Purple -super Deluxe- Rem... — Stone Temple Pilots -
The Stone Temple Pilots - Purple: Super Deluxe Edition is a comprehensive 25th-anniversary reissue of the band's multi-platinum 1994 sophomore album. Released via Rhino Records in October 2019, this set expands the original 11-track album with 29 bonus tracks, including unreleased demos, rarities, and a full live concert. Physical & Format Details
The Super Deluxe package is typically presented as a 3-CD/1-LP set:
CD 1 & Vinyl LP: Feature a newly remastered version of the original studio album.
CD 2: Contains early versions, demos, and acoustic recordings.
CD 3: Features a previously unreleased full concert recording from 1994.
Packaging: Housed in a foil-finished, hardback book-style case.
Bonus 7-inch: Some limited-edition bundles included a replica 7-inch vinyl of "Interstate Love Song". Expanded Tracklist Highlights Disc 1: 2019 Remaster
Includes the original chart-topping hits that defined the album's sound, blending grunge with psychedelic and country influences:
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple -Super Deluxe- Remastered: A Timeless Rock Masterpiece Reborn
The year was 1994, and the music world was on the cusp of a revolution. Alternative rock was emerging as a force to be reckoned with, and Stone Temple Pilots were at the forefront of this movement. Their second studio album, Purple, released on June 7, 1994, would go on to become a defining record of the decade, cementing the band's status as one of the most iconic and influential rock acts of the 1990s. Fast-forward to 2017, and the album has been reborn in a spectacular fashion with the release of Stone Temple Pilots - Purple -Super Deluxe- Remastered.
The Original Purple : A Critical and Commercial Breakthrough
Purple was a game-changer for Stone Temple Pilots. The album marked a significant departure from their debut album, Core, which had been released to critical acclaim in 1992. While Core had established the band's sound, Purple refined and expanded upon it, showcasing a more mature and experimental approach to songwriting. The album's lead single, "Vasoline," was a breakout hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, while the album itself peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The album's success can be attributed to the band's ability to craft catchy, memorable hooks, paired with Scott Weiland's distinctive vocals and lyrics that explored themes of love, addiction, and social commentary. Tracks like "Interstate Love Song" and "Big Empty" have become staples of '90s alternative rock, with their anthemic choruses and guitar-driven melodies.
The Super Deluxe Treatment: A New Generation of Sound
The Super Deluxe reissue of Purple is a comprehensive package that celebrates the album's 20th anniversary. The remastered edition features the original album, plus a slew of bonus tracks, live recordings, and unreleased material. The album has been remastered by engineer Dave Pensado, who worked closely with the band to create a fresh, yet faithful, rendering of the original recordings.
The Super Deluxe set includes:
Bonus Tracks and Live Recordings: A Treasure Trove for Fans
The bonus tracks on the Super Deluxe edition offer a fascinating glimpse into the band's creative process. Included are early versions of songs like "Big Empty" and "Interstate Love Song," as well as covers of artists like The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground. Fans will also appreciate the live recordings, which capture the band's energetic performances on tracks like "Vasoline" and "Hang in the Balance."
The Legacy of Purple : Influence and Impact
Purple has had a lasting impact on the music world. The album's blend of grunge, alternative, and hard rock influences has inspired a generation of musicians, from Foo Fighters to Queens of the Stone Age. The album's success also helped pave the way for other '90s alternative rock acts, like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Stone Temple Pilots - Purple -Super Deluxe- Rem...
Conclusion
The Stone Temple Pilots - Purple -Super Deluxe- Remastered edition is a must-have for fans of the band and the album. This comprehensive package offers a fresh perspective on a timeless rock masterpiece, with superior sound quality, bonus tracks, and live recordings. Whether you're a longtime fan or a new listener, this reissue is an opportunity to experience one of the defining albums of the 1990s in a whole new way.
Key Tracks:
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommended For: Fans of Stone Temple Pilots, alternative rock, grunge, and '90s music.
Release Date: October 27, 2017
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Catalog Number: R2 552958
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of their sophomore masterpiece, Stone Temple Pilots released the Purple: Super Deluxe Edition. This expansive 3-CD/1-LP set offers a deep dive into the 1994 album that solidified STP's place in rock history, featuring a newly remastered version of the original record alongside a treasure trove of unreleased material. What’s Inside the Super Deluxe Edition
The collection is housed in a rigid, foil-finished hardback book case and includes:
Disc 1 (CD & Vinyl): The original album remastered in 2019 by Brendan O'Brien, featuring hits like "Interstate Love Song," "Vasoline," and "Big Empty".
Disc 2: A collection of early versions, demos, and acoustic tracks. Highlights include a demo of the Beach Boys’ "She Knows Me Too Well," an acoustic version of "Big Empty," and the band's cover of Led Zeppelin’s "Dancing Days".
Disc 3: A previously unreleased, full concert recording from August 23, 1994, at New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This 17-song set captures the band at their peak, blending Purple tracks with Core favorites and covers of David Bowie’s "Andy Warhol" and Woody Guthrie’s "Gypsy Davy". Track Highlights & Rarities
For long-time fans, the second disc provides a unique look at the album's creative process.
Unreleased Demos: Raw versions of "Unglued," "Army Ants," and "Kitchenware & Candybars".
KROQ Acoustic Christmas 1994: Rare live acoustic recordings, including a version of the holiday classic "Christmastime Is Here".
Bonus Vinyl: Pre-orders through the official Stone Temple Pilots store included a limited-edition (1,000 copies) replica 7-inch single of "Interstate Love Song". Why It Matters
Purple was a massive success upon its original release, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 and eventually going 6x Platinum. This reissue not only polishes the sound but also contextualizes the band's evolution from their grunge-heavy debut Core into more melodic, psychedelic, and country-influenced territories.
Collectors can find this edition at retailers like Amazon or specialized music sites like Elusive Disc. If you'd like, I can: Rank the bonus tracks based on fan favorites The Stone Temple Pilots - Purple: Super Deluxe
Detail the differences between the Super Deluxe and the standard 2-CD Deluxe versions
Provide a list of upcoming tour dates for the current lineup
Title: The Purple Haze: How Stone Temple Pilots Conquered the Sophomore Slump
The Setup: The Weight of Expectation
In the spring of 1992, Stone Temple Pilots were arguably the most reviled band in rock and roll. Their debut album, Core, had sold millions, but critics dismissed them as little more than Pearl Jam copycats—corporate rock opportunists riding the flannel-clad coattails of the Seattle grunge explosion. Frontman Scott Weiland was mocked for his baritone growl; guitarist Dean DeLeo was accused of mimicking Jimmy Page and Kim Thayil.
But as the band entered the studio in early 1994 to record their follow-up, they had a secret weapon: they didn't care what the critics thought. They weren't trying to make a grunge record. They were trying to make a classic rock record.
The Shift: From "Core" to "Purple"
Where Core was heavy, dark, and sludgy, the band envisioned something brighter, weirder, and more melodic. They enlisted producer Brendan O’Brien, who pushed them to strip away the doom-and-gloom aesthetic. They wanted to sound like The Beatles meets Led Zeppelin, filtered through a modern alternative lens.
The sessions were prolific and frantic. Weiland, already battling the demons that would eventually consume him, was in a state of chaotic creative flux. The band—brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo on guitar and bass, and the unstoppably precise Eric Kretz on drums—were firing on all cylinders.
The result was Purple. Released in June 1994, it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, knocking the Lion King soundtrack off the top spot. It was a commercial behemoth, but artistically, it was a grenade thrown at the music press.
The Sound: A Technicolor Dream
Opening with the feedback swell of "Meatplow," Purple immediately signaled a shift. But then came "Vasoline"—a jagged, staccato riff masterpiece that proved the band could be technical and gritty simultaneously.
Then, the hits. "Interstate Love Song" became the band’s defining anthem. With its sweeping, country-tinged slide guitar and weary lyrics about burnout and betrayal, it captured the exhaustion of a band that had toured the world and lost themselves in the process. It sounded like a classic rock standard the moment it hit the airwaves.
Elsewhere, the band stretched out. "Big Empty" (featured in the film The Crow) oozed cinematic cool. "Still Remains" offered a lush, romantic melody that flew in the face of the "angry young men" trope of the era. And buried at the end was "Kitchenware & Candybars," a gorgeous ballad that devolved into a hidden track of lounge-singer parody, showing a sense of humor that their peers lacked.
Critics who had derided them as hacks suddenly had to reckon with a band that could write better hooks than almost anyone in the genre. Purple wasn't just a grunge album; it was a psych-rock, hard rock, and pop hybrid.
The Legacy: The Super Deluxe Edition
Decades later, Purple stands as the band’s masterpiece. It represents the moment the "sophomore slump" was not just avoided, but obliterated. It is the sound of a band stepping out of the shadows and claiming their own identity.
To honor this era, the Super Deluxe Remastered Edition offers a treasure trove for audiophiles and historians. It strips back the layers of time to reveal the raw power of the original recordings.
The remastering process brings a new clarity to O'Brien's production. The low end on "Meatplow" hits harder; the acoustic guitars on "Interstate Love Song" shimmer with newfound resonance. But the true value lies in the unreleased material. Bonus Tracks and Live Recordings: A Treasure Trove
Listeners are treated to early demo versions, revealing the skeletons of these anthems before the studio gloss was applied. We hear the band in their rawest form—practicing, experimenting, capturing the lightning in a bottle that was their creative peak. Live tracks from the era capture the combustible energy of Weiland at the height of his power, a magnetic frontman commanding a stadium crowd before the drugs took the wheel.
The Conclusion
Purple was the album that proved Stone Temple Pilots were more than just a product of their time. They were students of rock history who wrote a textbook of their own. The Super Deluxe Edition doesn't just remind us of the hits; it reminds us of the danger, the talent, and the tragedy of a band that burned incredibly bright. It is the definitive document of 1994, the year STP stopped asking for permission and started demanding respect.
The crown jewel of the box set is a complete, unreleased live recording from the Purple tour. Captured at the height of the band's live fury in Chicago, this setlist runs deep. You hear Weiland’s charismatic slur in "Crackerman" and the extended psychedelic outro of "Sex Type Thing." Unlike the polished Thank You live cuts, this recording is raw, immediate, and sweaty. It captures a band on fire, unaware that the mid-90s alternative rock empire was about to crumble.
Purple (Super Deluxe Edition) is set for release on June 12, 2026. Pre-orders go live this Friday, with an exclusive “Purple Smoke” vinyl variant available only via the STP official webstore.
Tracklist (Original Album Remastered):
Stay tuned for our full review of the Atmos mix next week.
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (Super Deluxe Edition) is a definitive 25th-anniversary celebration of the band's 1994 sophomore masterpiece. Released through Rhino Entertainment
in 2019, this expansive collection serves as a deep dive into the era when STP moved beyond their "grunge" roots to embrace a more psychedelic, bluesy, and melodic rock identity. Comprehensive Package Contents The Super Deluxe Edition is a 3-CD/1-LP set that includes the following:
We got some Stone Temple Pilots in! Core - $30 MTV Unplugged 1993
Originally recorded in just over a month at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis (with producer Brendan O’Brien), Purple was a deliberate left turn. Gone was the straight-ahead "plod-rock" of Core. In its place? The sitar-drenched stomp of "Vasoline," the Zep-esque gallop of "Silvergun Superman," and the haunting, lounge-core of "Pretty Penny."
Key Tracks:
Why it matters: Purple debuted at #1, knocking out The Crow soundtrack. It sold 6+ million copies, but critics called them "derivative." The Super Deluxe argues the opposite: Purple is where they invented their own language.
You might ask: Why buy the physical or high-res digital version when the album is on Spotify?
The answer lies in dynamic range. Streaming services compress the life out of "Unglued." The remastered Super Deluxe release allows the song to actually be unglued—the clipping is gone, the distortion feels intentional, and the silence between notes (specifically the drop in "Vasoline") hits like a gut punch. Furthermore, the box set includes a 60-page hardcover book featuring unpublished photos by David LaChapelle and liner notes from surviving members Robert and Dean DeLeo reflecting on the loss of Weiland.
To understand the value of this reissue, you have to remember the climate of 1994. The band was suing their record label; the critics were sharpening their knives; and the pressure to follow up the multi-platinum Core was suffocating.
The Super Deluxe Edition captures this tension perfectly. The newly remastered version of the original album crackles with an energy that previous CD releases struggled to capture. Tracks like "Meatplow" and "Lounge Fly" feel heavier, sludgier, and more ominous. But the true revelation is the clarity of the acoustic strata. The separation in "Interstate Love Song" allows you to hear the subtle acoustic guitar layering that gave the track its panoramic, desert-highway scope.
The keyword Super Deluxe implies excess, and this box set delivers. While the standard reissue offers the remastered 10-track LP, the Super Deluxe version (available in multi-CD and digital high-resolution audio) expands the universe of Purple significantly.
To understand the value of this Super Deluxe edition, one must first acknowledge the weight of the original album. Purple is a sonic outlier. While Core (1992) was a blunt force instrument of post-grunge aggression, Purple showcased evolution. Tracks like "Vasoline" featured a droning, hypnotic riff; "Interstate Love Song" became the defining ode to tour burnout; and "Big Empty" hinted at the cinematic storytelling Scott Weiland would perfect.
However, the original 1994 mixes always felt slightly constrained by the era's "loudness war" limitations. The new remastered audio in this Super Deluxe set rectifies that. Brendan O’Brien’s original production now breathes with a wider stereo field. The low-end on Robert DeLeo’s bass—particularly on "Pretty Penny"—is finally given the vinyl warmth it deserves, while Dean DeLeo’s treble-heavy jangle cuts through without harshness.