I heard someone once say that you’re favorite style of music
for the rest of your life is what was being played while you were in high
school. That may prove doubly true for
me, since I didn’t even start listening to modern music until high school. The 80s for me were wrapped up in Oldies
(from my dad) and CCM (from my mom).
Nirvana was as much as revolution for me as I ever really experienced,
and within a couple of years, I was not only listening to grunge and
post-grunge nearly exclusively, but also playing guitar and trying to grow a
Kurt Cobain haircut.
And that was after he died, by the way. I got into modern rock in 1994, and by my
graduation in 1996, I had amassed a ton of 90s music.
One of the main bands in that collection was Stone Temple
Pilots. Grunge wasn’t always known for
good musicianship, but STP was a notable exception. Rob DeLeo is my primary influence as a bass
player, and I gain an appreciation for Dean’s guitars as I was learning the
instrument. He hides a lot of cool stuff
behind his distortion, and you may not notice if you don’t know what you’re
looking for.
These guys were a constant soundtrack for me in those days,
and I get strong sense-memories every time I listen to one of those old
albums. I recall video games I was
playing at the time, areas of town where I delivered pizzas, my high school, my
loneliness, my speech tournaments, and on and on it goes.
Hearing of STP frontman Scott Weiland’s death this morning
struck up the same memories. I put on Shangri-La
Dee Da, which I actually didn’t hear until less than ten years ago, but had
become probably my favorite of theirs.
