Off the Charts: Velvet Revolver

Scott Weiland doesn't like what he's hearing

By Newt Briggs

Chalk it up to morbid curiosity or a fondness for emotional distress, but certain musicians can't resist reading everything that the entertainment rags write about them. Prince is one, and apparently so is Scott Weiland, who recently launched the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver with Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner and former Guns 'n Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. But unlike Prince, who is usually coy in his reaction to spiteful press, Weiland calls his critics "a bunch of fucking kiss-ass pussy turncoats" and challenges them to fistfights.

Clearly, age and a decade-long ride on the court-mandated detox carousel have done little to dull the former Stone Temple Pilots frontman's temper. There's no telling what will set Weiland off, but judging by his response to Maxim scribe Jon Caramanica, it's not a good idea to praise his work. Selecting Velvet Revolver's debut LP Contraband as the magazine's album of the month, Caramanica wrote that Weiland is full of "boozy charm" and sounds "as reinvigorated as his new mates." In a response posted on Velvet Revolver's official website, Weiland retorted, "Let's meet up face-to-face and see just how `boozy' I am in person--when I get `manic' on your ass, motherfucker!"

HEROIN CHIC: Although Weiland may have been the most frequently arrested, he's hardly the first musician to ride the white horse to ruin. As Tom Dalzell notes in The Slang of Sin, heroin has long "drawn its disciples from two groups--the largely black, largely urban underclass, and exceptionally gifted musicians." Among the latter can be included Weiland, Kurt Cobain, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff, Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan and Grateful Dead figurehead and ice cream namesake Jerry Garcia.

ROCK BOTTOM: Although Weiland insists he wasn't on drugs at the time, the New York Post reported in April 2002 that he was wandering the streets of SoHo in a pair of pajamas, asking pedestrians where he could purchase women's panties. Weiland later explained that he was simply trying to find underwear for his wife after their luggage had been lost during a flight. According to the story, a kindly passerby eventually pointed him in the direction of Wolford's, where Weiland purchased thongs to his heart's content.

STONEWALLED: From a May 14 post on Velvet Revolver's official website (observe the gratuitous reference to a Stone Temple Pilots song in the first sentence): "I feel that I can no longer be a part of the rock `Press Type Thing.' Although I greatly appreciate the respect our album has been given in review, it has become increasingly clear that in `respect' to me, the word journalism is blurred with tabloid sensationalism and untruths. I will not stoop to the level of these mosquitoes in order to simply sell records. I won't play your fucking game...This decision is not just about me. I have two young children, one of which is old enough to comprehend things, but not yet of the age to be able to distinguish the truth from outright lies."