Notwithstanding a fairly successful reunion tour with Stone Temple Pilots, the past 12 months have been rough ones for Scott Weiland — dude lost his marriage, his brother, and his spot in Velvet Revolver in less time than it took Axl Rose to approve the final mix of Chinese Democracy. So you can understand why he's thinking about rain on his second solo album. And you can understand why it'd be nice to report that "Happy" in Galoshes is a triumph of art over adversity (or at least an entertaining detour in the mold of 12 Bar Blues, his appealingly incoherent solo debut).
But it is not — indeed, it might be one of the year's worst albums, an underwritten, overarranged mess of factory-floor guitar fuzz, go-nowhere vocal melodies, limp electronic beats, and lyrical clunkers ("You seem sad/But you're telling lies").
Three highlights are worth a bit of your bandwidth: glam-metal opener "Missing Cleveland," the heavy-grooved cabaret-rock jam "Beautiful Day," and a knowing cover of David Bowie's "Fame" featuring Paul Oakenfold on something-or-other. The rest, I regret to inform you, is useless.
SCOTT WEILAND | WBCN Xmas Rave | Showcase Live, 23 Patriot Place, Foxborough | December 3 at 8 pm | $29 | 866.488.7849 or www.showcaselive.com.
