In an interview with Rolling Stone ahead of the album's release, Scott Weiland compared the excitement he felt during the making of Blaster with his emotions during the early days of Stone Temple Pilots: "If you take out the fact that we had to break up the recording process when touring, the album came very easily because of the vibe between the band members.

Even in his softest work with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, his tunes could be best described as “guitar-heavy” and “furry.” Blaster is no different, though he has gone more glam than before.

"[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "With such a familiar palette, details matter and the aptly titled Blaster lacks in subtlety.

Much of it churns at crackling digital overdrive, sounding brutal, loud, and ugly, but beneath that gnarled surface, Weiland can still deliver the kind of candied hooks that keep him firmly situated as a guilty pleasure.

But on most of Blaster, Weiland's first all-new solo album since 2008, he suffers from a bad case of Generic Rock Voice, firing off gravelly clichés like, "In the nick of time/I was taken by surprise by this girl of mine" ("Amethyst").