“Purple” fu il disco della consacrazione per la band di Scott Weiland e dei fratelli di De Leo, quello che permise ai suoi autori di zittire chi li aveva dipinti, all’epoca del loro fortunatissimo esordio “Core”, come inutili cloni dei divini Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains e Soundgarden.

Ad essere onesti, va detto che in quell’album vi era più di un elemento che poteva essere ricondotto al sound dei gruppi di Seattle. Ma con “Purple” il gruppo di San Diego dimostrò anzitutto di non essere una “one hit wonder”, e che il songwriting non si appiattiva sugli stereotipi grunge per fornire comunque una manciata di ottimi brani. Anche il cantante Scott Weiland salì in cattedra, togliendosi di dosso l’ombra di Layne Staley e di Eddie Vedder, che aveva forse danneggiato episodi del precedente album, come “Dead and bloated” e “Plush”.

Stilisticamente, i brani di Purple possono essere divisi in due parti: una prima che ripercorre i sentieri grunge-da-classifica di “Core”, e una seconda che offre variazioni in merito. Tra i brani del primo gruppo spiccano i solenni midtempo di “Still remains” e “Meat plow”, l’imponente ballad “Interstate love song” e una ispirata “Lounge fly”, che sembra provenire dal terzo lp del Dirigibile. I piatti forti di “Purple” stanno però in quegli episodi che eludono i cliché di “Core”: in particolare il primo singolo “Vaseline”, fenomenale esempio di minimalismo applicato al rock, Due minuti asciutti e intensi per uno dei brani più famosi dell’era alternative-MTV. Bellissima anche “Big empty”, in cui parti jazz si sovrappongono a un refrain memorabile, lo strascicato folk di “Pretty Penny” – che offre un Weiland in forma strepitosa – e “Army ants”, in cui suggestioni funk-psichedeliche alla Jane’s Addiction movimentano il consueto spartito dei De Leo. In soldoni, "Purple" è un disco il cui ascolto risulta ancora godibilissimo anche a oltre 10 anni dalla sua pubblicazione.

Gli Stone Temple Pilots certamente stanno un gradino sotto i gruppi-monstre dell’era grunge, ma hanno regalato pagine eccellenti e canzoni simbolo di un’epoca.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Meat Plow (03:38)

Fine place for a day full of breakdowns
Takes more than a meltdown to show us how
Throw a tak on the road stop the meatplow
Got a bullet but it aint mine

They got these pictures of everything
To break us down, yea to break me down
They make us hate and we make it bleed

But I got a lover and yeah
She shows me how,
To understand it, yea to understand
I got a brother and well
He shows me how,
To make amends, yeah to make amends
with it

Take a break from the mousetrap we call home
Takes more than a message to make me smile
I can feel when she kisses me sleeping
But not when the news is on

02   Vasoline (02:55)

One time a thing occured to me
What's real and what's for sale?
Blew a kiss and tried to take it home

It isn't you, isn't me
Search for things
That you cant see
Going blind, out of reach
Somewhere in the vasoline

Two times and it has rendered me
Punch drunk and without bail
Think I'd be safer all alone

Flies in the vasoline we are
Sometimes it blows my mind
Keep getting stuck
Here all the time

It isn't you, isn't me
Search for things
That you cant see
Going blind, out of reach
Somewhere in the vasoline

You'll see the look
And you'll see the lies
You'll eat the lies
And you will

Flies in the vasoline we are
Sometimes it blows my mind
Keep getting stuck
Here all the time

It isn't you, isn't me
Search for things
That you cant see
Going blind, out of reach
Somewhere in the vasoline

03   Lounge Fly (05:18)

04   Interstate Love Song (03:14)

05   Still Remains (03:33)

Our bed we live, our bed we sleep
Making love and I become you
Flesh is warm with naked feet
Stabbing thorns and you become me.

Oh, I'd beg for you,
Oh, you know I'll beg for you
Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
Take a bath I'll drink the water that you leave
If you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend
Pick a flower, hold your breath
And drift away ......

She holds my hand, we share a laugh,
Sipping orange blossom breezes
Love is still but sweat remains
A cherished gift unselfish feeling ...

Oh, I'd beg for you,
Oh, you know I'll beg for you.
Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
Take a bath I'll drink the water that you leave
If you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend
Pick a flower, hold your breath
And drift away ......

She tells me things, I listen well
Drink the wine and save the water --
Skin is smooth, I steal a glance
Dragon flies are flying over ...

Oh, I'd beg for you
Oh, you know I'll beg for you
Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
Take a bath I'll drink the water that you leave
If you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend
Pick a flower, hold your breath
And drift away ......

06   Pretty Penny (03:42)

Have you seen your mother girl?
Has she gone away?
gone away and found the pearl
but the price she paid
gone
when you wake in the morning
gone
when you find that there's no one sleeping
gone
pretty penny was her name
she was loved and we all will miss her
how far will you go i say,
just to bait a mouse?
shorter lived and longer gone,
can you figure out?
have you seen your sister girl?
she's all but blown away
blown away and lost the pearl
and the price she paid
gone
when you wake in the morning
gone
when you find that there's no one sleeping
gone
pretty penny was her name
she was loved and we all will miss her

07   Silvergun Superman (05:16)

find you in the dark
read you like a cheap surprise
without shame
sell me out, and frame your name
i can hear when the pig whispers sweetly
jealousy is the way that you kill me
keep a dime for a truth you might tell

(Chorus) you towed the line, and i know it was mine
couldn't hide, write a wave, ride a lie
let me know, can i friend ask you why?

rolling back the days
with my friend i love to play
the "little one"
superman with silver gun
i can hear when the pig whispers sweetly
jealousy is the way that you kill me
keep a dime for a truth you might tell
CHORUS

wait for me, take a dive, take a piece of my life (leave me numb)
wait for me, tell a lie, try to take my wife (leave me numb)
wait for me, take a dive, take a piece of my life (leave me numb)
close to me, and i'll leave you numb...

CHORUS X2...

08   Big Empty (04:54)

drivin' faster in my car
falling farther from just what we are
smoke a cigarette and lie some more
these conversations kill
falling faster in my car

time to take her home
her dizzy head is conscience laden
time to take a ride
it leaves today no conversation
time to take her home
her dizzy head is conscience laden
time to wait too long
to wait too long
to wait too long

to much walkin', shoes worn thin
too much trippin' and my soul's worn thin
time to catch a ride
it leaves today, her name is what it means
to much walkin', shoe's worn thin

Chorus

Conversations kill
Conversations kill
Conversations kill

Chorus

Conversations kill
Conversations kill
Conversations kill

09   Unglued (02:34)

Moderation is masterbation
What is what, and what makes you feel good
All these things I think about
I think about -
Always come unglued

Yea - I got this thing
It's comin over me, I got this thing
Its comin over me, I got this feelin
Coming over me - yea

This confusion is my illusion
Nowhere to look, but know where
To find ya.
All these things Im sick about,
Im sick about -
Always come unglued

10   Army Ants (03:46)

You dont look but you kick me
You cant feel but you hit me
You can't live with the way I pray

Why do we all have to look this way
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain

Time, time is not on my side
Cause the way I am
Gotta gotta now gotta find the reason why
A woman aint a man

You dont look but you kick me
You cant feel but you hit me
You cant deal with the way I pray

Why do you all have to think this way
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain

Fall in those single file lines
Like Army Ants
Yeah, fall on into those single file lines
And complete the plan

11   Kitchenware & Candybars (04:32)

somebody told me, I know where to go
somebody showed me, I was last to know

sell me down the river
sell me down the river
sell me down the river
sell me down the river

unfriendly feelings, down on wounded knees
unfriendly reasons, some blind mothers need

sell me down the river
sell me down the river
sell me down the river
sell me down the river

what I wanted, is what I wanted
what we wanted, is what she wanted

you read the words and it sells you life
they sell their words, but it's all a lie

12   Gracious Melodies (06:18)

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Altre recensioni

Di  embryo

 "Assemblano dunque melodie graziose, accattivanti e conformi ai gusti di massa e sembrano esserne addirittura consapevoli."

 "Gli Stone Temple Pilots non possiedono queste caratteristiche [...] e 'Purple' non fa eccezione alla regola secondo cui i loro dischi suonano più o meno come delle compilations di artisti vari grunge."