Core is the debut studio album by Stone Temple Pilots, released on September 29, 1992, through Atlantic Records. The album 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. 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: “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”.
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. 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.
Tracklist:
- Dead & Bloated
- Sex Type Thing
- Wicked Garden
- No Memory (instrumental)
- Sin
- Naked Sunday
- Creep
- Piece of Pie
- Plush
- Wet My Bed
- Crackerman
- Where the River Goes
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
Scott Richard Weiland (October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015)
