Released on June 7, 1994.
June 7, 1994. I was a junior at Wakefield High School. I was a good student and a good kid, not prone to cutting school. But on this particular Tuesday, I did.
You see, June 7, 1994 was the day that Stone Temple Pilots released their sophomore album Purple. I'd gone all-in on the band since the release of their debut Core in 1992; I wasn't one of those "buhh, they're just a low-rent Pearl Jam, derr..." naysayers. I loved STP. And I needed to have their new album the day it came out.
So I did what any enterprising, music-hungry youngster would do: I quietly slipped out the back door of my high school, hopped in my 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo, and cruised down to the Strawberries on Rt. 1 in Saugus. I picked up Purple on cassette so I'd be able to crank it on my way back to school (after a quick pit stop at Taco Bell for lunch, of course).
I think I made it halfway through the first side--to "Lounge Fly"--before I got back, which was perfect, because it left "Interstate Love Song" cued up and ready to go for after school.
The band recently announced a 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe edition of the album, due out on September 13. Click here for the details, and check out a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Big Empty" below.
