Core (1992) ( )

Product Summary Label: Wea/atlantic UPC: 00075678241826 Release Date: 9/29/1992 Buy.com Sku: 60148938 Item#: MHYTYP Buy.com Sales Rank: 2059 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Dead And Bloated ~ Stone Temple Pilots 2. Sex Type Thing ~ Stone Temple Pilots 3. Wicked Garden ~ Stone Temple Pilots 4. No Memory ~ Stone Temple Pilots 5. Sin ~ Stone Temple Pilots 6. Naked Sunday ~ Stone Temple Pilots 7. Creep ~ Stone Temple Pilots 8. Piece Of Pie ~ Stone Temple Pilots 9. Plush ~ Stone Temple Pilots 10. Wet My Bed ~ Stone Temple Pilots 11. Crackerman ~ Stone Temple Pilots 12. Where The River Goes ~ Stone Temple Pilots   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Stone Temple Pilots: Weiland (vocals); Dean DeLeo (guitar); Robert DeLeo (bass); Eric Kretz (drums). Recorded at Rumbo Recorders, Los Angeles. "Plush" won the 1994 Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal." Stone Temple Pilots were positively vilified once their 1992 debut, Core, started scaling the charts in 1993, pegged as fifth-rate Pearl Jam copyists. It is true that the worst moments of Core play like a parody of the Seattle scene -- titles like "Dead and Bloated" and "Crackerman" tell you that much, playing like really bad Alice in Chains parodies, and the entire record tends to sink into gormless post-grunge sludge. Furthermore, even if it rocks pretty hard, it's usually without much character, sounding like cut-rate grunge. To be fair, it's more that they share the same influences as their peers than being overt copycats, but it's still a little disheartening all the same. If that's all that Core was, it'd be as forgettable as Seven Mary Three, but there are the hits that propelled it up the charts, songs that have remarkably stood the test of time to be highlights of their era. "Sex Type Thing" may have a clumsy anti-rape lyric that comes across as misogynist, but it survives on its terrifically lunk-headed riff, while "Wicked Garden" is a surprisingly effective piece of revivalist acid rock. Then, there's the slow acoustic crawl of "Creep" that works as well as anything on AIC's Sap and, finally, "Plush," a majestic album rock revival more melodic and stylish than anything grunge produced outside of Nirvana itself. These four songs aren't enough to salvage a fairly pedestrian debut, but they do find STP to be nimble rock craftsmen when inspiration hits. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine The group that put San Diego on the musical map, Stone Temple Pilots released their debut album with no fanfare, and caught the public's eye only after touring for a year. CORE's sound--relentlessly pounding guitars, a heavy bottom and a singer whose vocal style bled with some unseen pain--played perfectly into the swell of grunge that had been building up in the mainstream for two years before its release. Topically, CORE went beyond the the usual sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll fare associated with hard rock. The drill instructor intro that singer Weiland chants off at the beginning of "Dead & Bloated" is a disgusted swipe at the rivers of apathy coursing through America. The enigmatic singer often donned a dress on stage to drive home the point of the anti-rape song "Sex Type Thing." Guitarist Dean DeLeo's playing grinds and swirls, pulling the listener to and fro on a crunchy carpet of distortion. Brother Robert's bass rumbles and pops thunderously, as drummer Eric Kretz matches him with unbridled ferocity. STP click spectacularly on the consecutive tandem of "Sin" and "Naked Sunday," taking on the political hot-button of religion. "Sin" addresses the danger of blind piety that leaves no room for compassion, while "Naked Sunday" deals with the quest for God and the uncertainty of such spiritual pursuits. Pretty heavy stuff for a group that should be more concerned with living the stereotypical rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The group that put San Diego, California, on the musical map, Stone Temple Pilots released their debut album with little fanfare, and caught the public eye only after touring for a year. CORE's sound--relentlessly pounding guitars, a heavy bottom, and a singer whose vocal style bled with some unseen pain--played perfectly into the swell of grunge that had been building up in the mainstream for two years before its release. Topically, CORE went beyond the the usual sex, drugs, and rock & roll fare associated with hard rock. The drill-instructor intro that singer Scott Weiland chants at the beginning of "Dead & Bloated" is a disgusted swipe at the rivers of apathy coursing through America. The enigmatic singer often donned a dress onstage to drive home the point of the anti-rape song "Sex Type Thing." Guitarist Dean DeLeo's playing grinds and swirls, pulling the listener to and fro on a crunchy carpet of distortion. Brother Robert's bass rumbles and pops thunderously, as drummer Eric Kretz matches him with unbridled ferocity. STP clicks spectacularly on the consecutive tandem of "Sin" and "Naked Sunday," taking on the political hot-button topic of religion. "Sin" addresses the danger of blind piety that leaves no room for compassion, while "Naked Sunday" deals with the quest for God and the uncertainty of such spiritual pursuits. Pretty heavy stuff for a group presumed to be living the stereotypical rock & roll lifestyle. Producer: Brendan O'Brien Engineer: Nick DiDia   Artist Overview On the release of their first album in 1992, San Diego's Stone Temple Pilots attracted positive critical and popular attention, balanced with a preponderance of comparisons to Pearl Jam and other concurrent grunge acts. This is understandable considering the similarities on songs like "Plush"--emotive lead singer, powerful rhythm section, big crunchy guitars--but by their second album, which debuted on the Billboard charts at number one, STP had distinguished themselves as a creative unit to be reckoned with. A third album, TINY MUSIC..., further strayed from the grunge formula and garnered some of their best reviews. Sadly, lead singer Scott Weiland's heroin addiction, repeated stints in rehab, and arrests greatly curtailed the group's progress. Yet the 2000s produced several reunions amidst Weiland's duties as frontman of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. Artist Influences Black Flag (Punk) | Hurt (Rock) | Iron Butterfly | Jethro Tull | Led Zeppelin | Mott The Hoople | Pink Floyd | T. Rex (Rock) | The Rolling Stones Artist Contemporaries Gumball | Love Battery | Mudhoney | Nirvana (USA) | Pearl Jam | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Screaming Trees | Soundgarden | Tad | The Melvins Artist Followers Against Me! | Alexisonfire | All-American Rejects | Arctic Monkeys | Good Charlotte | The Killers (00s) | The Kooks (UK) | The Pink Spiders | The Subways   Compilation Appearances Crow BIG SHINY TUNES 5 / VARIOUS Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack (Explicit Version) Evan Almighty Ultimate Grammy Collection: Contemporary Rock Buzzcuts Buzz Ballads 2 Atlantic Records: Time Capsule (Limited Edition)   Technical Info Release Date : 09/29/1992 Original Release Date : 1992 Catalog ID : 82418 Label : Atlantic (USA) Number of Discs : 1 Runtime : 53m : 39s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00075678241826   Professional Reviews Rolling Stone (12/23/93, p.152) - "...With Eric Kretz bashing the skins like a Bonham manque and axeman Robert DeLeo ladling murk, CORE is a testosteronefest..." CMJ (1/6/03, p.16) - Included in CMJ's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time"    Product Image