Scott Weiland: 12 Bar Blues (Record Store Day 2023 Release)

Scott Weiland’s 12 Bar Blues has always been a mystery, an off-kilter excursion into the psyche of one of rock’s most enigmatic voices.

The 2023 Record Store Day vinyl pressing gives this chaotic masterpiece a home it deserves. The digital streams never captured the restless energy, the imperfect edges, the space that vinyl so naturally accentuates.

From the first distorted chord, it’s clear that Weiland was unconcerned with polish. He thrives in tension, wandering through blues-infused narratives with the swagger of a man too alive to sit still.

The analog pressing gives weight to the bass, grit to the guitars, and depth to the vocals — it’s a messy, glorious, human listening experience.

Tracks like “Barbarella” and “Needles and Pins” unfold differently under a needle. The subtle hiss between grooves, the warmth of low-end guitar slides, the way the drum kit breathes — it’s all amplified by vinyl.

This is music meant to be examined, not scrolled past.

Listening to 12 Bar Blues on vinyl is a lesson in patience and reward. Scott Weiland was never a neat package, and now, on wax, we finally hear the record the way it was meant to be felt: immersive, volatile, and unrepentantly alive.

Vinyl doesn’t fix the chaos — it glorifies it.