Stone Temple Pilots Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop CD

"Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

On their third album, Stone Temple Pilots distance themselves from the grunge movement that was their springboard into the multi-platinum neighborhood. From the onset, TINY MUSIC... finds the group dabbling with their sound; "Press Play," a one-minute instrumental rides a slinky funk groove, juiced along by returning producer Brendan O'Brien on Fender Rhodes piano. From here, the DeLeo brothers and drummer Eric Kretz show a willingness to musically experiment with Beatlesque songs ("Lady Picture Show"), a Leon Redbone-like instrumental replete with slack-guitar phrasings ("Daisy") and a loung-ey track that lulls the listener with liberal applications of vibraphone and harpsichord ("And So I Know").

Lyrically, Weiland continues to enigmatically allude to matters of personal importance--whether it be the price of fame in "Adhesive," featuring a muted trumpet solo by Dave Ferguson that conveys the song's somber tone, or the shallowness of a fictional girlfriend in "Art School Girl." As a whole, TINY LIGHTS... gives Stone Temple Pilots the chance to shrug off the grunge mantle that many others continue to cling to.

Recorded at Westerly Ranch, Santa Ynez, California and Hollywood Sound, Los Angeles, California.

Engineers: Nick DiDia, Chris Goss, Tracy Chisholm.

Personnel: Scott Miller (vocals, percussion); Scott Weiland (vocals); Robert DeLeo (guitar, electric harpsichord, vibraphone, 6-string bass, hand claps, percussion, background vocals); Dean DeLeo (guitar, 6-string bass, hand claps); Dave Ferguson (trumpet); Brendan O'Brien (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, organ, tambourine, hand claps, percussion); Eric Kretz (Fender Rhodes piano, drums, percussion); Gena Maria Rankin, Steve Stewart (hand claps).

Recording information: Hollywood Sound, Los Angeles, CA; Westerly Ranch, Santa Ynez, CA.

Editor: Ron Boustead.

Photographers: John Eder; Alison Dyer; Nick DiDia; Stone Temple Pilots.

Stone Temple Pilots: Scott Weiland (vocals, percussion); Robert DeLeo (guitar, electric harpsichord, vibraphone, bass, 6-string bass, handclaps, percussion, background vocals); Dean DeLeo (guitar, bass, 6-string bass, handclaps); Eric Kretz (Fender Rhodes piano, drums, handclaps, percussion).

Additional personnel: Dave Ferguson (trumpet); Brendan O'Brien (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, tambourine, handclaps, percussion); Steve Stewart, Gena Rankin (handclaps).

Rolling Stone (5/2/96, p.51) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...their best and most grunge-free album to date...a little poppy, a little groovy and ultracatchy..."