So why is Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
While there are other Stone Temple Pilots albums that (spoiler!) overall are superior to Tiny Music, “Big Bang Baby” for me is the best song the band has ever produced. It’s got an absolute crusher of a guitar hook for starters, and it’s produced in such a way that it absolutely throttles along. When “Big Bang Baby” is over, more often than not I simply want to listen to it again.
It also has this really fascinating vibe that’s a combination of glam, grunge, and alt rock that is unique and catchy. And, finally, Scott Weiland has never sounded better on a hard rock song.
The music video is simply great as well, shot in a style that’s a little bit of an ironic nod to the low budget, early 1980s MTV era, but works as it focuses on the band doing what it does best (which would be rocking the [redacted] out).
“Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart” was arguably the biggest hit on Tiny Music, which makes sense as it sounds like it could have been one of the better songs off of STP’s massively popular debut album, Core. It’s strong alt rock with tinges of grunge and psychedelia and stands out as one of the better mid-‘90s rockers.
I adore “Daisy” for its gentle vibe and relative restraint versus most of the rest of Tiny Music. It’s a two-minutes plus instrumental jam that does a great job of rounding out the band’s overall sound. And, similarly, “Seven Caged Tigers” closes the album as a highly listenable mid-tempo rock song with a nice melancholy mood that gets more compelling the more you listen to it.
Personal stuff that has something to do with Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop
The young woman on the Tiny Music album cover in the bathing suit and bathing cap reminds me strikingly of the older sister of one of my closest friends growing up. At least that’s the memory I have, that thinking this was so. By the time this album came out in 1996, I had mostly lost touch with my friend.
And then something happened not having to do with me but which prompted us to never speak again. So there’s an odd association I have with Tiny Music when I look at the album cover, a ghost of a memory of a now far away childhood, with futures lying ahead that we in no way could have imagined.
Some stats & info about Stone Temple Pilots – Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Hard Rock, Grunge, SoCal Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop released? 1996
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #595 out of 1,000
Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Sell your soul and sign an autograph – big bang baby, it’s a crash, crash, crash.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.