"Black Heart" is a song by American hard rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on September 18, 2013, via digital download. It is their second single to not feature their original lead vocalist Scott Weiland, and their second and final single to feature Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington. The song is also the second track that appears on their debut studio EP, High Rise, which was released on October 8, 2013 through their self-record label Play Pen, LLC. The song was also released on the same day through iHeart Radio.[1]
| "Black Heart" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington | ||||
| from the album High Rise | ||||
| Released | September 18, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2013 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | Play Pen, LLC | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Stone Temple Pilots | |||
| Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editIn an article from Loudwire, it is described as having "a retro vibe with a main riff that's memorable and destined for a lot for radio airplay, which can follow their previous single 'Out of Time' to the top of the mainstream rock chart. The addition to the band for Bennington has been welcome for current Stone Temple Pilots' bassist Robert DeLeo, who said that 'it's been great, and a huge breath of fresh air with a lot more sanity, more reasoning, and patience.'"[2]
Robert DeLeo states in an article from Noisecreep regarding debuting his special bass guitar on the song that "it's special for me because I just brought and found a rare bass guitar that I've been looking for in years, and I got a chance to use it for the song, so it meant a lot to me, to do that from a gear geek kind of perspective." DeLeo also stated that he has "been looking for a Rickenbacker 400 bass, and it's a very rare 1971 Rickenbacker bass. There were 20 of those made in '71, which is very rare and collectible." He also stated that "dreaming of instruments as a little kid and actually having one to use it on a song that you would put together, which means a lot."[3]
Live performances
editThe three remaining members (including brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo, and Eric Kretz) of the band performed the song with Bennington on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 3, 2013, to promote High Rise before it was released on October 8. They also hosted a special of Rockline on October 7 that hyped their debut studio extended play that was released a day later.[4] A video of the acoustic performance for the song by the band can be seen on the official YouTube channel, KROQ.[5]
Music video
editA lyric video was launched on September 23, 2013, via the band's official YouTube channel.[6][7] The three-minute clip for the lyric video of "Black Heart" shows closeups of a man with varieties of tattoos all over his body, which also features lyrics from the song, along with tattoos of scorpions, spiders, and guns.[8] An official music video of the song was released on January 29, 2014. It was directed by Glendon and Isabella.[9]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black Heart" | Stone Temple Pilots | 3:10 |
Charts
edit| Chart (2013) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Rock (Billboard) | 4 |
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard) | 15 |
Personnel
edit- Band
- Chester Bennington – lead vocals
- Dean DeLeo – guitar, backing vocals
- Robert DeLeo – bass, backing vocals
- Eric Kretz – drums
References
edit- ^ Stone Temple Pilots - Black Heart | Listen Free | iHeart Radio iHeart Radio Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Stone Temple Pilots Unleash New Song 'Black Heart' Loudwire Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Childers, Chad (October 16, 2013) Stone Temple Pilots' Robert DeLeo Debuts Special Bass for New Single 'Black Heart' Noisecreep Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ G, Dubba (October 7, 2013) Stone Temple Pilots Perform Black Heart On The Tonight Show Klaq.com Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Stone Temple Pilots With Chester Bennington "Black Heart" (Acoustic) YouTube Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Stone Temple Pilots: 'Black Heart' Lyric Video Released Blabbermouth.net Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Stone Temple Pilots w/ Chester Bennington - Black Heart Official Lyric Video YouTube Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington Gets Tattooed for "Black Heart" Lyric Video 103.7 KRRO Retrieved July 21, 2014
- ^ "Make the official music video for Black Heart". v1.genero.com. Genero. Retrieved 10 December 2014.