Serious fans will quibble about the song choices, as greatest hits does not equal best songs. (e.g., Only one song from "Shrangri-La"?!) But with any good band, reasonable ears/minds will differ, and besides, we make our own compilations anyway. Still, even for hardcore fans, there IS the decent new song, a harder edge tune titled "All in the Suit that You Wear", and the acoustic version of "Plush" from MTV Headbanger's Ball-1992 (which was a minor radio hit in an of itself).

I used to loathe this band back in 1992, when it seemed like they were just Johnny-come-latelies of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soudgarden, but I came to respect them more after I learned a little bit about the grunge scene (i.e., all the sonic similarities existed before any of these bands hit big). Plus I just can't get "Big Bang Baby" out of my head, and those chord changes on "Plush" and "Interstate Love Song" are truly infectious.

19 of 21 found the following review helpful:

A great, but imperfect collection  Apr 16, 2005
By Daniel Maltzman
4.5 stars

Stone Temple Pilots certainly proved all their detractors wrong. Initially written off as nothing but Pearl Jam clones, Stone Temple Pilots proved to be one of the most creative and vital forces throughout the 1990s. Although they borrowed from the Seattle soundbook with their debut "Core" (1992), they found their own sound with subsequent albums. STP never stagnated or suffered a creative bust. They always put out quality albums. STP was always mixing it up with each new release. All five of their albums had their own unique sound and vibe. As previously stated, "Core" was the most grunge sounding album in the STP catalog. It was grunge music made as arena rock. "Purple" (1994) was more refined and the songs were more skillfully crafted. "Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" (1996) eschewed the grunge style of the earlier albums, and instead opted for retro, 70s glam meets 90s modern rock. "No4" (1999) was a combination of the first three albums, and was also somewhat more rough-around-the-edges. The highly underrated "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" (2001) was a more refined, polished follow-up.

The greatest hits album "Thank You," is flawed, but great nonetheless. If you listened to modern rock radio throughout the 90s, you will undoubtedly be familiar with all these songs, as they were all radio staples, and remain so to this day. By listening to this album, you will see why STP was one of the best rock bands of the 1990s. They just wrote killer, killer catchy songs with infectious hooks. This CD is really a comprehensive overview of all their radio-hits. This compilation does an excellent job of representing the bands first three albums.

The problem with "Thank You" is its treatment of the last two STP albums "No4," and "Shangri-La-Dee-Da." As STP rolled on through the late 90s and early 00s, their music always stayed consistently good, and these are two great albums, but they are underrepresented on "Thank You." Only two songs from "No4" and one song from "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" are included.

"Thank You" serves as a greatest hits, as opposed to a best-of. The problem is that a lot of their best songs from the later day albums were not huge radio staples, and were not hits, but were great nonetheless. A CD can hold 80 minutes of music, but this CD holds only 60. About four additional songs from the last two albums should have been included (five, if they left off the acoustic version of "Plush" which was a cool rendition, but a waste of space). It would have been a great way for fans of the earlier albums to get into the later day stuff. "Heaven & Hot Rods" from "No4" should have been included, as should have "Too Cool Queenie" and "Hello, it's Late" from "Shangri La Dee Da."

A real comprehensive best-of album from Stone Temple Pilots would really need to be two CDs in length, with not only the radio hits, but also essential album cuts from all five albums. In addition, it should include the awesome cover of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" and the Beatles "Revolution."

Apart from these faults, this is still a great compilation. "All in the Suit that you Wear" (recorded in 2002) is a great song, unavailable elsewhere and should please fans of the band. If you don't own any STP albums, this is a good place to start. But then I'd still check out some of the later day albums.

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:

The CD is flawed but the DVD is superb  Apr 18, 2005
By Daniel Maltzman
The music disc get 4.5 stars. The DVD section gets the full 5 stars.

Stone Temple Pilots certainly proved all their detractors wrong. Initially written off as nothing but Pearl Jam clones, Stone Temple Pilots proved to be one of the most creative and vital forces throughout the 1990s. Although they borrowed from the Seattle soundbook with their debut "Core" (1992), they found their own sound with subsequent albums. STP never stagnated or suffered a creative bust. They always put out quality albums. STP was always mixing it up with each new release. All five of their albums had their own unique sound and vibe. As previously stated, "Core" was the most grunge sounding album in the STP catalog. It was grunge music made as arena rock. "Purple" (1994) was more refined and the songs were more skillfully crafted. "Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" (1996) eschewed the grunge style of the earlier albums, and instead opted for retro, 70s glam meets 90s modern rock. "No4" (1999) was a combination of the first three albums, and was also somewhat more rough-around-the-edges. The highly underrated "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" (2001) was a more refined, polished follow-up.

The greatest hits album "Thank You," is flawed, but great nonetheless. If you listened to modern rock radio throughout the 90s, you will undoubtedly be familiar with all these songs, as they were all radio staples, and remain so to this day. By listening to this album, you will see why STP was one of the best rock bands of the 1990s. They just wrote killer, killer catchy songs with infectious hooks. This CD is really a comprehensive overview of all their radio-hits. This compilation does an excellent job of representing the bands first three albums.

The problem with "Thank You" is its treatment of the last two STP albums "No4," and "Shangri-La-Dee-Da." As STP rolled on through the late 90s and early 00s, their music always stayed consistently good, and these are two great albums, but they are underrepresented on "Thank You." Only two songs from "No4" and one song from "Shangri-La-Dee-Da" are included.

"Thank You" serves as a greatest hits, as opposed to a best-of. The problem is that a lot of their best songs from the later day albums were not huge radio staples, and were not hits, but were great nonetheless. A CD can hold 80 minutes of music, but this CD holds only 60. About four additional songs from the last two albums should have been included (five, if they left off the acoustic version of "Plush" which was a cool rendition, but a waste of space). It would have been a great way for fans of the earlier albums to get into the later day stuff. "Heaven & Hot Rods" from "No4" should have been included, as should have "Too Cool Queenie" and "Hello, it's Late" from "Shangri La Dee Da."

A real comprehensive best-of album from Stone Temple Pilots would really need to be two CDs in length, with not only the radio hits, but also essential album cuts from all five albums. In addition, it should include the awesome cover of Led Zeppelin's "Dancing Days" and the Beatles "Revolution."

Apart from these faults, this is still a great compilation. "All in the Suit that you Wear" (recorded in 2002) is a great song, unavailable elsewhere and should please fans of the band. If you don't own any STP albums, this is a good place to start. But then I'd still check out some of the later day albums.

As for the DVD, you really could not ask for anything more. It's three hours of all live performances, (some professional, some bootlegs, all awesome), and all their music videos. And unlike the CD, their whole career is given a comprehensive overview.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

No STP...THANK YOU!!!!!  Nov 11, 2003
By Edward Morales
Finally, an STP best-of and DVD all in the same package!!!!! OK, first of all, the best-of CD is really good, but at 15 tracks and only 58 minutes (in non-chronological order), it could have included more tracks, so here's what I would have put instead:

1. Plush
2. Sex Type Thing
3. Wicked Garden
4. Creep
5. Crackerman
6. Vasoline
7. Interstate Love Song
8. Big Empty
9. Unglued
10. Pretty Penny
11. Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin tribute album cover)
12. Big Bang Baby
13. Lady Picture Show
14. Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart
15. Down
16. Sour Girl
17. Days Of The Week
18. Hollywood B***h
19. Revolution (Beatles cover & 9/11 charity single)
20. All In The Suit That You Wear (new track)
21. Plush (acoustic version)

However, the DVD ROCKS!!!!! With 3 hours worth of music videos, live performances, bootleg footage shot by friends and family of the band and other material, the DVD makes this a 5-star set!!!!!

(P.S. - check out the video for "Sour Girl"...it has Sarah Michelle Gellar - from TV's 'BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER', for those who don't know - on it!!!!! Mmm, BUFFY!!!!!)

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:

Absolutely Amazing  Nov 12, 2003
By Stephen R. McGrew
The CD/DVD set of "Thank You" was a tremendous way to exit the scene for Stone Temple Pilots. Its intention was for the guys to give one last gift back to the fans on their way out the door, and it really does just that. The CD is a terriffic compilation of the band's A-side singles, and the DVD has over three hours of incredible live footage, a photo gallery, as well as most all of the original music videos for the "Thank You" compilation of songs. This really is a classy effort by the band, and a great way for the fans to remember them. This is truly a must-have for not only any STP fan, but any early 90s glam rock fan as well. A+++

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