“Trippin’ On a Hole In a Paper Heart” ( Tiny Music) – Almost perfect.
“Plush (acoustic)” – So much more effective than the original version. “Vasoline” ( Purple) – So beautifully executed, if slightly dated. “Lady Picture Show” ( Tiny Music) – Always sounded like the perfect companion piece to “Interstate Love Song” to me. Angst-fueled, ’90s almost alt-rock balladry personified. “Creep” (Core) – Probably an unpopular opinion, but I’ll take this over Radiohead’s “Creep” any day of the week. Insert your favorite hip indie band, and they’d be proud to have this one in their catalog. It’s tragic to hear the potential within its layers. “Adhesive” ( Tiny Music) – One of he dark horse masterpieces of their career. It just reminded of us of how awesome the wheel can be when used correctly. “Pretty Penny” ( Purple) – Irresistibly great to this day.
The man was a genius when he wanted to be, and the band is often shortchanged for their musical skills.
This album is full of acrobatic treats, and simple joy and beauty. Or maybe this is one of the times that he wasn’t. They must have been out of their mind on drugs. “And So I Know” ( Tiny Music) – It pains me that they couldn’t keep this kind of effort going. And when he passed last Thursday, teenage me definitely shed a tear. I think by the time he was in Velvet Revolver, I didn’t really recognize him anymore, but I never forgot the Scott that I fell in love with in the fall of 1992. Time is not always kind to certain albums, and I will say even as a huge fan, a couple of moments on Core are almost indefensible in hindsight, but I always felt oddly connected to Scott at the core–no pun intended–based on what I saw to be a very kind, sensitive soul, underneath all the bullshit that came to light later. Not only were many of the lyrics on the album considered misogynistic, and childish, but many cast him aside as a mere Eddie Vedder or Layne Staley-wannabe, without hearing the whole story, or sticking around to see the chapters that were to come. I think the problem with a lot of people’s perception of Weiland, was that they pigeonholed him out of the box, based on STP’s impressive at times, but immature and disjointed at others debut album, Core.