The group that put San Diego on the musical map, Stone Temple Pilots released their debut album with no fanfare, and caught the public’s eye only after touring for a year. Core’s sound – relentlessly pounding guitars, a heavy bottom and a singer whose vocal style bled with some unseen pain – played perfectly into the swell of grunge that had been building up in the mainstream for two years before its release.

Topically, Core went beyond the the usual sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll fare associated with hard rock. The drill instructor intro that singer Weiland chants off at the beginning of this song is a disgusted swipe at the rivers of apathy coursing through America.