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What can we say about Scott Weiland that hasn't already been said? Since his days in Stone Temple Pilots, he's been the subject of much media scrutiny. In the grungy '90s he was the music press's number-one punching bag, accused of being a poor man's Eddie Vedder (and those were the good reviews). Around the time of STP's excellent and adventurous third album, Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop, and Scott's lushly Bowie-esque first solo album 12 Bar Blues, that all changed. Weiland finally began to receive the critical acclaim that had long alluded him...but then the media focus quickly shifted to his personal life, as battles with his two off-and-on bands (STP and then supergroup Velvet Revolver), his wife, and his drug addiction became standard tabloid fodder.

It's understandable, then, that Scott was somewhat guarded when he sat down for his recent Yahoo! Music interview, hiding half of his face behind a wide-brimmed fedora (albeit an extremely stylish one) and a shroud of ever-present cigarette smoke, and choosing his monotonic words extremely carefully. Clearly this is a man who likes his music to do the talking. But luckily for him, the music on his long-awaited, 10-years-in-the-making second solo album, Happy In Galoshes, speaks volumes about this troubled artist's talent. It's an elegant, glamorous affair featuring contributions by Paul Oakenfold, members of No Doubt, and longtime collaborator Doug Grean, and it even includes a surprisingly solid cover of his idol David Bowie's "Fame." So whatever is going on in this guy's personal life, it's certainly providing inspiration for him creatively.

Here's Scott's aforementioned fedora-topped, tight-lipped interview, along with three exclusive performances of songs from Happy In Galoshes shot in his own private studio in Burbank, California: