40

Plush
Stone Temple Pilots
1992

Stone Temple Pilots were always kinda the red headed stepchild of the grunge era.  Definitely not on the level of Nirvana and Pearl Jam.  Didn’t have an absolute superstar like Chris Cornell.  And they may even have been less popular than Alice In Chains (gross - that band is gross).  But they were very, very good nonetheless.  And Purple, their second studio album from 1994, is right up there as one of the best albums of the era.

This track, from the debut album Core, is an all timer.  Scott Weiland’s vocals are incredible, and the guitar riffs are great.  This is easily one of the best songs of the ‘90s, and honestly it’s one of the greatest rock songs of all time.  Still sounds great, all these 31 years (!) later.  And these days I actually prefer this acoustic version, from MTV’s Headbangers Ball.  “This is a song called Plush,” Scott tells us and as I’ve said many times, the acoustic versions of songs are where we separate the men from the boys and we see true musicianship on display.

I don’t really have a great story behind this one.  It’s always just kind of been part of the fabric of my life!  So sad that we’ve lost so many of our grunge frontmen over the years.  Keep Eddie in bubble wrap!!

Other Songs Considered:
Interstate Love Song, Big Empty, Big Bang Baby