“Huckleberry Crumble” and “Hickory Dichotomy” are an enjoyable update on early Aerosmith, “Take A Load Off” and “Fast As I Can” are solid rock songs, and “Hazy Daze” sounds a bit like a Velvet Revolver leftover. Much of the album is simply guitar-heavy pop rock tunes without the ballads of the previous album. The hit single here was “Between The Lines,” which kicks the disc off with a solid hard rock punch and lyrics about someone who used to take drugs (Weiland swore he was writing in the third person, but nobody believes him). 4, although there is no surefire single like “Sour Girl” to break up the flow. In short, those expecting a return to Purple will not get it. Stone Temple Pilots has the same sound – pop psychedelia with a hard rock edge – that is now their unique signature. STP faded away after 2001’s Shangri-La Dee Da, a solid disc that was overlooked at the time, so it only makes sense that they would sonically pick up where they left off. Following the dissolution of corporate supergroup Velvet Revolver, singer Scott Weiland and the assorted pieces of Stone Temple Pilots figured, hey, let’s get back together and see what happens. The last five years have seen a wealth of attempted comebacks by bands that were popular mainly in the ‘90s, most of which have gone unnoticed (Alice In Chains’ 2009 effort Black Gives Way To Blue being a notable exception).