Rotting Piñata

Rotting Piñata
Studio album by Sponge
Released	August 2, 1994
Recorded	1993-1994 at The Loft, Saline, Michigan
Genre	Post-grunge
Length	53:47 34:06 (Live at Rock am Ring)
Label	Work
Producer	Sponge and Tim Patalan
Sponge chronology
Rotting Piñata (1994) Wax Ecstatic (1996)

Rotting Piñata is the debut album by American rock band Sponge, released in 1994 on Work Records. Hit singles from this album, such as "Molly" and "Plowed," helped launch the band's career and pushed the album to Gold.

Title meaning

The name of the album came from a conversation the band had regarding shock punk singer GG Allin. Allin claimed he would commit suicide while on tour and wanted his corpse to be shown at the remainder of the shows on the schedule. Furthermore, he wanted the fans to be able to throw objects at his deceased body. The band joked that if he did, the corpse would be like a "rotting piñata."

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
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Rotting Piñata received mostly positive reviews. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three stars out of five and said that "Sponge's sense of alternative rock goes back as far as Pearl Jam, or maybe only Stone Temple Pilots, judging from the hit single 'Plowed.' For an STP ripoff band, they're very adept -- the chords cluster together, vocalist Vinnie sings directly from his gut, and the whole thing barrels ahead, ignoring whatever's in its way."^[1]

Rotting Piñata is one of Sponge's most successful albums to date and their only album to be certified gold by the RIAA. Although released in August 1994, the album did not enter the Billboard 200 until May 1995, following the success of its first single "Plowed". Rotting Piñata peaked at number 58 and remained on the chart for 40 weeks.^[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Sponge (Dombrowski and Mazzola) and produced by Sponge and Tim Patalan.

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.

Band members

• Vinnie Dombrowski - vocals
• Mike Cross - guitar
• Tim Cross - bass
• Joe Mazzola - guitar
• 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"
• Stuart Griffen - Talent agent
• Pablo Mathiason - A&R
• Howie Weinberg - mastering
• David Coleman - art direction
• Michael Halsband - photography

Chart Positions

Album

Singles

Trivia

• Neenah and Menasha are two cities in Wisconsin
• The vocals for "Molly" were re-recorded for the single release, retitled "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)" The song was inspired by a story a bandmember had heard about a 16-year old girl who'd fallen in love with her teacher and attempted suicide after he rejected her advances.
• Track number five, "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...")

References