Stone Temple Pilots [2018]

It’s not a complete lack of experimental ventures, but a limited volume. Regardless, this latest version of the band has clearly found a style that works, and the album definitely exhibits a bold direction, even if the average STP fan would naturally like to see a higher volume of daring moments.

This 2018 album shows they haven't lost their knack for hooky-heavy hard rock that wedges its way into the subconscious. The album can't be called a comeback--the group were toiling away during the 2010s, after all--but it certainly opens the door on another act in their career, one that is sonically tied to their past but feels brighter (and more relaxed) than their first chapters.

It’s all very polished, if hardly challenging.

This second self-titled album in a row feels like a new start for Stone Temple Pilots, and they're clearly determined to make it count. [17 Mar 2018, p.55]

Hardly reinventing the wheel, but still a triumph of resilience. [May 2018, p.112]

It is competent and catchy. It rocks hard much of the time but also slows down for more tender and easygoing songs. And Gutt belts it out, rasps, and croons like Weiland before him, just minus some of the swagger that made Weiland such an engaging personality.