r/Music • u/Superman780 • 6h ago
discussion Scott Weiland: Where would you rank him on the list of ’90s grunge/rock singers, and what is your favorite song that he sings?
For me, he is definitely in the top 5 for singers. My favorite song is Big Empty.
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u/orbsonb 6h ago
As a singer? He was very good; versatile and emotive, though not as technically gifted as guys like Vedder and Cornell.
As a frontman? I think he is one of the best to ever do it, period. He was spellbinding to watch onstage.
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u/wulah89 6h ago
I love the Wicked Garden on Letterman performance. Scott looked healthy, busting out dance moves and just genuinely looked like he was having fun. He was a great front man and showman at his peak
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u/ajcrmr 6h ago
Agreed, only downside to his live performances was you never knew how high he would be and it could completely destroy his performance that night.
I remember seeing Velvet Revolver and almost leaving because the performance was so uneven, off-key and all-around bad in the first half. Then they had a short intermission where he seemed to even out and came back to do an acoustic cover of Wish You Were Here with Slash. I can still picture it 20+ years later and remains one of my favorite concert moments all-time. The entire second half of the concert was phenomenal.
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u/russketeer34 Spotify 6h ago
When he was on, goddamn was that man was amazing. But, sadly, out of the 3 times I saw STP, 2 of them were really bad. I still remember that 1 time though, he just had a presence and performance that was streets ahead.
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u/captainp42 5h ago
Yeah, agree.
I only saw STP once. I rank it as the worst concert I have ever attended. They could barely prop him up, and I'm not 100% certain that they didn't just play the album cuts and mimic playing the instruments.
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u/WedgeEntilles 6h ago
Honestly he would be top three choices to go back in time and watch. His presence is captivating and weird.
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u/SparkyPantsMcGee 6h ago
I really do think that is his super power when talking about this era. He’s the stage presence guy and it’s awesome.
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u/emptygroove 5h ago
I saw him when he was recently out of rehab back in early 2000s. STP headlined a festival show and they blew away all the acts that came before. Prob 45k people in that place and I tell you he was connected to every single one of them.
Got half a chub when they played Dead and Bloated.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/stone-temple-pilots/2000/foxboro-stadium-foxborough-ma-2bd598b6.html
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u/NotGettingInvolved 4h ago
I saw him on that tour too! Best frontman I’ve ever seen in a live performance by a mile.
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u/BostonDrivingIsWorse 4h ago
Not technically as gifted as Vedder? Hard disagree.
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u/SvenRathskeller 3h ago
I believe during a recent Rick Beato interview Robert DeLeo mentioned Scott was in choir. I would have to agree with you he definitely had the technical background.
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u/BostonDrivingIsWorse 3h ago
Weiland also had a wider vocal range, a wider range of vocal timbres, and was vastly better at harmonies. Eddie Vedder is not a technical singer at all.
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u/daveDFFA 42m ago
I think he was absolutely technically gifted
Listen to the acoustic recordings, it almost sounds like he could’ve been a theatre kid
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u/anynamesleft 6h ago
I'd rank him above Vedder and just below Cornell. Vedder can be incomprehensible lol
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u/BostonDrivingIsWorse 1h ago
For me it’s Cornell -> Weiland -> Staley -> Vedder
It’s real close between Weiland and Staley, but I think Weiland was just more versatile.
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u/mfoutedme 6h ago
Interstate Love Song
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u/Beginning-Ride3091 2h ago
Amazing how I’ve heard it a trillion times and will definitely not skip when it comes on
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u/Dr_Zevil665 6h ago
For me, Scott is a strong #4 pick behind Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, and Eddie Vedder, but that just comes down to musical preference for me. Scott is still a phenomenal vocalist and I love the smokey bluesy tone of his voice.
Favorite song for me is 100% gonna be the unplugged version of Plush
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u/jonny55555 6h ago edited 6h ago
This is almost the list, and I am with you in terms of “vocal instrument” but if we’re talking singers in and including overall influence on the band as the singer front man you have to have Kurt Cobain in there which makes a nice round top five. :)
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u/JamTammer 6h ago
I have always felt for Scott's life plot. Those late videos of him wasted on stage in some shithole small local venue are literally heartbreaking.
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u/SRSgoblin 6h ago
I think the saddest part for me is his ex-wife and his kids upon his passing put out a statement that was basically like, "hey we get his music moved you all and everything but he was awful to us, so our emotions upon his passing are very different than the rest of the public's." Felt very much like a "quit bothering us, he hurt us" sort of response.
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u/ricardoruben 4h ago
December 3rd, 2015 is not the day Scott Weiland died. It is the official day the public will use to mourn him, and it was the last day he could be propped up in front of a microphone for the financial benefit or enjoyment of others. The outpouring of condolences and prayers offered to our children, Noah and Lucy, has been overwhelming, appreciated and even comforting. But the truth is, like so many other kids, they lost their father years ago. What they truly lost on December 3rd was hope.
That's how her statement began. I wouldn't say it's a "quit bothering us" but a "what you think is fun and rock and roll, in reality is a destroyed family. It will happen again to somebody else if we keep glorifying being a drug fueled rockstar"
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u/djanes376 6h ago
I saw him with STP in 2000 and he was high out of his mind. Despite that he still put on a decent show. Sad the way things went down for him.
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u/Comidama2313 6h ago
He would be number 3 for me after Layne and Chris Cornell
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u/sec102row1 6h ago
I get how Cornell is better with his range, but I always disliked the high runs that remind me of hair metal. So I respected and acknowledged his range, just didn’t like the style.
Layne was great, but too dark for me overall, I know it was supposed to be the sound, but there was never any air to breathe that wasn’t gloom.
Scott could bring it all, whether it be big empty or the optimism of Interstate Love Song.
So my opinion is that I always preferred Scott Weiland and STP over the other lead singers and their bands.
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u/JiveChicken00 6h ago
What about Kurt and Eddie?
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u/CptnMayo 6h ago
Eddie is above kurt, for sure, Kurt isn't bad, he's very good but Nirvana was the whole thing on equal parts, the writing, the playing and the voice.
So, Nirvana is amazing but I think other singers were better
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u/r0botdevil 5h ago
This is a fair answer.
When it comes to the songs I personally like Nirvana better than Pearl Jam, for instance, but I have no problem recognizing that Eddie is/was a more talented vocalist than Kurt.
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u/fultonchain 6h ago
I'm not sure Kurt even belongs in this conversation.
There was nothing exceptional about Cobain's voice and Nirvana was a band greater than the sum of their parts that came along at the right time. It sounds a little silly, but I'd call them transcendent. I don't mean to diminish their impact on modern music and even society as a whole in any way, but that impact was as much a feature of the times as any particular band.
Given how vibrant the PNW scene was I can't help but think a breakout was due and wonder who else it might have been.
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u/ReadMyPosts 6h ago
This is a good assessment. Nobody touches Layne who sits by himself at the top. Jerry Cantrell was amazing in his own right, and could tie with Scott had he had the STP catalog. Chris was just an absolute beautiful voice who was ahead of his contemporaries with his range too.
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u/crazybusdriver 6h ago
Favorite song he sings, for the voice and depth of emotions, is Atlanta.
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u/im_a_picasso 6h ago
I used to put Atlanta on mix tapes as a deep cut. I can still listen to it on repeat twenty years later, never gets old.
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u/NoDifference3349 6h ago
Top 5. Cornell is top. Cobain and Layne are up there too. Plush and interstate love song acoustic versions are top two.
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u/yilanoyunuhikayesi 6h ago
Velvet Revolver - Fall to Pieces
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u/syn-ack-fin 6h ago
This for me, lots of feeling in it because it’s autobiographical and the video is awesome.
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u/StirFryUInMyWok 6h ago
Below Chris Cornell, who sits at number 1. I really like his versatility.
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u/Onespokeovertheline 3h ago
Chris Cornell is not only the best grunge vocalist, he's up there pretty high on the list of all rock singers. Maybe not top 10 given the size of field, but not far off.
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u/Murderdoll197666 6h ago
Definitely in my top 5 for talent and style. Scott was a pretty troubled guy and honestly its a shame things wound up the way it did over the years. I have a bit of a personal attachment to that time period as my aunt at the time was dating/engaged to Robert Deleo of STP so as a young kid (I was only like 11 at the time iirc) we got to go to a lot of concerts and hang out with them in their dressing room. At the shows and backstage Scott was always pretty on point for us as kids (me and my brother and my sister to a lesser extent) and even though we had no real clue what kind of once in a lifetime experience we were getting to live - he would still treat us almost like his own little nephew. He spiked/styled my hair as a kid at one point and I'm sure my mom still has a whole album of random old polaroids and developed pics she took back then somewhere in their house. When we were off-site though (They usualy came down to a shared beach-house in the city my aunt lived) and he was like a whole different person. Eric was pretty chill, Robert and Dean were both pretty fun to be around, and then Scott was almost non existent. He'd lock himself in his room, usually with whatever girl he had brought to the beachhouse with him, and they'd just never leave the room except to get food and even then you could tell he was fucked up. My parents were always pretty let down about that with having us there but we were really just guests to it all so its not like we had any right to say anything anyway. After my aunt and Robert broke up I still always had a big interest in STP over the years and was really bummed after he passed - especially after seeing one of his videos of that tiny venue on one of his last shows where he's just out of his mind fucked up on something. Sorry for the wordvomit...been a while since I really thought about Scott specifically here but it jogged some old memories of some good times and some kind of bad foreshadowing times I guess.
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u/EsseLeo 6h ago
Behind Chris Cornell, but (HOT TAKE ALERT) above Vedder. The two were roughly equal as lyricists, but Weiland had a far better vocal range than Vedder, dabbled in changing his sound, and Weiland edged out Vedder in every onstage performance I saw (seen both live more than 5 times during their heydays).
Tiny Music was an underrated album and I will die on that hill. Seven Caged Tigers, And so I Know, and Adhesive are probably my top 3 STP songs, and every one of those is off Tiny Music.
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u/BalanceJazzlike5116 6h ago
Weiland was an amazing live performer, true rock star.
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u/JBLurker 3h ago
A true showman. I remember seeing him come on stage for STP and just immediately being blown away. I agree. A true rock star.
Climbing scafolding. Belting thru a mega phone. Doing his little hip dance in a corset and heels. Unhinged stage presence.
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u/Blagnet 3h ago
I was up working in the middle of the night, back in the cable TV days, when a recording of STP live at Rolling Rock, 2001, came on.
I figured it was good background noise and left it on... Ended up glued to the TV instead.
I'd grown up listening to his music, but seeing him perform was something else!
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u/JustTheBeerLight 5h ago
STP was such a great band. Scott was a top tier frontman and the DeLeo bros were both fucking killers.
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u/Edigophubia 4h ago
I don't think this is a hot take. Vedder has always cared about having something to say, like, socially/artistically. Scott more likely to prioritize singing versatility, performing, putting on a show, and making cool music, and he is fine with his lyrics being impressionistic if they sound cool, and people don't need to know what he is about. They are both amazing but if we are observing their differences they are definitely different kinds of artists
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u/recoverelapse 5h ago
Agreed.
- Cornell
- Staley
- Weiland
- Vedder
- Lanegan
As much as I love Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, he just doesn't break my top 5 grunge singers. If we're talking songwriter though, he'd be on top.
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u/NewEnglandRoastBeef 3h ago
In Eddie's defense, if you were to do drunk karaoke, Yellow Ledbetter is an extremely easy song to perform without anyone noticing how drunk you are. I know from experience.
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u/vonralls 6h ago
I don't agree with you that he is above eddie. It is funny though because i remember when both bands came out i was thinking Weiland was just a knock off Vedder. But as the years passed it became increasingly clear that Weiland was just as good and not a"knock off" at all. He really was amazing. I'd even say very underrated.
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u/Jwagner0850 3h ago
If his demons didn't get him, he'd probably have a crazy illustrious career too. Vedder took that mantle it seems.
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u/cartmanseyebrows 5h ago
Agree wholeheartedly with Tiny Music. Adhesive is fucking magic. STP with Trumpet, yes please.
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u/Jwagner0850 3h ago
Kind of a side note, I also agree that Tiny Music had some absolute underrated bangers. Adhesive being one of my favorites.
Somewhat ironically, I won tickets to see STP during their later years when they booted Weiland and were running around with Chester from LP. Went to see them live and didn't expect much of anything, but MAN Chester nailed it. Played up the act and dyed his hair red like Weiland. Was doing his mannerisms to a T. On top of that, they went to a slow song in the middle of the even, and they chose Adhesive, with Chester playing the guitar at one point if my memory serves me correct.
All in all, I miss them SW and CB dearly...
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u/jdennis187 6h ago
Just wanted to Echo your sentiment about STP being so much better than Pearl Jam live. To be fair I saw Pearl Jam after that kid died at their show and I understand they were different after that live
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u/themoche 6h ago
As a front man, in his prime, Scott was as good as it gets. But STP wasn’t a better live band than Pearl Jam. Pearl Jams set lists, variety, amount they’d tour. They were always better shows, and far more consistent. Not to mention the longevity.
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u/Coubsauce 4h ago
Your lost seems pretty incomplete unless youre talking abour 3rd and beyond and assuming everyone agrees Cobain and Staley are 1/2
Where do you put Staley and Cobain?
Lanegan deserves a spot beyond his level of fame for that voice, too.
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u/Samtoast 4h ago
I love 90s alternative and even though I know and enjoy almost every nirvana song ever made; Cornell had the best vocal talent back then hands down.
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u/Coubsauce 3h ago
It is a bit weird to me to evaluate grunge vocal talent on traditiobal singing ability rather than The uniqueness of sound, their influence, etc....
But hey. To each their own! I get where you come from.
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u/MightyGiawulf 3h ago
Cobain was an awesome lyricist but pretty mediocre as a singer. Not terrible, but absolutely not his best skill.
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u/Upset_Morning1094 2h ago
Staley + Cantrell. Can’t leave off half of Alice in Chains vocals and only credit Staley
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u/Onespokeovertheline 3h ago
Chris Cornell is far and away the best vocalist mentioned so far. Staley is #2, I don't think there would be much argument to put anyone above those two.
I wouldn't put Weiland so high, personally. I think to do that you'd have to be a huge fan of his style of stage performance (because his vocals aren't as much what made him famous), and I'm not.
On this list, I'd say: 1. Cornell 2. Staley 3. Vedder 4. Weiland 5. Cobain
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u/ManOrReddit-man 6h ago
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u/RAAAAH83 6h ago
I always prefer the acoustic version of "Plush" because it always puts his voice up front.
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u/ChiefBroChill 6h ago
He’s my personal favorite of the grunge vocalists but not because of vocal talent. His lyrics and melodies are my favorite. As far as talent goes Layne, Chris and Eddie are/were better singers even though Scott was still a great vocalist. Kind of like how Joe Satriani is a much better guitarist than David Gilmour, but I like David’s style more than Satriani.
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u/Suspicious_synth 6h ago
He played a show in Santa Barbara, Ca. the day after he got out of rehab for like the umpteenth time he stopped the show and berated the people in the front for throwing a syringe on stage. Fuck I'm old. That was 30 years ago
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u/selftaughtgenius 6h ago
Big Bang Baby doesn’t necessarily showcase his voice that well but fuck that song just gets me so riled up. It’s so fucking good.
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u/redditpossible 6h ago
Shannon Hoon and Mark Lanegan deserve their place in these conversations. I realize the OP said “grunge/rock”, so I’m including Shannon.
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u/FlynntLoch 6h ago
Completely agree and support the Shannon Hoon nomination. Along with Staley and Cornell, he rounds out my top 3.
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u/FreudianFloydian 6h ago
A lot are focused on his vocal quality but his writing, both lyrics and melodies, were absolutely up there with the best.
His melodies were better than Cornell, even though Cornell had the stronger voice overall.
His lyrics I think stand right up to AIC even though Layne was probably a more powerful vocalist. And again- melodically, Scott had them beat. AIC harmonies just are so unique and good it lifts it, but there is a lot of pretty simple melodies in AIC where Scott’s were often more complex.
Eddie is where it gets hard to pick for me.
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u/00xjOCMD 6h ago
Was lucky enough to see him live more than a handful of times, with STP and Velvet Revolver.
I loved the live version of Atlanta on the Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
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u/YerUFOGuy 6h ago
If I had to rank them all, for me, 5. Kurt, 4. Scott, 3. Eddie, 2. Layne 1. Chris
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u/alangibson 6h ago
Listen to Mark Lanegan's Bubblegum before making your choice...
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u/edgarpickle 6h ago
He had the misfortune to be the same era as some exceptional singers. He didn't have the top end that Cornell had. He didn't have the range and heart that Staley had. He didn't have as full a voice (or good looks) as Vedder had. I think he was talented, but drugs took the best of him too early and the rest of him eventually. Sad case.
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u/drossvirex 6h ago
True, but he was a exceptional song writer and stage performer. A lot of good songs and performances.
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u/MachTwang 5h ago
Weiland, hands down.
Still Remains
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u/PastaCreepy2994 5h ago
Still remains is my all time favorite STP song as well Love the lyrics, love his voice
"if you should die before me ask if you can bring a friend"
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u/emseewagz 6h ago
He's not top five for me but an absolute icon any way you shake it. Stp was massive massive
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u/akibaboy65 6h ago
I love so many but I still frequently sing Creep in the kitchen while doing dishes, changing the words to match the chore. Many songs tattooed on my brain where I’ll just be humming or singing them without thinking.
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u/BestRiver8735 6h ago
Dead and bloated.
I AMMMMMMM
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u/jumjimbo 6h ago
SMELLIN LIKE A ROSE THAT SOMEBODY GAVE ME ON MY BIRTHDAY DEATHBED
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u/veddr3434 6h ago
hes top four… vedder/cornell/cobain/weiland… my favorite song is tough. their cover of dancing days is soooo good, but Atlanta off album 4 is his best vocal performance imo.
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u/GhostPepperDaddy 6h ago
Give me Staley over Vedder everyday but I'm biased towards AiC. Hell, Jerry Cantrell has a crazy voice of his own that is super underrated as well.
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u/SocratesBalls 6h ago edited 6h ago
I would say of all the 90s grunge(ish) singers, Scott’s style evolved the most throughout his career. He started out very yahrl-y like we have Eddie Vedder at home but even by Purple he was finding “his” style and differentiating himself from the others. By Tiny Music he was incomparable with his peers and I think the band was better for it.
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u/10fingers6strings 2h ago
Staley
Cornell
Vedder
Weiland
Then…I gotta go with Shawn Smith and Lanegan before Cobain as far as singing prowess
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u/bobsmeds 1h ago edited 0m ago
All those guys were pitchy as hell Live except for Vedder
Edit: Kurt was pretty in tune as well. I don't know who Shawn Smith is lol
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u/spideyfan29 6h ago edited 6h ago
can’t bring myself to actually rank everyone, but I think it’s fair to say he’s on my Mount Rushmore
Interstate Love Song, Atlanta, or About A Fool depending on my mood
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u/Gravuerc 6h ago
He is actually one of my favorite artist of the era. I never saw a show he was headlining that disappointed me.
He had his demons but the man had talent.
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u/UDPviper 6h ago
Acoustic Plush is an all time great. I love belting out that song in my car when I'm driving.
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u/Free-Constant999 6h ago
My ranking is #2 and I absolutely adore his music. Velvet revolver, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave along with their solo endeavours showed these artists could produce bangers outside of their well established original bands.
Witnessing Scott back to back with Slash belting out Fall to pieces in a smaller club is a top experience of mine. Plush acoustic is hard to top so a few others worth mentioning are
Vasoline, wicked garden, coma, song for sleeping, the date, pills demons etc, gravedancer, illegal I song, and if I could fly.
RIP to one of the greatest
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u/InRustWeTrust 6h ago
Sour Girl is in my top 5 songs from that era. I think Layne, Cornell and Kurt are the best voices of that time and then Scott behind those 3. I understand having Eddie Vedder above Scott and Kurt but I was never crazy about Pearl Jam, they were too safe and grown up for me.
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u/Bostonterrierpug 5h ago
Was never that partial to his music back in the 90s, but I hear he was an elegant bachelor.
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u/hoopopotamus 5h ago
I didn’t connect with STP very much to be honest. They broke through after a number of other grunge bands and felt to me at the time as a bit “more of the same” and I thought Weiland was trying to follow a “grunge guy template” set by guys that broke earlier.
Though when they came out with Big Bang Baby I remember being kind of impressed it was the same guy. I might have listened more to an STP that sounded like that, and acknowledge he clearly had more range than I initially thought.
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u/Shoddy_Special_1109 5h ago
Weiland had 6 or 7 different voices at any given time. Great frontman for STP. Entertaining as hell! Miss him every day. RIP Scott.
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u/StartingToLoveIMSA 5h ago
Weiland reminds me a lot of Layne Staley….similar talents, similar destructive personalities….
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u/r0botdevil 5h ago
Agree that he's top five, also agree that "Big Empty" is probably my favorite song of his.
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u/rukh999 4h ago
If we're doing grunge and rock I have to go with Jeff buckley jr, Chris cornell, Layne Stanley, Mike Patton, Maynard Keenan (depending how you define rock) in no particular order for top 5.
Weiland and Vedder are definitely up there though. Probably Travis Warren shares a spot with those.
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u/Turbomattk 6h ago
Top 5 for sure. So glad I got to see STP in person while he was the front man. Amazing talent
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u/TotakekeSlider 6h ago
STP is my second favorite 90s band after RatM in no small part because of Weiland’s gravelly vocals.
Interstate Love Song is my favorite song with Plush and Big Empty being close behind.
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u/Soda-Popinski- 5h ago
I was never a STP fan. But its impossible not to acknowledge his talent. It was him Eddie, Cornell, Cobain and you can pretty much put them in any order.
We were lucky to be alive during that time.
Temple of the dog was too much!
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u/dogswontsniff 5h ago
Not a grunge fan art all personally, but you better be referring to #2,#3#4 because Layne was top dawg
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u/_Wrecktangular 3h ago
Cornell over Layne and for versatility Weiland over Layne. Layne has been wildly overrated by younger social media audiences. He’s still #3 overall imo but in the early 90s Layne wasn’t as overrated as he is now.
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u/AmazingRefrigerator4 6h ago
Disclaimer: I have a huge STP fan.
Disclaimer 2: STP is not and never was grunge.
But for the sake of this argument, I think only Chris Cornell was better. Chris simply has more power and range and his emotion was on par with Weiland.
Vedder, Cobain, Staley etc were the types of vocalists that fit each of their bands respectively, but they were not as technically proficient or versatile as Weiland/Cornell.
I cant say which Weiland song is my favorite because the versatility is exhibited across different songs. But ai really like the clip of him and Dean singing plush outdoors. Completely stripped down without professional recording equipment, etc and it sounds fantastic. To me, that shows an artists natural ability better than any production.
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u/writtenbyrabbits_ 6h ago
STP was my absolute favorite band of the 90s. One of my favorites of all time. Weiland is my #1
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u/Awkward-Extension218 6h ago
In terms of range & overall sound:
Chris ,
Layne,
Eddie,
Weiland,
Kurt
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u/MrsSassy81 6h ago
He is probably my favorite 90's grunge/rock singer of all time. Lady picture show is my favorite, along with Dead and Bloated.
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u/DaughterofTarot 6h ago
I never liked STP's sound despite his fantastic voice. Fall to Pieces by Velvet Revolver is my favorite song of his.
Ranking .... hmm .... I mean Cornell is #1.
I'm not sure I could choose between Scott and Kurt who I would prefer to listen too. Very different voices but with equally compelling strengths to me.
Just for insight on the tie, I'd put Layne Staley as 3 (if you tie the two above) or 4 (depends on how you look at it I guess).
For added comparison though Soundgarten, Nirvana and AiC are in my top five bands. Velvet Revolver is probably near 10 (Audioslave too) and I literally never liked STP like at all. I might have been in high school the last time I listened to them when someone rlse was playing them.
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u/im_a_stapler 6h ago
Scott was excellent. Very few give him the credit he deserves for his talents. My favorite Scott's voice song is Atlanta. Beautiful song that really demonstrates just how great his voice is. He made a Christmas album that sounds Sinatra-esque because he was that good.
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u/Impressive_Estate_87 5h ago
Right at the top. I’m not going to make comparisons, I think all those great singers in the era were unique, and the big “grunge” umbrella too generic. But he was one of the greatest. My favorite STP song is Vasoline, but for his vocals probably Creep
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u/thatguy44-4 5h ago
One of the best front men of all time. Favorite song probably Interstate love song or Dead and bloated
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u/Cominginbladey 5h ago
Great voice, meh lyrics. Top 25 but probably not top 10. I like most of the songs on Purple.
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u/Evelyn-Bankhead 5h ago
Below Vedder, Cobain, Cornell, Lanagan, Staley, Ellison, Westerberg, Mould, Black, Hersch, Dando, Ferrell, Manson, etc
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u/moderniste 5h ago
Sour Girl is my all time STP fave, though it’s more of a Beatles pastiche than a typical STP track. That incredibly catchy songwriting and his perfect, chilling vocal harmonies. Pure sugar.
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u/FrankBastard 5h ago
Interstate Love Song and Fall to Pieces always stop me in my tracks. Every time I had tickets to see him (with stp, solo, or with velvet revolver) either the show got cancelled due to him being arrested or ended early to him being too fucked up. Hell of a ride and would have loved to see what he could have done.
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u/Thimbane 5h ago
Kitchenware & Candybars; all killer no filler album with this straight assassination at the end. Truly the grunge Seattle scene was right to be afraid.
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u/HolidayCards 5h ago
I wont go into ranking my favorite singers because there are too many good ones and it is a demeaning process. Saw STP I think 3 times, always enjoyed them. Purple and Tiny Music era I think was the absolute peak, but many many great hours spent listening.
The acoustic version of Plush for the radio was really great, at least as a personal favorite.
Their cover of Led Zepp's Dancing Days got me into Zeppelin. In fact the whole Encomium album was amazing.
And the effing solo for Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart might be my favorite solo of all time.
Great band live, there are so many I wish I had seen also but I feel pretty lucky I got to catch them a few times.
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u/jax362 5h ago
I see a lot of dudes on this list. Since this is for the 90's as a whole, how about some love for the ladies!?
Dolores O'Riordan, PJ Harvey, Shirley Manson to name a few.
For Scott, my favorite vocal performance of his is STP - Atlanta, and my favorite song that he sings is Velvet Revolver - Slither.
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u/jchrisboynton 5h ago
Top 10 of the nineties for sure. STP was a great band and his voice was a huge part. His continuation in Velvet Revolver showed his is staying ability. Slither is still one of my favorite songs.
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u/leadfoot_mf 5h ago
I remember seeing stp on the beach in San Diego and people kept throwing their flip flops at him lol he. got mad and left the stage but the rest of the band stayed and kept playing. He comes and tells people to stop throwing shit at him or he won't come back. Crowd didn't stop whole band left. I think it was a free concert but I can't remember.
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u/urnialbologna 4h ago
Definitely in my top 5 as well! Probably number 1 depending on the day. Some of my favorites are fall to pieces, sucker train blues, if I could fly, wicked garden, sex type thing, and probably more that I'm too lazy to look up lol.
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u/DeepThoughts-umm-no 4h ago
Cornell, Weiland, Vedder, Staley for my money but hard to go wrong here
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u/girlfriendclothes 4h ago
I think if you look at it from a strictly technical standpoint, there are arguments to be made for someone like Chris Cornell or Layne Staley as the best.
I'm not a technical dude. I rank Weiland number one. He's got a nice variety to his voice and it fits every type of music he attempted. I love the natural rock & roll swagger his voice exudes. He was truly special.
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u/yousyveshughs 4h ago
Well he wasn’t a part of the “grunge” scene, but he was one of the best frontmen of the 90s/00s. Sad we lost him but very happy with what we got from him. All in the suit that you wear is a favourite of mine. Lady Picture show as well.
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u/Indaflow 4h ago
Nirvana Pearl Jam Alice In Chains Soundgarden Stone Temple Pilots Smashing Pumpkins
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u/underengineered 6h ago
Weiland doesnt get enough credit for his pretty prolific career. STP, his solo albums, Velvet Revolver... he put out a lot of albums.