THE ROAD TO PERDIDA
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS built their sound and legend as a hard rock band, cranking out electric guitar–dominated tracks like “Interstate Love Song,” “Plush” and “Vasoline,” to name a few of their many chart-topping hits. So it might come as a surprise to learn that the San Diego rockers have cut an acoustic record. Perdida (Rhino) is a true band effort featuring lyrical songs that are not only performed largely with acoustic instruments but also adorned with acoustic flourishes and a handful of colorful electric elements, including guitar solos. But as guitarist Dean DeLeo explains, the album came to life the way most of STP’s records have since they cut their first, Core, in 1992.
“I started out on acoustic guitar,” DeLeo explains, “and the larger portion of our songs have originated on an acoustic. The difference is Perdida remained that way. Every song on this record has a solid acoustic foundation.”
Dean handles the lion’s share of the guitar work, although his brother, bassist Robert DeLeo, plays guitar on the tracks he is Gutt’s second outing as a Pilot. He was hired by the group after he garnered national attention on season three of . He ably fills out the frontman spot once held by co-founding vocalist Scott Weiland and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, who briefly replaced Weiland after he was fired by the group. Both singers eventually died tragically, Weiland in 2015 and Bennington in 2017.
