SPONGE: WAX ECSTATIC Second Studio Album (1996)

Wax Ecstatic is the second studio album by the rock band Sponge. It was released on July 2, 1996, through Columbia Records. The album features a more ’70s hard rock-influenced sound compared with the band’s previous release. It is the band’s first album with drummer Charlie Grover. Wax Ecstatic was released in July 1996 and peaked at number 60 on the Billboard 200. “Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)” and “Have You Seen Mary” were released as the first and second singles from the album, and both received significant airplay on radio and MTV. The songs “I Am Anastasia” and “Silence Is Their Drug” also received radio airplay, but were not officially released as singles. By 1998, the album had sold a quarter of a million copies.
Wax Ectastic was originally intended to be a concept album revolving around the death of a drag queen; instead, only two songs on the album address the subject. The band decided against the idea of making a concept album, and instead would incorporate new instrumentation along with a more ’70s hard rock-influenced sound compared to Rotting Piñata.

Tracklist:

1. My Purity (Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross)
2. Got to Be a Bore (Vinnie Dombroski)
3. Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina) (Vinnie Dombroski)
4. The Drag Queens of Memphis (Vinnie Dombroski)
5. I Am Anastasia (Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Joey Mazzola)
6. Silence Is Their Drug (Vinnie Dombroski)
7. Have You Seen Mary (Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross)
8. My Baby Said (Vinnie Dombroski, Joey Mazzola)
9. The Death of a Drag Queen (Dombroski, Cross, Mazzola )
10. Velveteen (Contains the hidden track “Imagine You”)

Credits:

Sponge
Vinnie Dombroski: vocals, drums, guitar
Mike Cross: guitar, bass
Tim Cross: bass
Joey Mazzola: guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Grover: drums

Additional personnel
Tim Patalan: recording
Andy Patalan & Matt Hanson: recording assistants
Tim Palmer: mixing, additional production on “Silence Is Their Drug”
Mark O’Donoughue: mix engineer
Jamie Seyberth: additional engineering
Lamont Hyde: engineering assistant
Steve King: engineer
Mike Corbett: post production edit
Howie Weinberg: mastering
Pablo Mathiason: A&R
Susan Silver: management
Stacy Fass: legal
Gudvi, Chapnick & Oppenheim: business management
John Jackson: international booking
Mary Maurer: art direction
SITE: design
Melanie Nissen: photography

Additional musicians
Richard Butler: additional vocals on “I Am Anastasia”
Johnny Evans: tenor, alto and baritone sax
Chris Codish: acoustic piano
Mando Dorame: sax solo on “My Baby Said”
Steve Baxter: trombone on “My Baby Said”
Donald Hayes: saxophone on “My Baby Said”
Anne King: trumpet on “My Baby Said”
Tim Patalan: cello

https://www.spongetheband.com