Album Review: Blaster by Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts

For all his success, there’s always been something a little anonymous about Scott Weiland, as evidenced by his beginnings with grunge/alt. rockers Stone Temple Pilots and latter-day work with the Guns N’ Roses-pedigreed Velvet Revolver. Following on from the latter, Weiland has continued to produce work that’s neither “classic” stadium fodder nor more thoughtful alt.rock, but something that’s unsatisfyingly neither and both.

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Scott Weiland spent so much time as a one-trick pony. Even in his softest work with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, his tunes could be best described as “guitar-heavy” and “furry.” Blaster is no different, though he has gone more glam than before. By the standards of the Weiland of old, Blaster falls softly short; its best flavors come from the handful of new touches.

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With Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland was one of grunge's greatest singers, crooning and growling in equal measure. His husky howls were also one of the super-ingredients in Velvet Revolver. But on most of Blaster, Weiland's first all-new solo album since 2008, he suffers from a bad case of Generic Rock Voice, firing off gravelly clichés like, "In the nick of time/I was taken by surprise by this girl of mine" ("Amethyst").

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Emerging from a seven-year semi-hiatus -- one broken for the release of Christmas and covers albums, plus a flirtation with playing in a band called Art of Anarchy with Bumblefoot -- Scott Weiland returns to action with Blaster, the first record he's cut with a new backing band called the Wildabouts. The supporting cast may be new but the sounds remain the same: he's still enamored of the heavy metal, glam, and psychedelia that have formed his signature since the glory days of Stone Temple Pilots. With such a familiar palette, details matter and the aptly titled Blaster lacks in subtlety.

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Scott Weiland has been through the mill —marital troubles, drug rehabs, breakups with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver — but he’s back with a low-key and surprisingly decent album featuring his new band. The Wildabouts aren’t particularly wild, but they’re dedicated disciples of ’70s rock: the theme of this virtual homage LP, which opens with the hard-rock grind of “Modzilla,” an effective play on Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla. ” The crunching “Bleed Out” has riff-heavy, Aerosmith-style hooks; “Beach Pop” echoes David Bowie, and the arena-rocking “White Lightning” could be a Peter Frampton tune.

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