I’m not going to lie to you: I was no fan of Stone Temple Pilots back when they were at the height of their popularity.

The year was 1993, and I was fully into Nirvana and discovering bands like Pavement and the Pixies. You know, good bands.

The first time I saw STP on MTV, I literally wondered if it was a new Pearl Jam video. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

The music didn’t sound much like Pearl Jam, but the lead singer looked and sounded a lot like Eddie Vedder, pink hair notwithstanding.

Turns out that video was for “Plush,” a big hit from the STP album “Core,” the first of the band’s five full-lengths that have sold nearly 40 million copies around the world.

Without question, STP was at the right place at the right time; their big guitar-rock riffs and frontman Scott Weiland’s pained, throaty vocals made them ripe not only for mainstream success in the grunge-grab era but also for derision from folks (like me, I guess) who wouldn’t allow themselves to be fooled.

I didn’t hate “Plush.” (In fact, I always thought I could nail it at karaoke night.) But like many, I dismissed STP as a second-wave (maybe third) arena-grunge band riding the coattails of all those better bands from Seattle.

I went on to college, where I paid less attention to what was happening in popular music. I knew STP put together a string of successful singles, but never bothered to care very much, beyond a listen or two on the radio or TV.

When Weiland got into drug-related trouble again and again, it barely registered a blip on my radar. When the band broke up in 2002, there wasn’t even a blip.

But here it is 2008 — Weiland has ditched Velvet Revolver (the band he shared with ex-Guns N’ Roses guys) and reunited Stone Temple Pilots, and they’re coming to my town (see “If you go”).

Riding a wave of Gen-X nostalgia (not unlike, say, Boomer nostalgia for the music of their day, though the Gen-Xers would never admit it), STP is touring all over the country right now, and folks my age are eating it up. Alas, all this attention has given the Pilots back their rock-star swagger; they “don’t do” interviews, I was told a few weeks ago.

But … but … who’s going to answer my silly questions? Whose quotes will I use to fill space between my snarky prose?

No matter, I thought. I’ll find another angle.

So I started seeking out STP videos on YouTube, to remind myself why this band resonated with so many folks only a decade-and-a-half ago. Were they the Nickelback of the ’90s, as I remember them? Or was there something there more redeeming?

I went back to “Plush.” (Let’s ignore for a minute the fact that most of STP’s videos scream “Look how weird we are!” Seriously, this band made terrible videos.) The fact is, “Plush” is still a toe-tapper, and those dark opening chords are among the most recognizable progressions in grunge. Two other singles from “Core” — “Sex Type Thing” and “Wicked Garden” — are pretty run-of-the-mill rockers, though both reveal STP drummer Eric Kretz’s importance to the band’s sound. (That dude always looked like he belonged in Widespread Panic and had gotten on the wrong tour bus at some festival somewhere.)

“Creep,” a ballad, reveals perhaps a little more versatility than they were given credit for, though it might also be Weiland’s lyrical nadir. (“Feeling uninspired. Think I’ll start a fire. Everybody run, Bobby’s got a gun. Think you’re kinda neat, then she tells me I’m a creep.” Blech.)

Looking back, though, the band hit its peak with 1994’s “Purple,” which features the hits “Interstate Love Song” and “Vasoline.” The former is a breezy and instantly memorable, almost twangy rock tune, while the latter’s basic, buzzy riff is STP at its catchiest. The other single from that album, “Big Empty,” sounds like the sequel to “Creep,” but bluesier. And better than I remember.

By 1996, the band seemed to be getting better, actually. The singles from that year’s “Tiny Music … Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop” album are grittier and more varied, with a touch of ’60s psychedelia. An interesting bass line drives “Big Bang Baby,” and that song’s bridge sounds like the Beach Boys, if they traded in their surfboards for flannel. “Lady Picture Show,” well, I forgot that one existed. With good reason. But hindsight proves “Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart” to be a pretty great tune, even if it does ape Led Zeppelin pretty blatantly. It sounds like it was partly recorded in a bathroom, and that’s a good thing. That’s called character.

OK, that’s enough of that. I lost interest in this little experiment, in part because the songs from STP’s “No. 4” album (and whatever that fifth album was called) are, um, not good. Not good at all.

But what did we learn here, folks? We learned that Teenage Ben’s pooh-poohing of Stone Temple Pilots might have — might have — been a tad misguided.

I mean, I can’t tell you that the band’s albums are terrific. I can’t vouch for the deep cuts, because I haven’t heard ’em. And I can’t endorse the live show; I’ve never seen it.

But STP’s singles? The songs they thought were most likely to connect with the masses? They’re not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

So on Monday, cap your Labor Day by spending an hour or two with Stone Temple Pilots. You might really enjoy it, especially if you’re like me — thirtysomething and secretly pining for the golden era of Generation X, and all the tattered sweaters and stringy hair that come with it.

And if you don’t, just remember: You could be seeing Bush.

If you go

What: Stone Temple Pilots, with opener Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, gates open 5 p.m.

Where: Les Schwab Amphitheater, 344 S.W. Shevlin Hixon Drive, Bend

Cost: $39 general admission, $69 reserved, plus service charges, available at all TicketMaster outlets, including Joe’s (541-388-5595) and The Ticket Mill (541-318-5457) in Bend, as well as www.ticketmaster.com and 866-866-4502.

Contact: 541-318-5457 or www.bendconcerts.com