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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Not HAPPY..... Jul 21, 2009
In Scott Weiland's own words " This is a concept album-not for the high minded, heavy handed sort-instead it is a conglomeration of every dedication that i have ever written and sung for a particular someone who temporarily destroyed me...."
I was very disappointed in this 2 disc set. Only can stand maybe 3 or 4 songs. Nothing HAPPY or GOOD about this disc. Save your mula!
 No One Says It Better Than Scott!!! Jul 17, 2009
Wonderful CD!!! Scott is a very gifted musician, and I love everything he has done so far- from STP to VR to his solo CDs. "Happy" has it all- great lyrics, great music, and interesting arrangement. It comes across as an honest and mature piece of artwork. A Must Have for Scott's fans and for anyone with a sensitive heart....
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Fair. Jul 09, 2009
Scott Weiland is back! Well, he's returned to his solo recording career after Velvet Revolver imploded. On `Happy In Galoshes' Scott Weiland mines the glam and hard rock sound of his previous solo album, `12 Bar Blues' while incorporating poppier elements into the mix. Opener "Missing Cleveland" sounds like a mash up between T-Rex and David Bowie, while "Tangle With Your Mind" sounds like somebody got stuck listening to "Tangled Up in Blue" too many times. Speaking of Bowie, Scott Weiland even attempts a version of "Fame" featuring DJ Paul Oakenfold, which doesn't hold a candle to the original.
Scott Weiland can't shake the ghosts of his past bands on this album, no matter how he tries. Their sound is evident in a couple of tracks, "Blind Confusion" and "She Sold Her System." On "Blind Confusion" the bluesy sprawl of Stone Temple Pilots is quite evident. "She Sold Her System" has a syncopated drum track, but the track could almost be a dead ringer from anything off the "4" record. I will give Weiland credit; he is perfectly capable of crafting a pop melody. It just seems that this record is too produced sounding, the drums on most of the tracks don't sound natural and because of this, the record already sounds like something stuck in 1998.
Had Weiland stripped the songs down to their bare essentials, his cabaret shtick would be a lot more palatable. This album isn't completely terrible; it's just a bit overbearing. The production overtakes the songs, and the melodies become lost in a wash of studio trickery. I'm all for creating an album that is meant to be listened to with headphones, but this is overkill. Maybe these songs translate live. I'll guess you'll have to wait and see for that.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 you can be happy with or without galoshes Jul 04, 2009
Odds are that if you're reading this you either own an STP album, Scott Weiland's other solo album, something from Velvet Revolver or all of the above. That's because even if he has missteps and does stuff we can't even begin to comprehend, fans tend to want more from this guy even though he puts out a completely middle of the road record, or enough random babblings to make Ross Perot proud. Simply put, lyrics aren't Scott's forté, and they never will be. What he does have going for him is the delivery of cryptic WTF lyrics that convinces you that what he's saying is meaningful. It's not to say he can't write a good tune, but it is to say that sometimes you have to go "huh?" with him. That aside, Galoshes is a decent album in most aspects. Fairly well produced, pretty well played, some clunkers and some keepers. Your library will not get more handsome by including this album in it, but you wón't get hissed at either. It's just that type of album and odds are, if you've made it this far into this review, seen the 3 star rating from an STP fan and finished this sentence, then you will buy this album. That's more than fine and you have nothing to feel ashamed of. The cover of Fame isn't terrible and it isn't fantastic, and that's pretty much the sumup of this album. Not terrible, not fantastic, but for some reason you might want to listen to it.
An Eclectic, Musical Masterpiece Apr 30, 2009
Scott Weiland is my favorite musician. There's some quality he has that fascinates me and both of his former bands are two of my favorite bands. His first solo album, 12 Bar Blues, was the most experimental thing he'd done up to that point and since than. Happy in Galoshes, while not without experimentation, is his most straightforward solo album. There's some studio trickery, but the album is pure pop-rock perfection.
I love this album more than anything he's done. It has a distinct quality that hooked me instantly and I've now listened to it more than anything else he's done. I don't want to say that Happy in Galoshes is the best album he's ever done, but it's got such a wide variety of music that it's hard not find a song to fit whatever mood you're in...And it's certainly my favorite.
Weiland has said that his biggest musical influence is David Bowie and that has never been more apparent than on this album. Besides emulating Bowie's vocal style on a few songs (more on that later), the album cover itself is similar to Bowie's Heathen album.
"Missing Cleveland" opens the album and sounds like typical-Weiland. It's a rock song, the archetypical single. It's a damned good song though. "Tangle With Your Mind" is a more acoustic-driven song that has an almost folk element to it.
The next two songs are "Blind Confusion" and "Paralysis." The first song has a great 80s pop-style riff with an insanely catchy "rain, rain, rain, yeah we talk about rain" refrain. "Paralysis" begins with some great guitar chords and than Weiland begins the first verse in a Heathen-era Bowie baritone. The chorus of "Paralysis" will get stuck in your head instantly and the song is so brilliantly arranged and recorded. My iPod lists 159 plays for this song and it still hasn't gotten old.
"She Sold Her System" is good, but one of the weakest on the album. His cover of Bowie's "Fame" is very faithful, but has better production quality and actually rivals the original. "Killing Me Sweetly" is a beautiful acoustic-song in the vein of "Tangle With Your Mind," except I like it better. I definitely sense an Elliot Smith influence here. "Big Black Monster" is one of the most experimental songs on the album and I enjoy it a lot, but friends have said it's the best on the album.
"Beautiful Day" is brilliant! A much layered arrangement makes this almost more of an experience than a song. It's atmospheric, beautiful, and breathtaking. It would perfectly in a horror movie (it was actually used in the film Bug, but not until the credits).
There are three additional examples of beauty on this album. In "Crash," Weiland uses falsetto to miraculous effect and makes a poppy, somewhat electronic ballad something special. "Pictures & Computers" is a very personal song, with lyrics that have a much more profound effect the way Weiland sings them. In the chorus, when he says "Oh, let me be," you don't just hear it, you feel it. He projects so much feeling and emotion into the song, it's quite powerful. "Be Not Afraid" is a Catholic hymn that you probably won't be rocking out to, but it's beauty is what keeps it from being the song you only listen to once and forget about.
"Arch Angel" (about Weiland's late brother Michael) sounds remarkably similar to "What in the World" from Bowie's Low album. You'll know what I mean when you hear the two. People have complained about the vocal mix on this song, but I have no issue with it. I think it sounds fine and it's obviously a song that Weiland NEEDED to record.
The one-disc edition is a brilliant album. The deluxe edition features 7 extra songs and includes a voucher for a free T-shirt that you'll receive by mail. The extra songs are Blister On My Soul, Hyper-Fuzz-Funny-Car, The Man I Didn't Know, Sometimes Chicken Soup, Some Things Must Go This Way, Sentimental Halos, and Reel Around the Fountain.
These songs didn't hit me as quick as the others, but many of them did grow on me. I still can't get into Hyper-Fuzz-Funny-Car, Sometimes Chicken Soup, and Sentimental Halos (Velvet Revolver fans will notice something about that last song title). His two covers are great though, this being "Reel Around the Fountain" (The Smiths) and "Some Things Must Go This Way" (Paolo Alto). The Smiths cover is more faithful to the original than his "Fame" cover, so it sounds about the same. I've never heard the Paolo Alto song, but it sounds damn good here.
As for "Blister On My Soul," it could be played on the radio..."The Man I Didn't Know" is about Weiland's father and has some pretty honest lyrics.
The T-Shirt that comes with the deluxe edition is a simple white shirt with the artist and title of the album stamped onto it. Whatever, it was free...
Most people can get the one-disc and be satisfied, but Weiland worshippers will want to get the deluxe. Once you get into them, those extra songs aren't too bad.
Happy in Galoshes is completely solid and many of the songs on it are the best that Scott has ever recorded. In a musical culture filled with sound-alike rock bands, has-beens, faded rock stars looking for a comeback, fading rock stars putting out decent albums, and `90s survivors going insane (see Chris Cornell's Scream), Weiland has not only survived but thrived. "Happy" will not be going platinum, but it's hard to listen to this album and not get into it.
On one final note, Scott Weiland said this album allowed him to do his own thing as he didn't need to worry about radio-play. I think he should do his own thing more often as he produced one of his best albums and one of the best albums of last year.
GRADE: A
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