In the Studio: Scott Weiland Disc May "Turn Off STP Fans"

After a tumultuous five-year stint in Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland finally gets to let loose on his new solo album. "There's no rules," he says. "I don't have to worry about radio playing it." He also doesn't have to worry about the approval of Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum — which has given him the room to craft a two-disc album about his volatile relationship with his wife, Mary. In 2001, he was arrested for domestic violence, and in 2007, she was arrested for torching $10,000 worth of his clothing — just hours after the two were kicked out of a hotel for brawling in a room. "I liken it to [Marvin Gaye's] 'I Met a Little Girl,' " Weiland says. "It chronicles our life."

Weiland has been working on the project in spurts over the past decade with his longtime creative partner, Doug Grean, who co-wrote and produced the album. The guys from No Doubt co-wrote the power-pop cut "Paralysis," which is the possible first single. "Missing Cleveland" is a nostalgic look at Weiland's hometown, set to Bowie-style glam rock. Other tunes range from banjo-laced country rock ("She's So Cold") to neo-Beach Boys pop ("Somedays").

"It may turn off some STP fans," he says of the CD. "That's just the way it is. At my age, I just do what I wanna do. There's art and there's commerce, and I've already accomplished the commerce part of my career."

[From Issue 1063 — October 16, 2008]

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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