A music podcast where we discuss our favorite albums, song by song. New episodes every other Tuesday.

176: Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop (1996)

“The critics thought they had us completely figured out. They thought we were a one-trick pony. So when we went back into the studio, we thought, 'Oh yeah? Watch this.' We let all our freak flags fly. The negativity pushed us to be a much better, more eclectic band."

–Scott Weiland

In late 1995, Stone Temple Pilots were one of the most popular bands in the United States, but they were still widely disliked by critics. The band responded with Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop, where they forged their own unique identity and branched out to try a bunch of styles far from the ‘90s grunge music they had long been associated with. Phil has been fascinated by this record for a long time and is thrilled to share his appreciation with Rich and Dan.

Miscellany

This episode contains no explicit language, so the explicit tag is turned off, but be advised that Scott Weiland’s lyrics contain references to self-harm, sexual assault, and especially substance abuse, which is the specter that hangs over this entire album.
“Post-grunge” specifically refers to bands like Candlebox, Bush, Silverchair, and Collective Soul who were popular in the mid- to late ‘90s in the wake of the grunge movement, while Drive Like Jehu is more broadly categorized in the “post-hardcore” genre.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

Phil Maddox (host)
Rich Bunnell (moderator)
Dan Watkins

Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop tracklist

Press Play
Pop’s Love Suicide
Tumble in the Rough
Big Bang Baby
Lady Picture Show
And So I Know
Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Art School Girl
Adhesive
Ride the Cliché
Daisy
Seven Caged Tigers

Other clips used

Stone Temple Pilots:

Creep
Interstate Love Song
Plush
Vasoline
Sour Girl
Pretty Penny
Dancing Days
Seven Caged Tigers (live on Howard Stern)
Unglued
Wicked Garden
Atlanta
Press Play (Full Length Version)

Others:

Spinal Tap - Cups and Cakes
Bad Company - Holy Water
Yes - And You and I
Gil Scott-Heron - Home Is Where the Hatred Is
Faith No More - A Small Victory
UB40 - Red Red Wine
Dio - Sacred Heart
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Phish - NICU (04/02/98)
King Crimson - The Great Deceiver
Duran Duran - Lonely in Your Nightmare
Duran Duran - Notorious
Train - Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
Guided by Voices - Everywhere with Helicopter
The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
David Bowie - Station to Station
The Beatles - You Never Give Me Your Money
Supergrass - Mansize Rooster
Led Zeppelin - Dancing Days
Led Zeppelin - Tea for One
Elton John - Tiny Dancer
Pavement - Range Life

Band/album personnel

Scott Weiland – lead vocals, percussion (1)
Dean DeLeo – guitar, bass (1, 4)
Robert DeLeo – bass, guitar (1, 6, 11), vibraphone (6), electric harpsichord (6), percussion (6)
Eric Kretz – drums, percussion (2, 5, 6, 8)
Brendan O'Brien – producer, mixing, piano (1, 4), percussion (2, 5, 6, 12), organ (8), clavinet (8)
Dave Ferguson – trumpet (9)
Nick DiDia – recording engineer
Caram Costanzo – 2nd engineer
Chris Goss – vocal engineer
Tracy Chisholm – vocal engineer
Stephen Marcussen – mastering

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Stone Temple Pilots - Press Play (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop and other albums by Stone Temple Pilots at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.