Purple (1994)

Purple (stylized on the cover art in its Chinese character 紫) is the second studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on June 7, 1994, by Atlantic Records. Expanding on the band's grunge roots, the album incorporates more genres, such as psychedelic rock, blues rock, and country. The band started work on the album while touring for their debut, Core (1992). The song "Big Empty" was recorded on May 25, 1993 and appeared in the 1994 film The Crow, while the rest of the album was recorded in March 1994.

Purple was a major commercial success, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200, and remaining at the top of the chart for three weeks, with 252,000 copies sold in its first week. The album spawned a number of successful singles; "Vasoline" and "Interstate Love Song" both topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached number 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, while "Big Empty" also reached the top ten on both charts. Lesser-known album cuts "Pretty Penny" and "Unglued" were released as promotional singles to success on rock charts.

While receiving mixed-to-negative reviews on release, Purple is retrospectively seen as one of the best albums of the 1990s, with Ultimate Classic Rock declaring it a "psychedelic grunge opus." The album has since been certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2019, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, a Super Deluxe Edition with remasters, demos and live performances was released. A summer tour to celebrate the album's 30th anniversary started on August 16, 2024, and ended on September 15, with the band performing the entire album each night.

Recording

The recording of Purple began in the wake of Stone Temple Pilots' extensive touring behind their 1992 debut album, Core. Material for the follow-up had already started to take shape while the band was still on the road. On May 25, 1993, the band recorded "Big Empty" for the 1994 film The Crow at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. On July 12 they recorded "Lounge Fly" at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen with the producer Brendan O'Brien. Following a short break after touring, the band reconvened in Los Angeles in early 1994, spending time in a rehearsal space where they worked out song structures and arrangements. After this period of preparation, they traveled to Atlanta for pre-production with O'Brien. Recording began shortly afterward at Southern Tracks Recording Studio, located on the outskirts of the city.

According to Blender, upon arriving in Atlanta, the singer, Scott Weiland's first priority was finding a drug dealer. At this stage, his drug use did not affect his performances, but it contributed to a growing distance between him and the other members. "It was creatively the best experience we could have had... but on a communication level, it wasn't the greatest," Weiland later said, adding that "the camaraderie wasn't there the way it had been on the first record". Despite this, the sessions were marked by efficiency and a fast pace. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in approximately three and a half weeks during March 1994, with basic tracking completed in the first ten days and mixing taking an additional five. The band entered the studio with the material well-rehearsed and used a process that involved tracking with a public address system to simulate a live environment. This method was encouraged by O'Brien, who aimed to capture performances quickly and with minimal second-guessing. The recording environment was relatively informal. The band stayed near the studio to avoid travel delays, and downtime often included recreational activities like basketball and wiffle ball in the parking lot. These breaks served as a way to decompress between sessions.

In at least one case, the band moved outside the formal studio setting to record. For "Pretty Penny", O'Brien arranged for them to record at Harptone Studios using a two-inch eight-track tape machine. The informal space made the group feel at ease, especially after their MTV Unplugged performance. The session took place in a living room, where the band recorded the track live with minimal overdubs in a short time. As the drummer Eric Kretz put it, "And that's how that song should be, and this is where Brendan shines extra bright with his ideas." During the main sessions, Weiland often joined after the instrumental work had been completed. He recorded his vocals in the evenings, after the rest of the band had finished their parts for the day. O'Brien handled these vocal sessions with Weiland separately from the group's daytime tracking. Despite this split schedule, Weiland completed all of his vocals in just one week.