Rotting Piñata

Rotting Piñata is the debut studio album by the American rock band Sponge, released on August 2, 1994, through Work Group. Hit singles from this album, such as "Plowed" and

"Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)", helped launch the band's career and the album was certified gold by the RIAA in July 1995.

Background

The title of the album (and song of the same name) came from a conversation the band had regarding controversial punk rock singer GG Allin, who infamously promised for years that he would die by suicide on stage during one of his concerts (Allin instead died from an accidental drug overdose). The band wondered if Allin would want a posthumous tour instead, where his corpse would be present at the shows and fans would be able to hit or take a whack at it. The band's soundman Chris remarked that if that happened, the corpse would be like a rotting piñata.

"Plowed" would become the most successful single from the album. Lead vocalist Vinnie Dombroski came up with the lyrics while shoveling snow in his hometown of Detroit. Following the song's success, "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)" followed as a single. The vocals (originally titled simply "Molly") were re-recorded for the single release. The song was partly inspired by a story the band had heard about a 16-year-old girl who fell in love with one of her teachers and attempted suicide after he rejected her advances.

"Neenah Menasha" refers to the two cities in Wisconsin. "Miles" includes the last two lines of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" ("And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep").

Release

Rotting Piñata is Sponge's best selling album, having sold more than 500,000 copies. Although released in August 1994, the album did not enter the Billboard 200 until February 1995, following the success of its second single "Plowed". Rotting Piñata peaked at number 58 and remained on the chart for 40 weeks.

Critical reception

Rotting Piñata received mostly positive reviews. However, AllMusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the album was derivative of Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots, with a few good songs but otherwise featuring "half-finished ideas".

Track listing

All songs written by Sponge (Vinnie Dombroski, Joey Mazzola, Mike Cross, Tim Cross, Jimmy Paluzzi) and produced by Tim Patalan and Sponge.

A special edition included a bonus CD featuring Sponge live at Rock am Ring Nürburgring on June 2, 1995.

All songs written by Sponge except where noted.

Personnel

Sponge

Vinnie Dombroski - vocals
Mike Cross - guitar, backing vocals
Tim Cross - bass
Joey Mazzola - guitar, backing vocals
Jimmy Paluzzi - drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

Andy Patalan - production assistant
Tim Palmer - mixing
Mark O'Donoughue & Brandon Harris - mixing assistants
Tim Patalan - mixing on "Rotting Piñata", "Neenah Menasha", "Miles" and "Molly"
Pablo Mathiason - A&R
Howie Weinberg - mastering
David Coleman - art direction
Michael Halsband - photography

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1995)

! scope="col"| Peak position

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 58

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1995)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 139

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

!Year

!Title

!US Hot 100

!US Modern Rock

!US Mainstream Rock

|rowspan="2"| 1994

| Neenah Menasha

|align="center"| -

| Plowed

|align="center"| 41

|align="center"| 5

|align="center"| 9

|rowspan="3"| 1995

| Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)

|align="center"| 55

|align="center"| 3

|align="center"| 11

| Rainin'