Review: Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts – Blaster

If you are anything like me, somehow you are always rooting for Scott Weiland. The former Stone Temple Pilots front man has lived the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts new album, Blaster, is coming out March 31st. I was given the opportunity to hear the entire album and it provides for some interesting twists and turns.

Here’s the track list:
“Modzilla”
“Way She Moves”
“Hotel Rio”
“Amethyst”
“White Lightning”
“Blue Eyes”
“Bleed Out”
“Youth Quake”
“Beach Pop”
“Parachute”
“20th Century Boy”
“Circles”

Here’s the leadoff track “Modzilla”:

I felt like this was a bit of a throwback with a generally 90’s feel, perhaps targeting STP fans. Not a bad song but not great. Always nice to hear some driving guitars but little in the way of new.

“Way She Moves” starts off really nicely and should have been the best track on the album and possibly a big hit. Interesting vibe and some great vocal work. Unfortunately the mood changes about three quarters of the way through with some hopelessly unnecessary guitar solos that absolutely destroy the mood. It feels like they ran out of ideas on how to finish the song. This could have been brilliant.

“Hotel Rio”: Some decent vocal work is thwarted by rather standard music and a complete lack of anything to connect with.

“Beach Pop” is a vain attempt at a Beach Boys number. I found it rather disturbing and Scott’s voice does not lend itself well here. Other than a bit of enjoyable drumming there isn’t much else to say.

“20th Century Boy” is a remake of the T-Rex classic. Again, this comes as nothing new. I cringed a bit at the opening. Never a good sign.

“Circles” is a quiet, ballady track with a bit of that country sensibility. From my view this IS the best track on the album and a lovely close. Nothing extra, simple, sweet.

Scott described the album in Rolling Stone as “furry”. I have no idea what that means and that is exactly what this album is to me. Lost. No direction. Some potential and one pretty good track. The lack of focus, something that one might attribute to Weiland, is everywhere on the album. I wonder if STP and Weiland fans will feel the same way. I wanted so much for this to work. I was left bitterly disappointed.