The film has fun guarding its slight riddle regarding the matriarch's identity, presenting three winsome women who could be "the one." Is it Emily (Elizabeth Banks), the wholesome college sweetheart Will left in Wisconsin? Could it be Emily's longtime friend Summer (Rachel Weisz), a budding journalist languishing in a dead-end affair with a burned-out politico (Kevin Kline, amusing in a beefed-up cameo role)? Finally, there's a chance Maya's mom will end up being April (Isla Fisher), the playful and non-committal copy girl whose tender heart is always just out of Will's reach.
Brooks built his career writing romantic comedies such as French Kiss (with Kline), Wimbledon, and the Bridget Jones sequel. He takes a novel approach to what amounts to a familiar tale, framing Maybe as a bedtime story Will tells to Maya. Reynolds has never been more appealing as both a father to Breslin and an affable romantic lead to his three gorgeous (and lovable) co-stars.
Maybe will sprinkle its pixie dust over anyone who took their own circuitous path to true love. As a storyteller, Brooks happily detours down a few stray alleyways of his own, though these asides give Maybe unanticipated flavor. He approaches Maybe like Woody Allen's second cousin twice removed, letting the funky, comfortable heartbeat of New York City provide a suitable rhythm for his work.
Maybe is a pastiche, a quilted concoction of stories that make up one man's love life. Because I thought I knew how it would end, I let my guard down and was completely surprised by the sweet, happy finale, which Brooks and his cast definitely earn.
Extreme fajita shooters all around!
See Also
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Jimmy Buffett busy with live DVD, tour
'Scenes You Know by Heart' available at Wal-Mart
DETROIT -- Jimmy Buffett is in "no hurry" to make his next album, but he still has plenty to offer his faithful Parrotheads this year.
On Tuesday, Buffett released a DVD, "Scenes You Know by Heart," that will be sold exclusively by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and the Web site of the artist's Mailboat Records.
The 15-song collection, modeled after Buffett's popular 1985 hits set "Songs You Know by Heart," features live performances of each track, some taken from existing Buffett DVDs ("Mini Matinee," "Live From Anguilla," "Live at Wrigley Field," "Live in Hawaii") as well as previously unreleased performances such as "He Went to Paris" from Paris, "Fins" from Cincinnati and "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" from Las Vegas.
"We shoot everything," Buffett said, "and somebody had an idea to do one like this. It's kind of a unique platform in which to feature little vignettes from all over the place. It's National Geographic with a good soundtrack -- that's what I consider it."
This month, Buffett published his seventh book, "Swine Not? A Novel Pig Tale," a young readers story about a single-parent family in New York that lives in the hotel where the mother works and has a pet pig they disguise as a dog.
Buffett credits illustrator Helen Bransford with the idea for what he considers a very different and challenging kind of narrative.
"It doesn't have any sea planes or pirates or anything," Buffett said, "but I loved the characters. It was a challenge in trying to write something different. It reminded me of when I had to write on assignment for Herman Wouk for 'Don't Stop the Carnival,' and I kinda liked that."
Buffett is also developing albums for younger artists, including Coral Reefer Band backup singer Nadirah Shakoor, for his Mailboat label. And his Year of Still Here Tour starts tomorrow at Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta.
As for that next album, the follow-up to 2006's "Take the Weather With You," Buffett said that "the time it takes to write a book kind of produces an offshoot of you (wanting) to go back to something else."
He added that he's been "listening to different things that inspire me musically, but I'm in no hurry to do (an album). I am writing songs; it'll be interesting to see if I wait and get a collection of 12 of them together to do an album or go do four and put 'em online or something. The delivery systems now ... it's very interesting how you can put stuff out there, so we'll see what feels like the best way to do it."
DETROIT -- Jimmy Buffett is in "no hurry" to make his next album, but he still has plenty to offer his faithful Parrotheads this year.
On Tuesday, Buffett released a DVD, "Scenes You Know by Heart," that will be sold exclusively by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and the Web site of the artist's Mailboat Records.
The 15-song collection, modeled after Buffett's popular 1985 hits set "Songs You Know by Heart," features live performances of each track, some taken from existing Buffett DVDs ("Mini Matinee," "Live From Anguilla," "Live at Wrigley Field," "Live in Hawaii") as well as previously unreleased performances such as "He Went to Paris" from Paris, "Fins" from Cincinnati and "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" from Las Vegas.
"We shoot everything," Buffett said, "and somebody had an idea to do one like this. It's kind of a unique platform in which to feature little vignettes from all over the place. It's National Geographic with a good soundtrack -- that's what I consider it."
This month, Buffett published his seventh book, "Swine Not? A Novel Pig Tale," a young readers story about a single-parent family in New York that lives in the hotel where the mother works and has a pet pig they disguise as a dog.
Buffett credits illustrator Helen Bransford with the idea for what he considers a very different and challenging kind of narrative.
"It doesn't have any sea planes or pirates or anything," Buffett said, "but I loved the characters. It was a challenge in trying to write something different. It reminded me of when I had to write on assignment for Herman Wouk for 'Don't Stop the Carnival,' and I kinda liked that."
Buffett is also developing albums for younger artists, including Coral Reefer Band backup singer Nadirah Shakoor, for his Mailboat label. And his Year of Still Here Tour starts tomorrow at Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta.
As for that next album, the follow-up to 2006's "Take the Weather With You," Buffett said that "the time it takes to write a book kind of produces an offshoot of you (wanting) to go back to something else."
He added that he's been "listening to different things that inspire me musically, but I'm in no hurry to do (an album). I am writing songs; it'll be interesting to see if I wait and get a collection of 12 of them together to do an album or go do four and put 'em online or something. The delivery systems now ... it's very interesting how you can put stuff out there, so we'll see what feels like the best way to do it."
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow Feared Hollywood Had Forgotten Her
Oscar winner GWYNETH PALTROW was desperate to return to acting after taking a break to give birth - because she feared Hollywood had forgotten about her.
The 35-year-old star took a hiatus while she was pregnant with two-year-old Moses, so she could give birth and be a full-time mum to the tot and his four-year-old sister Apple.
But Paltrow admits she spent the whole time worrying about other actresses taking her place.
When she was offered roles in new movies Iron Man and Two Lovers, Paltrow leapt at the chance to reclaim her status as one of Tinseltown's top leading ladies.
She explains, "I really did not know if there would be a place for me. Jodie Foster was right, especially if you are a woman and especially if you are not 25.
"Hollywood is pretty cut-throat, and everybody has a short memory. There is always someone who is younger or hotter or prettier."
See Also
Deathless
Artist: Deathless
Genre(s):
Rock
Metal
Discography:
Promo
Year: 2002
Tracks: 4
The Time To Be Immortal
Year: 2000
Tracks: 10
One of Spain's well-nigh accomplished entries into the melodic death alloy subgenre, Deathless was formed in 1995 and features singer Emilio Cañas, guitarists Michael Fidalgo and José Contreras, bassist Antonio J. Cantos and drummer José Luis González. Their only album, The Time to Be Immortal, emerged in 2000 and draws intake from the common Swedish suspects (In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At the Gates), only no more has been heard of them since.
Caspa Codina, Used To Go Dancing
Caspa Codina
Used To Go Dancing
Video
Caspa Codina releases a new single 'Used To Go Dancing' on June 9th 2008 through Stopstart Records, a week prior to the self-titled debut album Caspa Codina, June 16. Caspa Codina is the creation of Gabriel Olegavich- founder, producer and co-writer of electro- punk band Spektrum.
Used To Go Dancing started life as a basic demo which Caspa had planned to send to some US R'n'B artists. It got such good reactions, and people liked the vocal so much, that it ended up as a lead track on the album.
Lyrically, the song is a futuristic mystery about a femme fatale who never lets Caspa out. There are allusions to the myth of 'Bluebeard's Castle', where Caspa is locked away, with lots of other 'boyfriends' maybe -or possibly she is turned to stone; broke his heart & now he daren't got out.
Remixes come from Flash Atkins, the super hero who had his gravy days in the late 70s and early 80s saving the world with his ability to manipulate sound. Unfortunately he's fallen on hard times and can be spotted in the less salubrious parts of London, often stoned or drunk on borrowed money. Flash is also the atler-ego of producer Ben Davis (Paper Recordings / Shaboom / The Bionics). Ben has just started a new label, We are Woodville, with flagship artists Karoshi Bros, and is recording an album due for release in early 2009.
See Also
Busta Rhymes - Rhymes Security Guard Shot Dead
BUSTA RHYMES' security guard has been shot dead in New York.
Jermaine Williams, 35, was found on Wednesday (28May08) with multiple gunshot wounds in Ozone Park, Queens, reports AllHipHop.com.
Police found Williams' body wrapped in a blanket in the backseat of his SUV.
Busta Rhymes is currently touring Europe and was not in the country at the time of the incident.
Williams is the second bodyguard employed by Rhymes to be shot dead. His former bodyguard Israel Ramirez was shot dead in 2006.
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