Purple (Stone Temple Pilots album)

Purple (stylized on the cover art in its Chinese character 紫, also known as Stone Temple Pilots) is the second studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on June 7, 1994, by Atlantic Records. The album, building on the foundation laid by the band's debut album Core (1992), was a major commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 252,000 copies sold in its first week. It remained at the top of the chart for three weeks, eventually selling over six million copies. It spawned a number of successful singles; "Vasoline" and "Interstate Love Song" both topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached number 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, while "Big Empty" also reached the top ten on both charts. Lesser-known album cuts "Pretty Penny" and "Unglued" were released as promotional radio singles.

Recording

The recording of Purple began in the wake of extensive touring behind their 1992 debut, Core. Material for the follow-up had already started to take shape while the band was still on the road. On May 25, 1993, the band recorded "Big Empty" for the 1994 film The Crow at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Two months later on July 12 they recorded "Lounge Fly" at Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis with producer Brendan O'Brien. Following a short break after touring, the band reconvened in Los Angeles in early 1994, spending time in a rehearsal space where they worked out song structures and arrangements. After this period of preparation, they traveled to Atlanta for pre-production with O'Brien. Recording began shortly afterward at Southern Tracks Recording Studio, located just outside the city.

The sessions were marked by efficiency and a fast pace. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in approximately three and a half weeks during March 1994, with basic tracking completed in the first ten days and mixing taking an additional five. The band entered the studio with the material well-rehearsed and used a process that involved tracking with a public address system to simulate a live environment. This method was encouraged by O'Brien, who aimed to capture performances quickly and with minimal second-guessing. The recording environment was relatively informal. The band stayed near the studio to avoid travel delays, and downtime often included recreational activities like basketball and wiffle ball in the parking lot. These breaks served as a way to decompress between sessions. In at least one case, the band moved outside the formal studio setting to record. For "Pretty Penny", O'Brien arranged for them to record at Harptone Studios using a two-inch eight-track tape machine. The session took place in a living room, where the band recorded the track live with minimal overdubs. During the main sessions, the vocalist Scott Weiland often joined after the instrumental work had been completed. He recorded his vocals in the evenings, after the rest of the band had finished their parts for the day. O'Brien handled these vocal sessions with Weiland separately from the group's daytime tracking. Despite this split schedule, Weiland completed all of his vocals in just one week.

The band worked with minimal oversight from their record label. According to the members, Atlantic Records gave them considerable creative latitude during the process. O'Brien also preferred to keep industry personnel out of the studio, a practice the label respected. Despite some interpersonal strain during the sessions, partly attributed to fatigue after over a year of touring, the band completed the album as planned. At one point, members briefly considered halting the process, but ultimately regrouped and finished the recording. In retrospect, the group described these tensions as typical of their circumstances at the time, rather than as signs of lasting conflict. Purple was completed and delivered to the label on schedule. The band credited their prior experience with O'Brien, their pre-production efforts, and their familiarity with the studio process for the speed and focus of the recording.

Artwork

The cover art for the album features a painting of a child riding on a Qilin accompanied by a quintet of fairies above the creature and the child, taking place on a cloudy background. The album title is written as a Chinese character, zǐ (紫), on the cover, and nowhere else on the packaging (with exception of the UK and European limited edition vinyl release). Early pressings featured the Chinese character and band name printed on the CD jewel case cover itself.

On analogue formats (LP and cassette) of the original release, the album title is shown as simply Stone Temple Pilots on the tape shells and LP labels. No track listing appears on the back cover, which instead displays the image of a decorated cake with the phrase 12 Gracious Melodies, which is a clue to a hidden track as song twelve.

On the cover of the cassette version of Purple, the child is holding the Chinese character in his hand, rather than positioned in the corner. There are two pressings of the actual disc art of Purple. One version has a close-up of the frosted flowers from the cake on the rear panel on it and another has dragon scales.

The vinyl LP release is made from colored vinyl - transparent purple in the US and UK release and a limited edition opaque marbled vinyl in a softer shade of purple available only in the UK and Europe.

Reception

Purple debuted at number one in the United States upon its release on June 7, 1994. The radio-friendly "Interstate Love Song" quickly became a big hit, spending a record-setting fifteen weeks atop the album rock tracks chart. Other hits from the album included "Vasoline" and "Big Empty". By October, just four months after its release, Purple had sold three million copies.

The album received generally positive reviews, with AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing that it was a "quantum leap over their debut, showcasing a band hitting its stride".

Legacy

In 2005, Purple was ranked number 438 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In 2006, the album was ranked number 73 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time. In May 2014, Loudwire placed Purple at number six on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list. In July 2014, Guitar World ranked Purple at number 24 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 24 on its list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums." In 2022, Pitchfork named Purple one of the 25 Best Grunge Albums of the '90s.

A 25th anniversary edition of the album was released on October 18, 2019, in several formats including a 1LP/3CD/7 inch super deluxe box set much like the deluxe version of Core released in 2017.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Scott Weiland.

Notes

A cover of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" on the 2019 remastered re-release first appeared on 1995's Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin.

Personnel

Stone Temple Pilots

Scott Weiland – lead vocals, guitar on "Silvergun Superman", percussion on "Pretty Penny"
Dean DeLeo – electric and acoustic guitars, percussion on "Pretty Penny", drum ending on "Silvergun Superman"
Robert DeLeo – bass, backing vocals, guitar on "Vasoline", "Lounge Fly", "Pretty Penny", "Silvergun Superman", and "Kitchenware & Candybars", percussion on "Pretty Penny"
Eric Kretz – drums, percussion on "Vasoline", "Lounge Fly", "Pretty Penny", and "Big Empty"

Additional personnel

Brendan O'Brien – producer, recording, mixing, percussion on "Meatplow", "Interstate Love Song", "Silvergun Superman", "Army Ants" and "Kitchenware & Candybars", guitar on "Kitchenware & Candybars", mellotron on "Army Ants"
Nick DiDia – engineer
Caram Costanzo – assistant engineer
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Paul Leary – ending guitar solo on "Lounge Fly"
John Heiden – design
Dale Sizer – illustrations