Blaster (Scott Weiland Album)

''Blaster'' is the only studio album by American rock band Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts, as well as Weiland's final album to be recorded and released during his lifetime. The album was released on March 31, 2015, by Softdrive Records.

Background

In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' ahead of the album's release, Scott Weiland compared the excitement he felt during the making of ''Blaster'' with his emotions during the early days of Stone Temple Pilots:

Guitarist Jeremy Brown died one day prior to the album's release on March 30, 2015. During the tour to support the album, Weiland was found dead on the band's tour bus on December 3, 2015.

Reception

''Blaster'' received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 57, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 7 reviews. Dan Bogosian of ''Consequence'' said, "Scott Weiland spent so much time as a one-trick pony. Even in his softest work with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, his tunes could be best described as “guitar-heavy” and “furry.” ''Blaster'' is no different, though he has gone more glam than before. By the standards of the Weiland of old, ''Blaster'' falls softly short; its best flavors come from the handful of new touches." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "With such a familiar palette, details matter and the aptly titled ''Blaster'' lacks in subtlety. Much of it churns at crackling digital overdrive, sounding brutal, loud, and ugly, but beneath that gnarled surface, Weiland can still deliver the kind of candied hooks that keep him firmly situated as a guilty pleasure. Usually, these hooks grab hold on the lightest songs: the snaky sway of "Way She Moves," the icy new romanticism of "Youth Quake," and, especially, "Beach Pop," a piece of sticky AM bubblegum pop that earns its handclaps." Kory Grow of ''Rolling Stone'' said, "With Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland was one of grunge's greatest singers, crooning and growling in equal measure. His husky howls were also one of the super-ingredients in Velvet Revolver. But on most of ''Blaster'', Weiland's first all-new solo album since 2008, he suffers from a bad case of Generic Rock Voice, firing off gravelly clichés like, "In the nick of time/I was taken by surprise by this girl of mine" ("Amethyst")."

Track listing

Personnel

* Scott Weiland – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
* Jeremy Brown – lead guitar
* Tommy Black – bass, backing vocals
* Danny Thompson – drums
* Mike Avenaim - drums (tracks 1, 4, 6, 8)
* James Iha - rhythm guitar (track 6)

Charts

References

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2015 albums
Scott Weiland albums
Softdrive Records albums