Core (Stone Temple Pilots album)

Core
Studio album by Stone Temple Pilots
Released September 29, 1992
Recorded 1992, Rumbo Recorders Canoga Park, California
Genre Grunge, alternative metal, heavy metal, alternative rock
Length 53:37
Label Atlantic
Producer Brendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots chronology
Core
(1992)		 Purple
(1994)
Singles from Core
  1. "Dead and Bloated (UK only)/Sex Type Thing"
    Released: January 25, 1993
  2. "Plush"
    Released: May 13, 1993
  3. "Creep"
    Released: November 1, 1993

Core is the debut 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,[1] was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA on December 18, 2001,[2] making it the band's best-selling album.

Recording

The first recorded track for the album, the 96 second "Wet My Bed", emerged from an improv session between vocalist Weiland and bassist Robert, 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 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."[3] 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 its 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[4]
Robert ChristgauB–[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB[6]
Kerrang![7]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

Don Kaye of Kerrang! praised the band's "confidence and identity", unusual in debut albums.[7] However, the album still received mixed reviews overall. Music journalists often blasted the band as "rip-offs" of grunge bands such as Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.[4] Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B rating, saying "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."[6] 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."[5]

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.[10] 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".

"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.[11] 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.[12]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Scott Weiland, except where noted.

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

[13]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes [13]

Stone Temple Pilots

Additional Personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1992 Heatseekers 1
1993 The Billboard 200 3
UK Albums Chart 27
Canadian RPM Albums Chart 8

End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard 200[14] 93

Charting songs

Year Song Chart Position
1993 "Sex Type Thing" Mainstream Rock Tracks 23
"Plush" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
Modern Rock Tracks 9
Top 40 Mainstream 18
UK Singles Chart 23
"Wicked Garden" Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
Modern Rock Tracks 21
"Creep" Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
Modern Rock Tracks 12

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[15] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[16] 2× Platinum 200,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Silver 60,000
United States (RIAA)[18] 8× Platinum 8,000,000

References

  1. ↑ "Core Billboard Charts". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Gold and Platinum". Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  3. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots". June 1, 1993. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Core Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  5. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (November 23, 1993). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Frost, Deborah (12 March 1993). "Core (1993) Music Review". Entertainment Weekly (#161). Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  7. 1 2 Kaye, Don (14 November 1992). "Stone Temple Pilot 'Core'". Kerrang! 418. London, UK: EMAP.
  8. ↑ Evans, Paul (23 December 1993). "Core Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-01. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 785. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah. "Rebuilding the Temple". Entertainment Weekly. May 9, 2008.
  11. ↑ Peters, Mitchell (2 April 2010). "Stone Temple Pilots: The Billboard Cover Story". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  12. ↑ Grassi, Tony. "Photo Gallery: The Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1992". GuitarWorld.com. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  13. 1 2 Core liner notes. Atlantic Records. 1992. pp. 3–9.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  16. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". Music Canada.
  17. ↑ "British album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – Core". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Core in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  18. ↑ "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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