Stone Temple Pilots: Core (2017 remaster) [ATLANTIC]

Why you'll love it

This 2017 remaster is pressed on 180g vinyl with the original 1992 artwork. Core reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, is certified 8x platinum, and "Plush" won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

This edition

• Remastered
• 180g vinyl
• Original 1992 artwork
• Pressed in the EU
• Stereo mix

About the album

Core was finished and headed for mastering when the band hit a snag: a blues musician already owned the name Mighty Joe Young. Scott Weiland, a fan of STP motor oil stickers since childhood, started riffing on the letters, Dean DeLeo floated "Stereo Temple Pirates," and Stone Temple Pilots was born just in time for the sleeve.

Weiland and Robert DeLeo had met on the San Diego club circuit, and with Dean DeLeo on guitar and Eric Kretz on drums they made Core with producer Brendan O'Brien at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles. It's their heaviest record, mixing 70s hard rock muscle with alternative tunings on "Dead & Bloated," "Sex Type Thing" and "Crackerman," while "Wicked Garden," "Creep" and "Plush" lean into jazzier, psychedelic chord changes. "Piece of Pie" began life as a demo meant for The Crow soundtrack. The title nods to Adam and Eve, which is why Eve is reaching for the apple on the cover.

They toured it opening for Rage Against the Machine and Megadeth, and taped an MTV Unplugged in late 1993. The sleeve credits note that Eric Kretz "has injured himself on Yamaha drums," which is the sort of honesty we'd like to see in more equipment endorsements.

Also at Kops: more Stone Temple Pilots on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Atlantic (cat# RR1 82418), a reissue of the 1992 album.