Stone Temple Pilots, "Core" (1992)

[jazklash]

A genuine classic of alt.rock's halcyon days? The album which marked the point when alt.rock turned into corporate rock in disguise? Both?
Discuss!

[busyboy]

It was both.

The Seattle influence is crystal clear, especially if you compare STP with Alice in Chains. Couple that with their ability to write good songs (something that can't be denied, I think), and you can easily see why they scored such massive success with this album.

On the other hand, they were still fresh enough to not pass as simple clones of the original bands. Probably because of their personal songwriting and their ability to find good melodies. They were ready-made for mass consumption, no doubt, but they didn't smell of corporate rock like Candlebox or, worse, the post-grunge bands that came out of the woodwork in the late 90's/early 00's. And I say this in hindsight, because I loved Candlebox at the time, and I even appreciated Staind's debut album for a few months about five years later.

As for the band itself, this was a pretty good album. They got better with Purple and Tiny Music... (poppier, more eclectic albums that showed they had more to offer than just grunge, IMO), before crashing down with that abomination that 1999's No. 4 was.

[halo19]

I think it's a solid album on the whole but I'm guess I'm one of those guys who feels that the singles were what really drove the album. Not that the album cuts were bad but the clearly best stuff was released to radio. Most of the songs run at roughly five minutes and properly get to the point. They have humor in one of the interludes at least.

As said I feel like Candlebox were much more responsible for the downfall. Those guys were watered down and corporate. These guys have songs familiar enough, but they put in enough emotion and good songs in there to make up for what may not be groundbreaking in the first place.

[unicorns]

I actually don't have this album, but I love the singles, especially "Plush". I have the follow-up Purple though and I think that's a great album.

[weaver]

This is a great album, although not my favorite by them. I think that would have to be Purple. This album got them a lot of Pearl Jam comparisons. I think I agreed at the time, but now, I don't think they are even close. They are much more modern rock-ish, where PJ is more like classic rock.

[weaver]

I think STP's most overlooked album is Shangri La Dee Da. They released the wrong single first, and it killed the album. Days of the Week is a good song, but very un-STP. I heard a rumor that it was meant for Sheryl Crow- to listen to it, I can imagine that totally.

I saw them in concert during the tour for this album, and they only played one song from it. Scott introduced it as a song "from their album that nobody bought." I think it was Coma, which was inexplicably not a single. Hollywood Bitch and Too Cool Queenie (totally about Courtney Love) were hidden gems as well.

[back2blk]

Plush and Sex Type Thing were enough for me from this album; but it's definitely not my favorite of theirs. They improved with each album.