Tiny Music...Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Grunge was the Stone Temple Pilots' stock-in-trade on their first two albums, but Tiny Music takes the group beyond such stylistic limitations. There's still plenty of grinding, metallic alt-rock here, thanks to "Pop's Love Suicide," "Big Bang Baby," and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart." "Lady Picture Show" is a bracing blast of Beatlesesque pop, however, while "And So I Know" finds Weiland crooning over, of all things, cocktail jazz. The album's dozen tracks find the troubled singer musing (rather creepily) about the price of fame on "Adhesive" ("Sell more records if I'm dead... Hope it's sooner / Hope it's near corporate records' fiscal year"), and not apologizing for his bad behavior ("Tumble in the Rough" asserts, "I'm looking for a new stimulation"; bet you are, Scott). But they're rock stars, not role models, and Tiny Music is STP's edgiest, most accomplished effort. --Daniel Durchholz --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Average customer rating:

A good, solid STP album

Not As Good as The Rest, But Good...

Beautiful Statement From An Exceptional Band

Hold Me Closer Let Me Be

Much more than a grunge album

Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Stone Temple Pilots
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Grunge | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000002J8M
Release Date: 1996-03-26

Tracks:

Press Play
Pop's Love Suicide
Tumble In The Rough
Big Bang Baby
Lady Picture Show
And So I Know
Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart
Art School Girl
Adhesive
Ride The Cliche
Daisy
Seven Caged Tigers

Amazon.com essential recording

Grunge was the Stone Temple Pilots' stock-in-trade on their first two albums, but Tiny Music takes the group beyond such stylistic limitations. There's still plenty of grinding, metallic alt-rock here, thanks to "Pop's Love Suicide," "Big Bang Baby," and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart." "Lady Picture Show" is a bracing blast of Beatlesesque pop, however, while "And So I Know" finds Weiland crooning over, of all things, cocktail jazz. The album's dozen tracks find the troubled singer musing (rather creepily) about the price of fame on "Adhesive" ("Sell more records if I'm dead... Hope it's sooner / Hope it's near corporate records' fiscal year"), and not apologizing for his bad behavior ("Tumble in the Rough" asserts, "I'm looking for a new stimulation"; bet you are, Scott). But they're rock stars, not role models, and Tiny Music is STP's edgiest, most accomplished effort. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews:

A good, solid STP album.......2007-04-03

This album is from the softer side of STP, less of grunge and more of the mainstream alternative from the early 90's, reminding me of songs from Soundgarden but more of their softer songs, less like Spoon man and more like Black Hole Sun and Mind Riot.

Not As Good as The Rest, But Good..........2007-02-28

Stone Temple Pilots is my 2nd favorite band of all time. Having just seen "Army of Anyone" (the new band featuring guitarst Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo), my love for STP has been renewed. STP was a great band is so many ways. You have vocalist/lyricist Scott Weiland, one of the most talented vocalists of the 90s and one of the best lyricists ever (who else has written such quotable lyrics as "Blow up the b**ch with the firecracker smile" and "I wanna drink from your naked fountain."). Brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo, who also wrote almost all the music. These guys are so underrated, they've written such great stuff and are truly talented musicians who have a real love for their fans. While Eric Kretz was no Neil Peart, he fit the mold of STP perfectly (although AOA drummer Ray Luzier, whom I met, is destined to be considered one of the greats). "Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" is commonly considered STP's worst album and it is. It's not bad, but when compared to their other albums it's their weakest. Off it, however, came one of their best songs "Big Bang Baby." The album has it's merits, none of the songs deserve a grade less than 4 out of 5...But the lyrics are weaker than on other albums and many of the other albums delivered much more memorable songs. This album is a worthy effort though and I bought it for $4.99, so if you can find it cheap it's well worth getting. Here are the tracks and my opinions of each:

1. Press Play-5/5-A cool, very short, instrumental. It's not important to the album and it's not something you're going to hit the repeat button on, but you won't skip past it when listening to the album either.
2. Pop's Love Suicide-5/5-Scott Weiland sings this song in a whiny voice where you can barely hear any of the lyrics. The song is pretty damn catchy though. It's got a great beat, the guitar solo is great, and excerpts of the lyrics are really good too.
3. Tumble in the Rough-5/5-Also a great song. The chorus is pretty much the catchiest part, but the song kept me entertained. The lyrics aren't terrific, but the rhyming of them is great.
4. Big Bang Baby-5/5-This is the best song on the album and one of my favorite STP songs of all time. It's one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard and gets stuck in your head really easily. Even though they're hardly the best lyrics Weiland ever wrote, they work so good in this song. Some of the lines are some of the best like "We used to see in color, not it's only black & white yeah it's only black & white. Cuz the world is colorblind."
5. Lady Picture Show-4/5-This has never been a favorite of mine. It's good, but I just don't like it very much.
6. And So I Know-5/5-This song is very slow, but I think it's a beautiful song. It ranks right up there with "Wonderful."
7. Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart-5/5-This is one of the best songs on the album. It's so catchy and well written. The lyrics are goofy, but they work in the song because of the way Weiland sings them.
8. Art School Girl-5/5-This is a great song. It starts off with Weiland singing really slowly and in a kind of goofy voice, but the chorus is so great. It belongs on the "best of" CD.
9. Adhesive-5/5-This song is slower than the last two songs and a little longer. But it's really good.
10. Ride the Cliche-5/5-A great song title and a great song.
11. Daisy-5/5-A fantastic guitar instrumental by bassist Robert DeLeo.
12. Seven Caged Tigers-4/5-I don't have much of an opinion on this song. It's not bad, but it's pretty forgettable.

As I said, "Big Bang Baby" is one of their best songs and if you haven't heard it...Be prepared to have it stuck in your head for a good long while. Writing this, I've heard the album 3 times and I can tell you that I didn't like this CD as much as I do now when I first heard it. Many albums require multiple listening(s). This is a worthy STP album, but, again, it is their worst.
GRADE: B

Beautiful Statement From An Exceptional Band.......2007-02-27

In my opinion STP's third career offering is nothing short of a masterpiece. The music is surreal, each chord and note touching your very essence. On this album, despite battling his own personal demons, Scott Weiland, I believe, writes some of his most memorable and thought provoking lyrics, all the while showcasing the many different facets of his awesome voice. No doubt when it's all said and done he will go down as one of the best singers/frontmen that rock has ever known. Kretz and the Brothers DeLeo show once again that they are much more than just a one-dimensional alt. grunge band with songs derivative of Pearl Jam. The band grinds out their most melodic, free spirited tunes on this energetic opus that shouldn't be taken for granted by those who are only used to STP'S "Core" and "Purple" eras. There are some absolute killer little 'ditties' on this gem. "Big Bang Baby", "And So I Know", Trippin' On A Hole in A Paper Heart" are just a few of my favorites. Quite simply,the package as a whole sounds completely fresh and inspired and will no doubt leave the average STP fan happy. Listening to this album only makes me long that these guys were still making kick-a music together, and so, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Army of Anyone and Velvet Revolver rock, but there is just something very special about Scott, Robert, Dean, and Eric working together as unit. Absolutely beautiful.

Hold Me Closer Let Me Be .......2006-06-20

Something always pulls me back to Tiny Music. Suddenly this band that so far has just rocked, this band has attitude. I mean, they still rock, but now it's with a swagger or a snarl or something like that, anyway. Suddenly the production gets worse for the better and the riffs get simpler but more alive in time.

And yeah, it all works for me. I guess this album inspired one of the meaner album reviews that I've seen on Pitchfork (check it out, it's worth reading if you like heroin jokes and suggestions that people should die) and it's greatly labeled and knocked as a "glam" album. I guess I don't really see it like that, since there aren't any real sing-alongs or songs to hold your lighter up to(as there are on the earlier two and later two albums).

Of all the STP, I like this the best. It's got the rock, but it's also got groove.

Much more than a grunge album.......2006-05-11

As a boy growing up in the nineties, grunge was my first real exposure to rock music. My first favorite band was pearl jam and i loved all the major grunge acts and STP was no exception. Through highschool i started listening to classic rock and 60's music and opened up to the indie rock scene. I can say now that ive grown out of the grunge music all together. The likes of Alice in Chains Peal Jam and Soundgarden hold only a couple of tracks on my itunes library. Ive moved on, but one album from that era that I still listen to, and have even gained a greater appriciation for, is Tiny Music. This is the most underrated album of its era. By channeling the sounds of the 60's and seventies, STP was almost a decade afead of their time on this one. If this album had been released in 2002 by anyone else it would be considered a modern classic. But because critics immediately thought cheap non-seattle born grunge johnny-come-lately nock off act everytime they read the words Stone Temple Pilots on a CD cover the ablum is immidiatley panned before it's even heard. Which is too bad cause there's some great stuff on here.

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