I still remember very vividly the first time I heard Stone Temple Pilots. I was in 9th grade and still very much in denial that 80’s hair metal was more or less on an indefinite hiatus. Ok, at that point it was dead. Whatever. I can admit it now. Kinda. Anyway, a friend of mine Michael Baglieri had a tape of it. Now me in the midst of having and/or needing every cassette tape known to man, was curious about something that I didn’t have and I really wanted to see what this Stone Temple Pilots was all about. So I “kinda” borrowed the tape from Bags (inside joke between me and him) and started listening to it.

Opening with “Dead and Bloated,” I realized that this was something very different and I immediately loved the vocals. The drums were loud and the bass made it move. The guitar work was also different than what I was accustomed to. I was instantly hooked. I was a fan from day 1 of hearing STP. Catchy choruses, bizarre lyrics that really didn’t make much sense then but now I get. Sorta. 

This was 25 years ago and the album still holds up. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Core has been reissued with a ton of bonus tracks including demos, unreleased songs, live tracks, and also the MTV Unplugged set is thrown in as well. I love listening to the live tracks because you get to hear the band in their early days. They were great from the beginning and only got better as time went on. The core of Core are all remixed and remastered and it really breathes new life into these songs. 

Core is the album that put STP on the map and made them one of the most successful bands to come out of the 90s. It went on to become 8x Platinum and earned the band a slew of awards including their only Grammy for “Plush.” 

The only thing that brought the band down was actually it’s greatest strength, Scott Weiland. That’s a whole other story. He will always be one of the greatest frontmen of rock ever and Core is a great showcase of his talent as well as the DeLeo brothers and Eric Kretz. Celebrate Core and revisit the timeless classic that still holds up. -NzaSixx

Core 25 has been released in multiple formats and packages.

Disc One: Original Album Remastered

1. “Dead & Bloated”

2. “Sex Type Thing”

3. “Wicked Garden”

4. “No Memory”

5. “Sin”

6. “Naked Sunday”

7. “Creep”

8. “Piece Of Pie”

9. “Plush”

10. “Wet My Bed”

11. “Crackerman”

12. “Where The River Goes”

Disc Two: Demos And B-sides

1. “Only Dying” – Demo *

2. “Wicked Garden” – Demo *

3. “Naked Sunday” – Demo *

4. “Where The River Goes” – Demo *

5. “Dead & Bloated” – Demo *

6. “Sex Type Thing” – Demo *

7. “Sin” – Demo *

8. “Creep” – Demo *

9. “Plush” – Demo *

10. “Sex Type Thing” – Swing Type Version

11. “Plush” – Acoustic Type Version

12. “Creep” – New Album Version

13. “Plush” – Acoustic from MTV Headbanger’s Ball (Take 1)

Disc Three: Live 1993

Live At Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater (July 2nd, 1993)

1. “Crackerman” *

2. “Wicked Garden” *

3. “No Memory” *

4. “Sin” *

5. “Plush” *

6. “Where The River Goes” *

7. “Sex Type Thing” *

8. “Wet My Bed” *

9. “Naked Sunday” *

Live At The Reading Festival (August 27th, 1993)

10 “Wicked Garden”

11. “No Memory” *

12. “Sin”

13. “Lounge Fly” *

14. “Dead & Bloated”

15. “Sex Type Thing”

16. “Naked Sunday”*

Disc Four: MTV Unplugged (November 17th, 1993)

1. “Crackerman”

2. “Creep” *

3. “Andy Warhol”

4. “Plush” *

5. “Big Empty” *

6. “Wicked Garden” *

7. “Sex Type Thing” *

Disc Five: (DVD) Original Album 5.1 Mix, 24/96 Stereo Audio, And Music Videos: “Sex Type Thing,” “Plush,” “Wicked Garden,” and “Creep.”