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Rating: In 1996, grunge was languishing, Kurt Cobain was a pale ghost, and the charts were dominated by the dismal prêt-à-porter flannel of Bush, Silverchair, and their whining companions.
At a time when even the divine Soungarden were abdicating by releasing the indecent “Down on the upside”, it was the much-maligned Stone Temple Pilots who churned out an album with guts. Flamboyant without excess, unusually varied, “Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop” whimsically evaded the traps of déjà vu, just as the contemporary Pearl Jam would shortly do with the twilight “No Code”.
Creating this album during a period when singer Scott Weiland was in and out of jail due to drug issues, the Pilots managed to remain vibrant enough to make a mark. The grunge-Zeppelin impetus that had spelled success for the previous “Core” and “Purple” only echoes here and there in these grooves, as in the swirling advance of “Tumble in the Rough” or in “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart”. The singles released do not feature the tear-jerking balladry of “Creep”, but a couple of Cheap Trick-style numbers such as “Pop’s Love Suicide” and “Big Bang Baby”. Although not as memorable as the “Vaseline” from the previous album, they are nonetheless two well-crafted episodes. This pop-rock vein is also enjoyable in songs like “Lady Picture Show” and “Art School Girl”, whereas “Ride the Cliché” is enriched with exquisite shoegaze echoes à la Slowdive. The guitar parts are no longer as explosive as in the past, but they gain in variety and effectiveness.
This is also evident in the discreet jazz-bossanova nods of “And So I Know” and “Daisy”. Among the group’s classics are “Adhesive” and “Seven Caged Tigers”. The first is a folk number akin to early Tim Buckley, subtly enlivened by surprising psychedelic parts and a splendid trumpet solo, with leisurely vocals from a decidedly inspired Weiland. The second develops an intriguing shoegaze version of Jane’s Addiction, with their “Classic Girl” being evoked at the end.
Nothing tiresomely grunge: "Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop” is simply the most genuine work of a great band.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
09 Adhesive (05:34)
My friend Blue he runs the show
With hot pink purple china glow
His family trees are molded
No longer grows in summer
He holds it closer lets it go
Picks a fruit but keeps it whole
Can't keep the submarining
Can't keep the light from fading
Grab the hate and drown it out
Grab the beat and drum it out
It's all so confusing
Have a listen lend an ear
Here's a song now if ya care
We can all just hum along
Word's don't matter anymore
Adhesive love adhesive
Ain't the same for you and me
Cartoons like reality dogs and cats and children
The deepest wound is hidden
Ain't the same for you and me
Comatose commodity the superheroes dyin'
All the children cryin'
Sell more records if I'm dead
Purple flowers once again
Hope it's sooner. Hope it's near corporate records' fiscal year
Down the river, down the river
Flyin' high across the plain
Purple flowers ease the pain
Here, now have a listen
Ain't the songs you're missin'
Down the river, down the river
Stitch the womb and wet the bed with a whisper I'll be dead
Don't let the living die yet! Grab the hate...
Drown it out. Grab the beat...
Drum it out. It's all so confusing
Adhesive love Adhesive
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