STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Vinilo y CD

Review: Stone Temple Pilots' 1996 pivot from grunge scaffolding to something stranger and shinier comes remastered on Mobile Fidelity's hybrid SACD; a hi-res edition cut from the original tapes. Recorded in a sprawling Californian ranch-turned-studio, the band ditched the confines of alt-rock purity for glam-flecked guitar pop, stoned psychedelia, garage crunch and warped lounge. It confused critics at the time, but Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop has grown into its reputation, helped along by a vocal performance from Scott Weiland that drifts between smeared and swaggering, ragged and weirdly precise. Brendan O'Brien's production brims with odd textures and giddy detours, as 'Big Bang Baby' borrows from 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', while 'Lady Picture Show' veers into brittle melancholy. A record that made fun of the rules while rewriting them.