BETWEEN THE LINES deconstructed Artist: Stone Temple Pilots Song: Between the Lines Album: Stone Temple Pilots (2010) Genre: Rock deconstructed July 20, 2010 GENERAL INFORMATION AT-A-GLANCE Artist: Stone Temple Pilots Length: 2:48 Song: Between the Lines Structure: A-B-A-B-C-Solo-A-B Album: Stone Temple Pilots (2010) Tempo: Mid/Up Song Writer(s): Scott Weiland, Robert DeLeo First Chorus Hits: 0:31 (18% into the song) Week on BB Chart: Week of 4/17/2010 Intro Length: 0:04 Chart Position: #1 Billboard Rock Song Outro Length: n/a Genre: Rock Primary Tone (Electric/Acoustic): Electric Sub Genre: 70’s Sleaze Rock Mood: Sleazy/Dark/Grooving Lyrical Theme: Scott looks back “fondly” at one of his “healthy” relationships. Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st Person STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS At-A-Glance: Intro Verse P-Chorus Chorus Turn Solo Bridge Outro # Of Occurrences 1 3 3 3 3 1 1 n/a Average Length by Section 0:04 0:14 0:13 0:14 0:03 0:18 0:14 n/a Section % to Total Song 2% 25% 23% 25% 5% 11% 8% n/a Here we see an equal amount of occurrences of the verse, pre-chorus, chorus and turn-arounds. The section with the longest average length is the Solo, at 0:18. In regard to totaled up sections within the song, both the verse and chorus make up the largest percentage at 25% each. Not far behind is the pre-chorus, which still features prominently totaling 23% of the entire song. Section Length: (Length of each individual section within the song) July 20, 2010 As you can see from the graph, equal emphasis is given to the Verse, Pre-Chorus and Chorus throughout the song with quick turn-arounds interspersed to break things up. The solo gets the most amount of time of any section at 0:18, but if you take into account that the end of the solo could technically be considered a turn-around, the solo length would be equal to the A & B sections. Structure Timeline: (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) Here we can easily see how you keep a rock song interesting when there aren’t lots of sonic peaks and valleys, or shifts in momentum. Approximately every 14 seconds a new section of the song is introduced, keeping the listener engaged throughout. The chorus hits just about at 0:30 on the button, which is right on the mark for a well constructed song. Otherwise, we see that the song is pretty much linear in construction with equal amounts of time being devoted to all sections with the exception of the turn-arounds. Total Section Analysis: (Total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) When we total up each section of the song (i.e. all the choruses, verses, etc…), again we see that equal emphasis is given to the verse, pre-chorus and chorus. The intro is basically just a turn-around and not a lot of time is devoted to it. Intro: 0:04 / 3% Verse: 0:42 / 25% Pre-Chorus: 0:39 Chorus: 0:42 / 25% Turn Around: 0:09 / 5% Solo: 0:13 / 11% Bridge: 0:14 / 8% July 20, 2010 Momentum / Intensity Factor: (Evaluation of the intensity of each section within the song timeline on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the most intense) Here we see that there isn’t much fluctuation in momentum (intensity) throughout the song. With the exception of the first half of the third verse, the momentum of the song is pretty much linear in nature. There are gradual builds during the verse and pre-chorus leading into the chorus, but for the most part the groove stays on a singular path. SECTIONAL ANALYSIS Intro: Short, effective and to-the-point, the section nicely sets up the verse. It’s not the most interesting intro ever, but it does make the song identifiable the second that you here it. Rating: 7.5/10 Verse 1& 2: The feel has a 70’s vibe with a bouncy, 60’s go-go grooving beat. It’s catchy, raw and memorable with excellent phrasing, and the groove between the vocal delivery and instrumentation locks you in. The second verse is differentiated from the first by adding some clean, trebly guitar overlays. Rating: 8/10 Pre-Chorus: This is vintage STP, and it perfectly bridges the verse to the chorus. The reverb drenched guitar stabs that pan left to right add a great touch. Pay attention to the last lyric of the section, “drugs”, and how it’s phrased. The way that Scott delivers the vocal it melts right into the chorus. It reminds me of “Rocks” era Aerosmith. Rating: 9/10 Chorus: The first chorus kicks in at 0:31 – right on the money for a well constructed song. On first listen, I came away wanting something a little more grand – more of a payoff. However, it works by keeping in line with the “grooving sleaze” vibe. July 20, 2010 The handclaps add a nice touch, and of course, our friend REPETITION. That being said, I think they could have fleshed it out a bit more, but it does serve the song. Btw – it may just be me, but if you close your eyes you can almost see Kurt Cobain singing the chorus more than Scott. Seems “Nirvanaish” to me. Rating: 7.5/10 Bridge: It’s interesting, and works to a degree, but I think having more of a momentum departure from the rest of the song would have served much better (refer to the momentum graph section for reference). The way that it is it keeps in line with the momentum of the rest of the song, resulting in a very linear listening experience. I would have brought the intensity way down so that the listener could take a breather, and then build up to a point where the solo explodes out of it. That way the song would be much more dynamic and interesting, providing the listener with more of a payoff. Rating: 6/10 Solo: I see George Lynch of Dokken at the first part of the solo, 70’s Joe Perry “Rocks” style in the middle, and then some Mr. Page riffs toward the end. Not the most original solo in the world, but it serves the song and is well played. Rating: 7/10 Verse 3: As with the pre-chorus, here we have a taste of vintage STP. A breakdown fuzz rhythm with guitar feedback and drums, then kicking back into the style of verses 1 & 2. It’s not a huge momentum shift, but it’s the most we get to break the song up a bit, from a momentum perspective. Rating: 8/10 End: Same phrase as the intro and turn-arounds - no new ground tackled here, but it works. Rating: 7/10 WAVEFORM July 20, 2010 All you need to do is take a quick glance here to realize that this song was compressed and saturated to the max. Not a lot of breathing room here, folks. This song was engineered for high-volume, in your face impact. PRIMARY INSTRUMENTATION, TONE & MIX INTRO Tone / Comments Pan Rhythm Guitar 1 Treble Fuzz Distortion 9:00 Rhythm Guitar 2 Treble Fuzz Distortion 2:00 Bass Full, Slight overdrive 11:00 Drums Full and bright 12:00 VERSE Tone / Comments Pan Rhythm Guitar 1 Treble Fuzz Distortion 9:00 Rhythm Guitar 2 Treble Fuzz Distortion 2:00 Bass Full, Slight overdrive 11:00 Drums Full and bright 12:00 Vocals Male (Scott) 11:00 *Guitar Effects 2nd Verse – clean strum with reverb 3:00 **Guitar Effects 3rd Verse – Solo feedback 12:00 **Vocal Effect Beginning of the 3rd verse – megaphone vox 11:00 CHORUS Tone / Comments Pan Rhythm Guitar 1 Treble Fuzz Distortion 9:00 Rhythm Guitar 2 Treble Fuzz Distortion 3:00 Bass Full, Slight overdrive 11:00 Perc Claps – reverb processed 3:00 & 9:00 Drums Full and bright 12:00 Vocals Male (Scott) – multi-layered 11:00-12:00 July 20, 2010 SOLO Tone / Comments Pan Rhythm Guitar 1 Treble Fuzz Distortion 9:00 Rhythm Guitar 2 Treble Fuzz Distortion 3:00 Bass Full, Slight overdrive 11:00 Lead Guitar 70’s Style distortion 11:00 Drums Full and bright 12:00 BENCHMARk Analysis Compares the song being analyzed against all Rock songs that have entered the Billboard Rock top 10: Q1 through Q2-2010. CATEGORY Between the Lines Y-T-D: All Top 10 Rock Songs Comparison Song Structure A-B-A-B-C-Solo-A-B A-B-A-B-Solo B Not In-Line Song Length 2:48 3:58 (Average) -1:10 Intro Length 0:04 0:21 (Average) -0:17 Outro Length n/a 0:23 (Average) n/a Time For 1st Chorus To Hit 0:31 0:57 (Average) -0:26 % Of Song Where 1st Chorus Hits 18% 25% (Average) -7% Tempos Mid/Up Mid/Up (Majority) In-Line Primary Tone Electric/Distortion Electric/Distortion (Majority) In-Line Primary Instrumentation Electric Guitar Electric Guitar (Majority) In-Line Primary Vocal Gender Male Male (Majority) In-Line Pre-Chorus Yes 45% In-Line Solo Yes 63% In-Line Bridge Yes 65% In-Line Lyrical Theme Love/Relationships Pers/Dev & Love/Rel In-Line Style Hard Rock Hard/Heavy rock In-Line July 20, 2010 The key elements present in “Between the Lines” are in-line with all year-to-date top 10 Rock hits EXCEPT: • The overall song differs in nature from the majority of top 10 Rock songs.