Core (Stone Temple Pilots Album)

''Core'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on September 29, 1992, through Atlantic Records. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts and was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA, making it the band's best-selling album of their career.

Recording

''Core'' was recorded with producer Brendan O'Brien at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles over the course of three weeks. The first recorded track for the album, "Wet My Bed", was from an improv session between vocalist Scott Weiland and bassist Robert DeLeo, who were alone in the studio. Producer O'Brien is heard at the end walking in saying "All right, now what?" After recording was done, the band named the album ''Core'', named after the apple featured in the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible.

Composition

''Core'' displayed the band's attempt to revive the album-oriented music approach of the 1970s. Striving to create an intense and emotional sound, Weiland said that the main theme of the album is that humanity is confused, with songs like "Sex Type Thing" and "Naked Sunday" dealing with social injustice. "Sex Type Thing", according to Weiland, deals with abuse of power, "macho" behavior, and humanity's attitude toward women, treating them as sex objects. Weiland stated that "Naked Sunday" "is about organized religion. About people who tell others what to do and what to believe. They switch off people's minds and control the masses. It gives me a feeling of isolation, when I think about it. Organized religion does not view everyone as equals." Further explaining his lyrical style on ''Core'', Weiland was quoted as saying:

The lyrics of "Wicked Garden" deal with the loss of innocence and purity, while "Sin" addresses "violent and ugly" relationships. The song "No Memory," a musical interlude between "Wicked Garden" and "Sin", was written by guitarist Dean DeLeo.

Reception

Critics, audiences and many peers from the alternative scene had split opinions of the band. Music journalists accused the band of stealing their sound from other grunge acts, mostly notably Pearl Jam. The band also received hostile complaints about their first single “Sex Type Thing,” as many thought the song promoted date rape. ''Entertainment Weekly''s Deborah Frost wrote that the first single, "Sex Type Thing", “could be Mike Tyson's rape defense transcribed into grunge rock. It's unclear whether STP, which sounds like it has crash-landed Pearl Jam into Alice in Chains, is condemning or identifying with its narrator. With a real point of view, this band could be bigger than an accident." Paul Evans of ''Rolling Stone'' concluded that the "inner child of Stone Temple Pilots is Iron Maiden, and that kid just won't quit howling." Don Kaye of ''Kerrang!'' praised the band's "confidence and identity," unusual in debut albums.

The sharp divide between journalists and the bands fan base was present in a January 1994 issue of Rolling Stone, in which the magazine's readers and critics labeled the band as Best and Worst New Band respectively. In later years, Weiland showed sorrow about the mixed reactions that Core got, saying, "It was really painful in the beginning because I just assumed that the critics would understand where we were coming from, that these just weren't dumb rock songs."

Legacy

Several of the album's songs remain rock radio staples in the United States.
In October 2011, ''Core'' was ranked number ten (preceded by Eric Clapton's acoustic live album ''Unplugged'') on ''Guitar World'' magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1992. In 2019, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album at No. 11 on its list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums."

On September 29, 2017, a 25th anniversary edition of ''Core'' was released. The reissue includes a 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (4CD/DVD/LP) box set, an exclusive ''Core'' 25th Anniversary T-shirt, and ''Core'' 25th Anniversary 16″ x 20″ lithograph. The Super Deluxe Edition's 4CDs present a remastered version of the album, previously unreleased demos and b-sides, and parts of three live performances from 1993 (Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater, Reading Festival, and ''MTV Unplugged''), alongside the remastered album on a single LP and a DVD including a 5.1 surround sound mix and videos for the album's three singles and Wicked Garden.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Scott Weiland, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes

Stone Temple Pilots
*Scott Weiland (credited as Weiland) – lead vocals
*Dean DeLeo – guitar
*Robert DeLeo – bass, backing vocals
*Eric Kretz – drums

Additional Personnel
* Brendan O'Brien – production and mixing
* Steve Stewart – management
* Nick DiDia – engineer
* Dick Kaneshiro – 2nd engineer
* Tom Baker – mastering
* Kevin Design Hosmann – art director
* Katrina Dickson – photography
* Christian Clayton – illustration

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Singles charts

Certifications

References

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1992 debut albums
Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)
Atlantic Records albums
Stone Temple Pilots albums