Stone Temple Pilots: Scott Weiland (vocals, guitar, percussion); Dean DeLeo (electric & acoustic guitar, percussion, drums); Robert DeLeo (bass, guitar, percussion); Eric Kretz (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Paul Leary (guitar); Brendan O'Brien (percussion, guitar, mellotron).
Recorded at Southern Tracks, The Record Plant, Paisley Park and Harptone Studios between May 1993 and March 1994.
PURPLE includes "12 Gracious Melodies," an uncredited hidden track at the end of the record.
Stone Temple Pilots' second album, PURPLE, meshes guitar rock with grunge, and forges deeper into hard rock territory. Lurching out of the speakers with aggressive bottom-heavy rock, PURPLE is an example of what brought guitar-oriented rock back into the spotlight in the nineties. The 5 songs are driving, stripped to the basics of guitar, bass, and drums. PURPLE exemplifies straight ahead rock.
Embracing styles from grunge to late-1960s hard rock, Stone Temple Pilots are a band accomplished at writing abrasive rock songs, but aren't afraid of quieter acoustic melodies. The album starts with the menacing "Meat Plow," with the lyrics, "Fine place for a day full of breakdowns," leaving the listener to wonder if PURPLE is an analogy to a bruise. But as the bruise begins to fade, so does STP's over-wrought aggression. "Interstate Love Song" shows their sensitive side both lyrically and musically, and Scott Weiland's vocals are pushed beyond his hard rock growl into a near-sensitive croon.
What makes Stone Temple Pilots click is their ability to write basic, riff-heavy guitar rock. PURPLE finds Stone Temple Pilots comfortable in their hard-rock medium, but also willing to take the chance on their softer side.