ALBUM REVIEW: STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – Core

ALBUM REVIEW: STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – Core
Warner Bros
October 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

Most records don’t sell 8 million copies without a very good reason indeed, and Stone Temple Pilots’ 1992 debut album is no exception, delivering the exact right sound for the nascent grunge movement to latch onto and run with.

Core opens with the belligerant grunt of Dead & Bloated, contains the irresistably catchy grunge anthems Creep and Plush, and puts their social conscience and darker leanings on display through Wicked Garden, Sex Type Thing, Crackerman, Sin and Where The River Goes.

Core is a remarkable album, and 25 years on it still sounds vibrant and disturbing – perhaps more so in the wake of singer Scott Weiland’s long history of drug problems and 2015 overdose death.

The guitar of Dean DeLeo is uncompromising, while Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz’s rhythm section grab hold tightly and never let the listener go for a moment.

Released with a bonus disc full of demos and b-sides, Core is now even more vital than ever. Early run throughs of the album tracks show that the songs were close to fully formed when the band went in to record, and that only the sonics were to change with producer Brendan O’Brien.

Other extras include a swing version of Sex Type Thing, and two acoustic versions of Plush – one live from MTV.

Category: CD Reviews