Across nine years and four albums, the Stone Temple Pilots have easily navigated between heavy grunge rock and radio-friendly balladry. Both of these sides appear on the band's fifth full-length release, Shangri -La Dee Da, with largely positive results.
The album opens with guitarist Dean DeLeo's grinding riffs on "Dumb Love" (a charging rock track that will remind fans of the 1994 album Purple) before suddenly shifting into the frighteningly catchy "Days of the Week." "Too Cool Queenie" is a poppy jab at Courtney Love, while "Wonderful" is the kind of beautifully-romantic-but-just-dodging-cheesy rock ballad that ends up on a mix tape. By far, the most intriguing track on the album is "Bi-Polar Bear," which lead singer Scott Weiland wrote after he decided not to take the drugs prescribed to treat his manic-depression ("Left my meds on the sink again/ My head will be racing by lunchtime"). The song begins with a gentle acoustic guitar before a driving drum beat rips through the calm, creating a jarring transition that is aided by Weiland's chillingly melodic singing voice.
The album does have one or two missteps. "A Song for Sleeping" is an overdone ode to Weiland's son while "Long Way Home" seems to just fall apart. But the hits greatly outnumber the misses--Shangri-La Dee Da has something for every type of STP fan, showcasing a band that, after a series of highly publicized setbacks, has found a way to return to the form that originally made it great.
