Tiny Music... Reissue?!

[Rik]

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKO8Qzqn9H1/

John Eder, nineties STP photographer, posted the following on his Instagram, bas
ically confirming that Rhino is working on a Tiny Music reissue:

johnederphoto
I was looking through my archive of pics of Stone Temple Pilots the other day, as their Tiny Music album, for which I did the cover, is being reissued, and the label has asked me for material to review for the package. This is a poster the band commissioned shortly after their initial success w their debut album. It was their idea, and was one of the first things I ever did in Photoshop. It won an award in a competition in which one of the judges was Graham Nash, who said it spoke to his own experiences as a rock star. A fun project, STP were great to work with/for.

[kazuality]

 I am so happy if this is coming, i think there so material of tiny music sesions 

Great news!

[IMJ]

I am so happy too. In some ways it's so ridiculous to think that the band won't do this with their entire catalog, but let's face it - the history of doing anything as fan service is so spotty that I suppose it was a valid concern as to whether or not these would continue after Core.

And I know it's a long way off, but my God a remaster of No. 4 is now sort of on the horizon. I know we are talking Tiny Music, but you guys know I've just got to get the No. 4 thing out there - lol!

Tiny Music was the first album that began the sort of "muffled" mix to the STP catalog. To newer listeners it might sound like a clearly mixed and recorded album, but as someone who was there I can say that Core and Purple were mixed with that "80's clarity of sound" and I remember when I popped in Tiny Music you could tell right away that the production had shifted - either it was an artifact of the beginning of the "loudness war" or they did that "towel of the mics" thing for effect.

But whatever the reason I want to hear a Tiny Music and a No. 4 that sounds as clear as... don't laugh... a Technotronic or Bobby Brown album. LOL! Someone could maybe argue that 'this is a rock album and the grungy effect, bla bla bla". but I'd simply say let the music do the talking without any additional mixing thesis behind it.

Get rid of the towel in the mix. Get rid of the loudness enhancement in the mix. Fix Tiny Music and No. 4 so that it matches the mix quality of Core. Anyone who cares about "the artistic grunginess" can go back and listen to the original mixes which will always be there.

Sorry if this sounds like a soapbox - but rather it's an honest appeal from a "forever fan". Of course I'm super jazzed about the possibility of unheard material, but in the case of Tiny Music and No. 4 the remaster is going to be a bigger element of appeal than was Core or Purple.

[Rik]

Those reissue things only happen if the label sees $$ on the horizon. I have no idea how many units Core and Purple deluxe sets sold, but I can imagine Tiny Music shipping a little less as a deluxe re-release. If it doesn't meet the Rhino standard, they may not continue with No. 4 and SLDD, even if the band would like to put it out. I know there's more finished or semi-finished unreleased material from 1999-2002 than from 1995-1996.

I really wonder what they will pack this with. Obvious remastered first disc, maybe some live versions from the two short tours in '96/'97, or acoustic versions from radio shows.

Then there may be an early version of Atlanta if we're lucky, that song was supposedly written and recorded at the end / during mixing of the TM sessions. And Scott spoke of 'Barbarella' as a track for the then-upcoming record in early 1996 in a magazine interview. Dean has told me that Barbarella was never an STP thing and that that info from the magazine is false or Scott got stuff mixed up. I'm sure there are demos or early versions of the songs that made the cut, so those should be interesting to hear.

But as far as I know, there isn't much in terms of unreleased songs. They didn't include 2 instrumentals on the album just for artistic purposes. Those 10 songs with vocals was what Scott could deliver at the time, I believe. All stuff they worked into full songs were either recorded by Scott for Tiny Music, used for Talk Show or made their way in some shape or form onto later albums. I'm sure they had tons of ideas and riffs that weren't fully fleshed out in demo form. Maybe they could include some cool instrumental demos from that era that they're not keeping up their sleeve for future releases. I believe Saturday was written in '97 during Talk Show and later used as Glide. It's not a song from '95 or '96.

They also recorded all their shows from those tours if I'm not mistaken, but I don't think any of those recordings have ever been mixed or mastered for release -- ready-to-go stuff like that (New Haven, 1994) seems to be what these releases gravitate towards.

What I am really hoping for is a BluRay (but we'll probably get a DVD, IF video is included) with that documentary footage they recorded at the ranch. Some full tracks from the MTV News reports footage that I used to cut together the Adhesive remix video a while back. And maybe alternate audio mixes like that extended trumpet solo. They released that in the multitracks, possibly on purpose, maybe by accident.

I'm not a fan of remasters myself. I haven't found that the ones for Core or Purple really made me appreciate the music more than the original releases. For me, they are classics and don't need any change. Just like no one would remaster the Mona Lisa and expect it to be equal to or better than the original. So I hope that the inevitable remaster of Tiny Music is something that will let me experience something new with that record.

[ComicJohnPowers]

I am going to suggest that we all put this on our birthday, Christmas, or random "I really need this" list... to show our support and keep them coming.

My wife got me Core, and Purple. It makes her happy to see me excited to open something for a change. She even took a picture of this 38-year old guy holding up a vinyl sleeve like a 5-year old on Christmas morning.

Whatever they can find to include would be great. I plan to keep supporting these and paying whatever for the Super Deluxe versions regardless.

... and yes, Tiny Music happens to be my favorite album, but I will happily support all of the rest until the entire catalogue has been given the Super Deluxe treatment they deserve.

[stontemplpilot]

Aside from the obvious remastered album, probably some demos, my biggest hope for any STP release is eventually to have a quality full* live show on Blu-Ray from anywhere in the 1994-2002 era(extra emphasis on 96-02 era).

I would also assume for a Tiny Music deluxe release we will get a full live audio show from 96-97, which would be cool because they were playing a great setlist in those days.  I doubt we will get anything by way of any unreleased original STP music, but there is always the chance of an unreleased cover that they recorded around that time that may exist(ie She Knows Me Well on the Purple deluxe).

In regards to possible future releases beyond Tiny, No. 4 could definitely benefit from a remaster, SLDD sounds pretty good to me. I am sure both of those albums would have the most "extras", live content, potential blu ray shows, SLDD documentary, etc. to offer.  I'm not holding my breath for those 2 to get deluxe releases, but it would be great if they did.  I personally have no interest in any deluxe reissues beyond SLDD unless it was a VR or AoA album.

[Blue]

Glad to hear they are following through with their plans here. I know Rob specifically said he had gathered archival material to do reissues of the first three records back when they did the Core reissue. The big question mark is if they'll try to do this with No. 4 and SLDD...

As far as content, I don't imagine it would be more in depth than the previous two, so I wouldn't get me hopes up over getting any footage. My guess is a set like Purple got:

(my guess)
Disc 1: Original album remastered
Disc 2: Demoes plus acoustic performances from Howard Stern
Disc 3 & 4: Either the Madison Square Garden show or the San Jose show split over 2 CDs.

They also recorded all their shows from those tours if I'm not mistaken, but I don't think any of those recordings have ever been mixed or mastered for release -- ready-to-go stuff like that (New Haven, 1994) seems to be what these releases gravitate towards.

If I recall correctly, the Castaic Lake show on the Core set *wasn't* previously mixed and they had it mixed specifically for the set. So it's possible they could mix an show specifically for this set, especially considering that Robert had all this material gathered 5 years ago.

[Pingfah]

I think there's a good chance they will continue. They reissue everything under the sun these days, and No.4 and SLDD have never had a proper vinyl release, barring the MOV releases which were not remasters and sound no better than the CDs to me.

I'm no expert but if No.4 just sounds bad because they tried to make it louder at the mastering stage, could it be cheaply fixed? It's not like it would need remixing necessarily. I'm sure Brendan did his usual class job with the production job, and it was fucked up after it left his hands.

[IMJ]

Then there may be an early version of Atlanta if we're lucky, that song was supposedly written and recorded at the end / during mixing of the TM sessions.

I would be weirded out to hear that on a Tiny Music compilation instead of a No. 4 re-issue.....

They also recorded all their shows from those tours if I'm not mistaken, but I don't think any of those recordings have ever been mixed or mastered for release -- ready-to-go stuff like that (New Haven, 1994) seems to be what these releases gravitate towards.

STP's camp could've taken a nod from the Pearl Jam way of releasing material there.  I know that Pearl Jam has that sort of modified, weird, off-shoot fanbase that is similar to the Phish or the Dave Matthews band that they can release entire catalogs of live concerts to. STP doesn't have that culture but they could've sold live concert releases maybe through a subscription service or something.

I'm not a fan of remasters myself. I haven't found that the ones for Core or Purple really made me appreciate the music more than the original releases. For me, they are classics and don't need any change.

And I appreciate this point. Listening to Core and Purple remastered for any sort of listening-epiphany-experience is pointless. But I think the main reasons for remastering on these sets was to get a great sound out of the vinyl moreso than the new CD.

But on the other hand, Tiny Music and No. 4 are the perfect excuses for a remaster. I mean - for the other long-time-fans here - does anyone else have the memory that you could follow a distinct reduction in fidelity or clearness across the STP catalog with each release that peaked with No. 4?  Tiny Music and No. 4 could both come out of this sounding like absolute gems if they transform those into cleaner sounding albums more akin to the production on Core.

A band can sound "artsy" in interviews when they say "well we did this and that to capture that sort of 1970's crunchy rock sound with this and that amplifier and mic" but all of that artsy shit is meaningless if your album basically sounds like shit.  You've got a band like Korn spending record amounts of money on production that does nothing for their catalog, but STP recorded albums "with towels over their mics" (I'm just trying to express a description of the sound by saying that).  Now by contrast - keep this in mind but now go back and listen to "Hazy Daze" on STP. That is a track that had that 70's fuzz to it yet was recorded and released with great fidelity and clarity whereby the "artstyness" of the 70's fuzz not only didn't suffer, but translated very well into a clear, modern recording. Another track where it works is "Ride The Cliche" - I wouldn't change much about the way that one was presented because the fuzz that follows Weiland's vocals sort of serves the song. If anything, if they were going to work on that one I'd change it completely and go for complete and utter "in the room high-fi" clarity to see what happens to the song.

They reissue everything under the sun these days, and No.4 and SLDD have never had a proper vinyl release, barring the MOV releases which were not remasters and sound no better than the CDs to me.

They don't.  Actually in most cases the whole "vinyl sounds better" thing is a bit of a snob-myth. Not always, but in most cases CD's actually sound better. The only format that I've truly experienced a regular significant enhancement of quality with was DVD-Audio which now has become stuff like "HD Tracks"....

I'm no expert but if No.4 just sounds bad because they tried to make it louder at the mastering stage, could it be cheaply fixed? It's not like it would need remixing necessarily.

I mean.... I don't know. No. 4 is a mess of shit sound quality. Even "Sour Girl" - the most pop-oriented song on the album - sounds like a 1930's record when you compare it to anything on STP [2010] - an album some people here don't like, but from a sound quality and production angle sounds pretty damn good compared to the other middle-releases from the catalog. 

I think No. 4 got hit by loudness enhancement but something else was going on there when all of the layering sounds like the components to a track are competing with each other - for example you hear more tinniness from cymbal resonance than drum beat.  I'm no expert either - I'm just trying to find the combination of words to describe what I've been listening to now for 30 years.

[Blue]

STP's camp could've taken a nod from the Pearl Jam way of releasing material there.  I know that Pearl Jam has that sort of modified, weird, off-shoot fanbase that is similar to the Phish or the Dave Matthews band that they can release entire catalogs of live concerts to. STP doesn't have that culture but they could've sold live concert releases maybe through a subscription service or something.

Last year STP actually added a half-dozen post reunion shows to Nugs.net (the exact same website that handles PJ and DMB's live releases.) It's really disappointing they didn't continue, even if it was just post-reunion shows there's still a lot of fun setlists they had through the years.

[Long Way Home]

This is exciting. Would be cool if they did a live stream of Tiny Music in support of this.

Hopefully they make it through to No. 4 and SLDD.

[andrew]

This is good news!!! Probably the most interesting period in STPland, there's bound to be some demos worth hearing in the archives. Talk Show tracks with scratch Scott vocals or something....

Not much I've been looking forward to musically this year so I'm pretty excited.

[Blue]

This is good news!!! Probably the most interesting period in STPland, there's bound to be some demos worth hearing in the archives. Talk Show tracks with scratch Scott vocals or something....

Doubtful. The band had already been working with Coutts and already had demos for that project before going in to record Tiny Music. I remember a story where without thinking Dean started playing Peeling an Orange during a rehearsal with Scott, and Rob started staring daggers at him since they didn't want Scott to know about Talk Show yet.

Anyway, the story goes that eventually they had to break it to him that they were starting another band, so Rob took Scott out to a car outside the house they were recording at and played the Talk Show demo tape for him.

[Pingfah]

Shame though. Peeling An Orange has some of the most creative chord structures Dean has written, one can only imagine what Scott would have done with that given the chance.

[Blue]

Shame though. Peeling An Orange has some of the most creative chord structures Dean has written, one can only imagine what Scott would have done with that given the chance.

I think you may be overestimating Scott's productivity at the time. My understanding is they barely got Scott to work on the songs that made the record (hence the two instrumentals on the album), so even if they brought some of the Talk Show songs in he probably never would have even touched them... Or worse yet, his focus on those songs would distract from others, and we may never have gotten Seven Caged Tigers or Adhesive or another classic STP track.

I know a lot of songs from later albums were instrumental ideas dating back to Tiny Music. It was a really productive time for the DeLeos, but for Scott it was one of the worst stages of his addiction and it was really hard for him to focus on the music. It's actually kind of amazing that we got some of the best work of his career when his was in such bad shape.

But who knows. No one had any idea they did 'She Knows Me Too Well" during the Purple sessions until the band dug up the tapes, so maybe there are indeed some lost gems from the Tiny Music sessions. Only time will tell... But as always with this band, I advise against getting your hopes up to high.