Rotting Piñata

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 (16 Candles Down the Drain)" 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

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."