#357 Stone Temple Pilots — Core: The Album That Critics Hated and Fans Made Platinum

#357 Stone Temple Pilots — Core: The Album That Critics Hated and Fans Made Platinum

June 25, 2026 · 1h 8m · Episode 358

About this episode

The episode discusses the debut album 'CORE' by Stone Temple Pilots, its reception, and its impact on the music scene.

“I mean it’s June, so…” Released September 29, 1992, CORE, the debut album from San Diego, California’s own STONE TEMPLE PILOTS (or STP for short) is one of those albums that doesn’t really fit into the “grunge” category, nor does it fit into the traditional “heavy metal” box either. It’s certainly not grunge but is definitely “more metal than Pearl Jam”, and while there may be some subtle similarities here and there, they are as different as apples and apple sauce. “It’s June, man. Knock yourself out…” Of the STP discography, CORE is certainly their heaviest and most metal sounding album, offering a refreshing change to the musical landscape of the early 90’s with an alternative brand of metal filled with enough grunt and power to appeal to metal heads while simultaneously providing enough melody & hook to achieve the widespread popularity and mainstream crossover success that would lead to its 8x platinum sales status. Produced by Brendan O’Brien, a legendary name in the alternative metal scene during the 1990’s, CORE is “the heavier side of the ‘grunge’ thing”. You might say that STP’s CORE was “the next wave of metal that wasn’t Pantera…or thrash”. “We’ve only got 2 more…

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