Purple is the second album released by the American alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots, on June 7, 1994 on Atlantic Records. It spawned three singles — "Big Empty", "Vasoline", and "Interstate Love Song" — and two promotional singles ("Pretty Penny" and "Unglued"). The album was a big success for the band, debuting at #1 (and remaining there for 3 weeks - longer than any stay at the top of the charts for Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains) and being certified 6× platinum.
In 2006, the album was ranked number 73 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.
Album info and musical style
The album's first single, "Big Empty", made its debut at STP's MTV Unplugged acoustic performance in 1993. The song would later appear on the soundtrack to The Crow. The Crow soundtrack reached number #1 in 1994 and a couple of weeks later, Purple reached the top of the charts, thus making two for the band in 1994.
The lyric "She said she'd be my woman, she said she'd be my man" from "Lounge Fly" also appears on the Mighty Joe Young Demo, in the song "Spanish Flies".
While Purple still features strong elements of hard rock and grunge like its predecessor, Core, the album displays the band developing a more unique sound influenced by other genres, such as the psychedelic rock evident in "Lounge Fly" and "Silvergun Superman" and the country vibes of "Interstate Love Song" and "Big Empty".
Artwork
The album title, "Purple," is written as a Chinese character on the cover, and nowhere else on the packaging (including along the spine). When asked about the title in an interview, vocalist Scott Weiland replied "It's my favorite color. It's the color of bruises."
On the cover of the cassette version of Purple, the child is holding the Chinese letter in his hand, and it is not in the corner. There are two pressings of the actual disc in Purple CDs. One version has flowers on it and another has dragon scales.[1]
Track listing
| Writer(s) |
| 1. |
"Meatplow" |
Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo, Scott Weiland |
3:37 |
| 2. |
"Vasoline" |
R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Weiland, Eric Kretz |
2:56 |
| 3. |
"Lounge Fly" |
R. DeLeo, Weiland |
5:18 |
| 4. |
"Interstate Love Song" |
R. DeLeo, Weiland |
3:14 |
| 5. |
"Still Remains" |
R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Weiland |
3:33 |
| 6. |
"Pretty Penny" |
D. DeLeo, Weiland |
3:42 |
| 7. |
"Silvergun Superman" |
R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Weiland |
5:16 |
| 8. |
"Big Empty" |
D. DeLeo, Weiland |
4:54 |
| 9. |
"Unglued" |
R. DeLeo, Weiland |
2:35 |
| 10. |
"Army Ants" |
D. DeLeo, Weiland |
3:46 |
| 11. |
"Kitchenware & Candybars" (see below) |
R. DeLeo, Weiland |
8:07 |
Notes
Track 11, "Kitchenware & Candybars", contains a hidden track named "My Second Album," which is a parody of most hidden tracks being unorthodox songs that a band wouldn't usually make. The lounge song was performed by Richard Peterson, a musician who happens to be a big fan of Johnny Mathis, hence the reference to Mathis in the song.[1][2]
The Compact Disc version of the album is listed for sale as "12 Gracious Melodies" at the CD Universe online store website.[3]
Personnel
- Stone Temple Pilots – design
- Dean DeLeo – acoustic guitar, percussion, drums, electric guitar
- Robert DeLeo – bass, guitar, percussion
- Nick DiDia – engineer
- Clay Harper – assistant engineer
- Eric Kretz – percussion, drums
- Paul Leary – ending guitar solo on "Lounge Fly"
- Brendan O'Brien – producer, engineer, mixing, mellotron on "Army Ants"
- Scott Weiland – vocals, percussion, guitar
- Dale Sizer – illustrations
- Caram Costanzo – assistant engineer
- John Heiden – design
Charts
Album
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1994 |
The Billboard 200 |
1 |
| 1994 |
UK Albums Chart |
10 |
| 1994 |
Australian Albums Chart |
1 |
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1994 |
"Big Empty" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
3 |
| 1994 |
"Big Empty" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
7 |
| 1994 |
"Big Empty" |
Top 40 Mainstream |
40 |
| 1994 |
"Interstate Love Song" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
1 |
| 1994 |
"Interstate Love Song" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
2 |
| 1994 |
"Interstate Love Song" |
Top 40 Mainstream |
22 |
| 1994 |
"Vasoline" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
1 |
| 1994 |
"Vasoline" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
2 |
| 1994 |
"Unglued" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
8 |
| 1994 |
"Unglued" |
Modern Rock Tracks |
16 |
| 1995 |
"Pretty Penny" |
Mainstream Rock Tracks |
12 |
References
