STONE TEMPLE PILOTS have postponed their previously announced December and January tour dates until next year so they can complete work on their highly anticipated new album. The CD is being helmed by famed producer Don Was, who has previously worked with THE ROLLING STONES, IGGY POP and POISON, among many others.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' plan to release the record has been complicated by a legal dispute between STP's label, Atlantic Records, singer Scott Weiland and drummer Eric Kretz. Reports have indicated that Weiland and Kretz consider themselves free agents and are looking for a new deal, while the label claims they are bound to their original contract.

The new album will be the first from the band since 2001's "Shangri-La-Dee-Da". During STP's hiatus, guitarist Dean DeLeo told The Pulse of Radio that he and his brother, bassist Robert DeLeo, kept their songwriting chops up by working with artists ranging from PINK to PETER FRAMPTON. "We've been on a lot of writing sessions over the years and you know what? It's kind of cool, man, 'cause you go from writing with PINK to, like, PETER FRAMPTON and that's a wide array of music, you know," he said. "And it's kind of cool. You get to really cover a lot of terrain, man."

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS were reactivated in 2008 after a six-year hiatus, during which Scott Weiland recorded two albums with VELVET REVOLVER. He also issued his second solo record, "Happy In Galoshes", late last year, after STP completed its six-month comeback tour.

The DeLeos recorded one album with ARMY OF ANYONE, a project they started with FILTER frontman Richard Patrick.