Bargain Book Review - Scott Weiland - Not Dead and Not For Sale

The newest book I picked up at Chapters in their bargain bin was “Scott Weiland – Not Dead and Not For Sale”.

Now back in high school I was a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan. Something about their music just kept me interested. Every album sounded like a brand new style compared to the last. I loved it!

And then there was Velvet Revolver. Now Velvet Revolver was not a band I hated, but it was a band that I found boring as hell. I couldn’t put my finger on it for quite some time but Scott put it in great perspective in this book. He described it as the following “There was a certain commercial calculation behind it” (page 194 of this book). That sums it up. The band was created to sell records. He went on to say “We came together out of necessity, not artistic purposes” (page 216). Basically they are/were all drug addicts who put all their money in their arms and needed some quick cash to get back on their feet. When I heard the songs it was cool to have Slash, Duff and Matt jamming again, and it was great to hear Scott singing…. but once I heard it once I had enough…

I thought this book was great. Easy read (finished it in two nights easily) and he didn’t bore you with details.

He went briskly through his childhood and teenage years, just hitting the major events. Like his lack of a relationship with his father, or the fact that he was raped by a senior in high school when he was twelve.

He jumped into the beginning of his musical career. STP just played a few greatly timed gigs with the right people in the crowd and got noticed. It sounds as simple as that.

 

He has been through a lot of parties and drama over the years. He was trapped in some really crazy relationships with his ex-wives. Has a rollercoaster relationship with his father, and suffered a tragic loss of his brother from his own drug addiction.

I have to admit in the past years it was hard to see Scott’s headlines on the news. Just like watching a train wreck in slow motion. And it always seemed like he just didn’t care. Partially true, he was a train wreck (and may not be done yet) but he sure does seem to care in this book. He is constantly battling with his demons and sounds like he seriously wants to get a hold of his life. He has been in and out of rehab so many times throughout this book that it gets discouraging. But it is promising that he at least wants to go back to rehab. He wants to be clean.

At the conclusion of this book he again was off drugs but only two months sober from alcohol. I really hope he can finally stay clean and come out with some more great albums!