Scott Weiland is dead.

Anyone that knows a thing of two about Scott Weiland is hardly surprised by the news that spread throughout the world early Friday.

Over the course of a decade Weiland fronted Stone Temple Pilots, which built a massive following in the midst of a transition from the grunge era of the early 1990s to the stadium rock scene that followed.

Truthfully, I was lukewarm to STP’s arrival when their 1992 debut Core was put in rotation. The song “Plush” was just too much of a Pearl Jam ripoff for me to ever embrace. But then 1994’s Purple arrived and caught my attention with its layers of depth and groove. In 1996 Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop took the madness to an unprecedented level, and at that point I found myself in way over my head in the band’s psychedelic rollicking.

That’s a solid trifecta of albums to start a band’s career. They’ll go down as STP’s most recognizable contributions to the industry, without a doubt.

By the time 1999’s No. 4 rolled around it was clear a changing of the times was upon us. Although the album got plenty of play from me, it proved to be my final lap with Weiland and STP. Songs like “Sour Girl” became an annoyance in the vein of “Lady Picture Show” and “Art School Girl”, and was something I wanted no part of. Because of that subtle direction by the band I hardly gave 2001’s Shangri-LA DEE DA much of a chance, which I hear certainly deserves a chance or two.

Weiland did some other stuff outside of STP that warrants some attention, though, but none more than his debut solo album 12 Bar Blues in 1998. If you plan to mourn the death of Weiland, who like many others before him in the music and arts world battled substance addiction until their death, this collection is the way to go. Trust me on this.