Title: Core Artist: Stone Temple Pilots Label: Atlantic Release Date: 1992 Rating: 4 Skulls
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Reviewed by Solomon:
Stone Temple Pilots is another one of those early 90's bands that seemed to be caught in the market transition from metal to some alternative something-or-other. Not quite as heavy as Alice In Chains but certainly carrying more weight than Pearl Jam, it may be easy to cast STP aside as a product of the short-lived scene that descended from the perpetually overcast skies of the American Northwest (even though these dudes are from California.) Sure, Scott Weiland had the Staley/Vedder vocal inflections down pat, and guitar-heavy tracks like "Dead and Bloated" and "Piece of Pie" bogged you down like wet flanel on a rainy day, but STP's solid songwriting and pleasant variety of material on Core overcame any blatant ties to Seattle. They were hard enough to give you "Sex Type Thing" (a bold move to sing from the standpoint of a rapist), but had the sensitivity to throw in some "Creep," too. Guitarist Dean DeLeo had a knack for throwing in some tasty alternative or unusual chord voicings and guitar fills, most notable in the ultra-cool track "Plush," but more examples can be found in "Sin," "Where The River Goes," and "Naked Sunday."

There are so many good songs on here, it's really difficult to say anything bad about this record. I have my favorites, of course, and this stuff is a little hard to judge fairly after being drenched by the recent wave of European black/death/power metal. Even though Core isn't real true-blue metal, at least, for its time, tunes like the aforementioned "Sex Type Thing," "Dead and Bloated," and "Piece of Pie" beat the hell out of most MTV and radio fare.

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