 Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic suggested that Stone Temple Pilots proved the band members , after nearly a decade of side @-@ projects , needed each other . The album 's sound picked up where Shangri @-@ La Dee Da left off , but the lack of Brendan O 'Brien 's production , which Erlewine believed was a " key ingredient " to the previous albums , was evident . " [ W ] ith another set of ears in the studio ... perhaps the entire set would be sharpened . " Jon Dolan 's brief review in Entertainment Weekly called the music " cheap and easy pop @-@ rock mimicry " . He noted that Weiland sounded " effervescent " now that the singer was drug @-@ free , but Dolan still found his lyrics to " weigh him down " . 
