Stone Temple Pilots Album: “Thank You”

4.5 stars

Stone Temple Pilots certainly proved all their detractors wrong. Initially written off as nothing but Pearl Jam clones, Stone Temple Pilots proved to be one of the most creative and vital forces throughout the 1990s. Although they borrowed from the Seattle soundbook with their debut "Core" (1992), they found their own sound with subsequent albums. STP never stagnated or suffered a creative bust. They always put out quality albums. STP was always mixing it up with each new release. All five of their albums had their own unique sound and vibe. As previously stated, "Core" was the most grunge sounding album in the STP catalog. It was grunge music made as arena rock. "Purple" (1994) was more refined and the songs were more skillfully crafted. "Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" (1996) eschewed the grunge style of the earlier albums, and instead opted for retro, 70s glam meets 90s modern rock. "No4" (1999) was a combination of the first three albums, and was also somewhat more rough-around-the-edges. The highly underrated "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" (2001) was a more refined, polished follow-up.

The greatest hits album "Thank You," is flawed, but great nonetheless. If you listened to modern rock radio throughout the 90s, you will undoubtedly be familiar with all these songs, as they were all radio staples, and remain so to this day. By listening to this album, you will see why STP was one of the best rock bands of the 1990s. They just wrote killer, killer catchy songs with infectious hooks. This CD is really a comprehensive overview of all their radio-hits. This compilation does an excellent job of representing the bands first three albums.

The problem with "Thank You" is its treatment of the last two STP albums "No4," and "Shangri-La-Dee-Da." As STP rolled on through the late 90s and early 00s, their music always stayed consistently good, and these are two great albums, but they are underrepresented on "Thank You." Only two songs from "No4" and one song from "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" are included.

"Thank You" serves as a greatest hits, as opposed to a best-of. The problem is that a lot of their best songs from the later day albums were not huge radio staples, and were not hits, but were great nonetheless. A CD can hold 80 minutes of music, but this CD holds only 60. About four additional songs from the last two albums should have been included (five, if they left off the acoustic version of "Plush" which was a cool rendition, but a waste of space). It would have been a great way for fans of the earlier albums to get into the later day stuff. "Heaven & Hot Rods" from "No4" should have been included, as should have "Too Cool Queenie" and "Hello, it's Late" from "Shangri La Dee Da."

A real comprehensive best-of album from Stone Temple Pilots would really need to be two CDs in length, with not only the radio hits, but also essential album cuts from all five albums. In addition, it should include the awesome cover of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" and the Beatles "Revolution."

Apart from these faults, this is still a great compilation. "All in the Suit that you Wear" (recorded in 2002) is a great song, unavailable elsewhere and should please fans of the band. If you don't own any STP albums, this is a good place to start. But then I'd still check out some of the later day albums.

If this is the last STP album ever, it's a great way to go out. It's pretty much like your standard Greatest Hits compilation, all of the hit singles put on one disc. Add in the unreleased track "All in the Suit That You Wear" (which I heard was originally supposed to be on the Spider-man soundtrack) and you have yourself a great disc. STP is truly one of the most underrated bands to come out of the 90s. They suffered through all the early critic bashing of being Pearl Jam clones (which I NEVER understood since they sound so different) and survived Scott's drug problem to put out 5 solid studio albums. STP has been a favorite band of mine since the beginning, and I am a bit upset at the possible end of the band since Velvet Revolver seems to be doing quite well. For those of you out there who have really only seen Scott's work with VR, then this cd is for you to get a good look on the band that started it all for Scott. But you shouldn't stop there, because this cd only skims the surface of the STP collection. Each of the other 5 releases are great albums and I enjoy listening to everyone of them. Here's to hoping that someday STP will reunite and put out another studio album!

While the 1990's had several grunge / alternative bands, STP is one of key bands of the decade. During that decade, they earned 17 platinum records. While they sadly broke up like other bands, this CD is a fitting tribute to their great work.

Songs such as "Plush", "Interstate Love Song", and "Trippin' on a hole..." are all here. While one could purchase Core or Purple, the #1 chart toppers from those CDs are all compiled neatly here. It even includes an acoustic recorded on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.

I admit I am not a diehard fan, but this CD deserved a good review. If you have fond memories of Stone Temple Pilots or 90's rock in general, this is worth buying.

Greatest hits albums are a blessing and a curse for me. Half the time, I love having a sampler with most (if not all) of the songs by the artist in question that I'm interested in. The other half of the time, though, I get so caught up in the best-of that I feel a need to pick up the entirety of the artist's output, meaning that I've just spent $10-15 on a CD for which I'm going to repurchase nearly every single track.

Stone Temple Pilots' Thank You is undoubtedly the most prominent example for me. After hearing "Interstate Love Song" for the first time in a while a few years back, and remembering great songs like "Plush," "Creep," and "Sex Type Thing" (all three of which, ironically enough, are on a single album, Core), I figured a Stone Temple Pilots best-of would be a great purchase. And I was absolutely right, with it introducing me to fantastic songs like "Down," "Wicked Garden," and "Big Empty," among others. Less than a month later, though, realizing that only one cut ("Days of the Week") was included from their (at-the-time, hopefully) final album, Shangri-La Dee Da, I figured I would buy that album...but just that one. And of course within the next few months I picked up the entire catalog.

I'm not trying to be one of those purists who totally disavows the Greatest Hits set on principle alone--there are quite a few artists out there whose best-of is (more than) enough to satisfy me. But if you're thinking about buying this, I'd highly recommend splurging for the deluxe version with a DVD so that at least you have the added value if you do opt to pick up the whole catalog afterward besides the two non-album tracks ("All in the Suit That You Wear" and the acoustic "Plush"). The full albums are all incredible and worthy of being added to one's collection.

When I first heard about this CD I wasn't sure if it was all new or a Best Of collection. Well This is a best of collection. This CD compiles most of STP's best radio hits with the exception of Plush - Acoustic Version. You will instantly recognize most if not all of the songs. If you have never purchased an STP CD before then this would be the one to purchase. True Die Hard STP fans will already have these songs on one of their many albums.