The Stone Temple Pilots are streaming a demo of “Only Dying”, a previously unreleased song that will appear on the September 29 release of multiple 25th anniversary deluxe editions of their debut album, “Core.”
Demoed early in their career, the band had considered contributing the tune to the soundtrack to 1994’s “The Crow”, but decided it would be in poor taste after the film's star, Brandon Lee, was accidentally shot dead on set during the final weeks of production. The Stone Temple Pilots track, “Big Empty”, was included in the official soundtrack release.
"That song was a little bit of a different direction for us," bassist Robert DeLeo tells Rolling Stone about 'Only Dying'. "It was based more off jazz-type chordings. As a songwriter, I wanted to spark people into different directions."
"I remember [singer] Scott [Weiland] really wanted to redo the song and quite honestly, the guitar tone we chose on that ... I don't know what I was thinking," adds guitarist Dean DeLeo. "Maybe I was listening to too much Robert Smith or something. It's a song where I don't think we reached our full potential as songwriters quite yet. But honestly, it really is a beautiful song."
"We wrote it maybe nine months after Dean joined the band, and we recorded it in a studio in north Hollywood before we got signed," recalls drummer Eric Kretz. "It's cool to hear it now. You can hear all the STP elements in there. You could tell it needed to be reworked a little bit, but you can really hear Scott's voice taking on its character and the band delving into the sound of the guitar, the special effects and everything. It's a great early indicator of where the band was heading. It was trying to dig into our emotions."
“Core” peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 on its way to sales of more than 8 million copies Stateside and a 1994 Grammy Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for their Top 20 hit, “Plush.”
The 2017 package delivers a newly-remastered version of the original record, plus more than two hours of unreleased demos and live performances, including the band’s performance on “MTV Unplugged.” The set also features the original album on vinyl and a DVD that contains a 5.1 Surround Sound Mix along with videos for the album’s four singles: “Sex Type Thing”, “Plush”, “Wicked Garden” and “Creep.”
A 2CD Deluxe Version contains a newly-remastered version of the original album expanded with rare b-sides and previously unreleased demos.
A single disc remaster of the original album will be available, as well.
See also:
AUDIO: Stone Temple Pilots stream MTV Unplugged version of Wicked Garden
AUDIO: Stone Temple Pilots stream unreleased live version of Plush
Stone Temple Pilots announce Core 25th anniversary reissues
Stone Temple Pilots pay tribute to Scott Weiland on first anniversary of his death
Search Stone Temple Pilots at hennemusic
