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, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #3 on the Billboard 200,[3] was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA on December 18, 2001,[4] making it the band's best-selling album.

Core
Studio album by
Stone Temple Pilots
ReleasedSeptember 29, 1992 (1992-09-29)
RecordedDecember 1991–January 1992
StudioRumbo Recorders, Canoga Park, California
Genre
Length53:37
LabelAtlantic
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots chronology
Core
(1992)		 Purple
(1994)
Singles from Core
  1. "Sex Type Thing"
    Released: January 25, 1993
  2. "Plush"
    Released: May 13, 1993
  3. "Creep"
    Released: November 1, 1993

Recording

The first recorded track for the album, the 96 second "Wet My Bed", emerged from an improv session between vocalist Scott Weiland and bassist Robert DeLeo, who were alone in the studio. Producer Brendan O'Brien can be heard at the end of the track, walking into the room and saying "All right, now what?" The rest of the album was recorded in a matter of five weeks, after which the band decided on the name "Core", referring to the apple of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.

Composition

Core, as a debut album, displayed the band's attempt to revive the album-oriented music approach of the 1970s. Striving to create an intense and emotional sound, vocalist Weiland has 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. "Naked Sunday", according to Weiland, "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."[5] Further explaining his lyrical style on Core, Weiland was quoted as saying:

I feel very strongly that all individuals, regardless of age, race, creed or sexual preference, should have the freedom to exercise their rights as human beings to enjoy life, pursue what they want and feel comfortable about who they are. I guess I tend to find the darker sides of life more attractive than the yellows and oranges. I know it's something that I relate to when I listen to music.

"You know how when you listen to a Led Zeppelin album, you listen to the entire album, not just the odd song? We wanted to make a record like that. We wanted to create a vibe which would run right through the whole album."

—Robert DeLeo

"Wicked Garden"'s lyrics 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
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Daily VaultA[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
Entertainment WeeklyB[9]
Kerrang!4/5[10]
Q[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Select4/5[13]
The Village VoiceB−[14]

Don Kaye of Kerrang! praised the band's "confidence and identity", unusual in debut albums.[10] However, the album still received mixed reviews overall. Music journalists often blasted the band as "rip-offs" of grunge acts such as Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.[6] Entertainment Weekly's Deborah Frost wrote that "Stone Temple Pilots' hit '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."[9] Paul Evans of Rolling Stone concluded that "inner child of Stone Temple Pilots is Iron Maiden, and that kid just won't quit howling".[15] Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, felt that the band is hard to distinguish from various other hard rock acts and said that, despite their best power chords, "Sex Type Thing" shows that they should "reconceive their aesthetic strategy—critiquewise, irony has no teeth when the will to sexual power still powers your power chords."[14]

The sharp divide between the band's growing fanbase and their critics was evident: in the midst of the album's success, the band was simultaneously voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics in January 1994.[16] Regarding the album's initial reception, Weiland told Entertainment Weekly in 2008, "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".[16] The album is ranked number 983 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000).[17]

"Plush" won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Stone Temple Pilots also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist award at the 1993 MTV Music Video Awards.

Legacy

Several of the album's songs remain rock radio staples in the United States.[18] 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.[19] In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the album at #11 on its list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums."[20]

On July 26, 2017, Stone Temple Pilots announced that a 25th anniversary edition of Core would be released on September 29, 2017. 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.[21]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Scott Weiland, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Dead & Bloated" Robert DeLeo, Weiland5:10
2."Sex Type Thing" Dean DeLeo, Eric Kretz3:38
3."Wicked Garden" R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo4:05
4."No Memory" (instrumental) D. DeLeo1:20
5."Sin" R. DeLeo6:05
6."Naked Sunday" R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Kretz, Weiland3:49
7."Creep"Weiland, R. DeLeoR. DeLeo5:33
8."Piece of Pie" R. DeLeo5:24
9."Plush"Weiland, KretzR. DeLeo5:14
10."Wet My Bed" R. DeLeo1:36
11."Crackerman" R. DeLeo, Kretz3:14
12."Where the River Goes" D. DeLeo, Kretz8:25
Total length:53:37

[22]

25th Anniversary Edition disc 2: Demos and B-sides
No.TitleLength
1."Only Dying" (demo)5:20
2."Wicked Garden" (demo)3:49
3."Naked Sunday" (demo)3:42
4."Where the River Goes" (demo)7:17
5."Dead & Bloated" (demo)5:04
6."Sex Type Thing" (demo)3:24
7."Sin" (demo)6:15
8."Creep" (demo)5:40
9."Plush" (demo)5:05
10."Sex Type Thing" (Swing Type Version)4:23
11."Plush" (Acoustic Type Version)4:49
12."Creep" (New Album Version)5:34
13."Plush" (Acoustic from MTV Headbanger's Ball (Take 1))5:28
25th Anniversary Edition disc 3: Live 1993
No.TitleLength
1."Crackerman" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)3:30
2."Wicked Garden" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)4:41
3."No Memory" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)1:14
4."Sin" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)6:25
5."Plush" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)5:06
6."Where the River Goes" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)9:11
7."Sex Type Thing" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)4:12
8."Wet My Bed" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)2:49
9."Naked Sunday" (Live at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater July 2, 1993)4:21
10."Wicked Garden" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)4:32
11."No Memory" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)1:15
12."Sin" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)6:58
13."Lounge Fly" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)6:07
14."Dead & Bloated" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)4:47
15."Sex Type Thing" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)4:01
16."Naked Sunday" (Live at the Reading Festival August 27, 1993)4:15
25th Anniversary Edition disc 4: MTV Unplugged (November 17, 1993)
No.TitleLength
1."Crackerman"4:05
2."Creep"5:49
3."Andy Warhol" (David Bowie cover)2:53
4."Plush"5:47
5."Big Empty"4:58
6."Wicked Garden"4:19
7."Sex Type Thing"4:29

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes [22]

Stone Temple Pilots

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 album charts
Charts (1992 - 1993) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 29
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 21
Canadian Albums (RPM)[25] 8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 10
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[27] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 53
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 11
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30] 20
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 36
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 27
US Billboard 200[34] 3

End of decade album charts
Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard 200[35] 93

Singles charts
Title Year Peak chart positions
US
Pop
[36]		 US
Air
[37]		 US
Alt.
[38]		 US
Main. Rock
[39]		 AUS
[40]		 CAN
[41]		 NLD
[42]		 NZ
[43]		 SWE
[44]		 UK
[45]
"Sex Type Thing" 1992 ———23—————55
"Plush" 1993 183991472115231823
"Wicked Garden" ——2111——————
"Creep" —591227645—24——
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[46] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[47] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[50] 8× Platinum 8,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Laufenberg, Cindy (1995). Songwriter's Market, 1996: Where & how to Market Your Songs. Writer's Digest Books. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-89879-711-4.
  2. Manley, Brendan (March 25, 2016). "20 Years Ago: Stone Temple Pilots Release 'Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop'". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  3. "Core Billboard Charts". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  4. "Gold and Platinum". Archived from the original on 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  5. "Stone Temple Pilots". June 1, 1993. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  6. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Core – Stone Temple Pilots". AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  7. Narvaez, Alfredo (2020). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Core". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Stone Temple Pilots". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  9. Frost, Deborah (March 12, 1993). "Core". Entertainment Weekly (161). Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  10. Kaye, Don (November 14, 1992). "Stone Temple Pilots: Core". Kerrang!. London (418).
  11. Garner, George (October 2017). "Stone Temple Pilots: Core". Q (377): 113.
  12. Appleford, Steve (2004). "Stone Temple Pilots". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 785–86. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  13. Clarke, Jeremy (January 1993). "Stone Temple Pilots: Core (East/West)". Select (31): 76. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  14. Christgau, Robert (November 23, 1993). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  15. Evans, Paul (December 23, 1993). "Stone Temple Pilots: Core". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  16. Greenblatt, Leah (May 9, 2008). "Rebuilding the Temple". Entertainment Weekly.
  17. "Rocklist". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  18. Peters, Mitchell (2 April 2010). "Stone Temple Pilots: The Billboard Cover Story". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  19. Grassi, Tony. "Photo Gallery: The Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1992". GuitarWorld.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  22. Core liner notes. Atlantic Records. 1992. pp. 3–9.
  23. "Australiancharts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  24. "Austriancharts.at – Stone Temple Pilots – Core" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  25. "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 58, No. 5". RPM. Walt Grealis. August 14, 1993. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  26. "Dutchcharts.nl – Stone Temple Pilots – Core" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  27. "Stone Temple Pilots: Core" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  28. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  29. "Charts.nz – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  30. "Norwegiancharts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  31. "Swedishcharts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  32. "Swisscharts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  33. "Stone Temple Pilots | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  34. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  35. Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  36. "Stone Temple Pilots – Chart History: Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  37. Stone Temple Pilots - Hot 100 Airplay (Radio Songs) chart history billboard.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  38. "Stone Temple Pilots – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  39. "Stone Temple Pilots – Chart History: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  40. Peak chart positions for singles in Australia:
    • Top 50 peaks: "Discography Stone Temple Pilots". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
    • Top 100 peaks to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  41. Peak chart positions for singles in Canada:
  42. "Discografie Stone Temple Pilots". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  43. "Discography Stone Temple Pilots". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  44. "Discography Stone Temple Pilots". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  45. "Stone Temple Pilots". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original (select "Singles" tab) on February 17, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  46. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  47. "Canadian album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Music Canada.
  48. "New Zealand album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  49. "British album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". British Phonographic Industry.
  50. "American album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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