Scott Weiland

The rock world turned blue holding its breath for Chinese Democracy, only to discover what it already feared: W. Axl Rose won’t ever take us down to “Paradise City” again. Meanwhile, skanktastic underdog and ’90s heir-apparent Scott Weiland spent much of the past decade bouncing in and out of rehab, two marriages and all-star bands like Velvet Revolver, with former Rose foil Slash and the other ex-Gunners.

He copped all the psycho-glamster poses, but offstage his life was crap. Last year, the drug-overdose death of his brother and a drunken-driving incident that led to jail time didn’t bode well for the singer’s prosperous future. Yet, what do you know? He’s staggered from the turmoil to lead his former 1990s hit machine Stone Temple Pilots on a reunion tour, and now the California native offers a second solo outing, his first in a decade.

Surprisingly, his new record, quickly banged out in town with Steve Albini, is pretty good. Never much of an original, Weiland nonetheless embodies his stardom wholeheartedly. Galoshes romps through a gallery of iconic styles, as if the performer were flipping through the pages of illustrator Guy Peellaert’s classic Rock Dreams. The disc opens at full tilt with the happy-hour anthem “Missing Cleveland,” then segues straight into…a banjo number? Yup.

“Tangle with Your Mind” finds the singer sharing his romantic angst in a Dylanesque rasp over a shambling folk rhythm. The kaleidoscopic “She Sold Her System” shimmers with psychedelic pop frills and fanciful vocal distortions. Weiland revisits Bowie on a dud cover of “Fame” but gets closer to the Thin White Duke’s alien soulfulness on “Big Black Monster,” a sassy contrivance that redeems his lost years with playful swagger.

Weiland slithers into the House of Blues with Eagles of Death Metal and Cold War Kids on Thursday 18.

Click here to read more album reviews.