Wax Ecstatic is the second album by the band Sponge

Sponge (band)

Sponge is a post-grunge band from Detroit, Michigan formed in 1991 by Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Tim Cross and Joey Mazzola. Sponge was signed to Sony Records in 1994 but have since switched to other labels....

. It was released in 1996 on Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. Originally intended to be a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 revolving around the death of a Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

 drag queen

Drag queen

A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...

, that idea was aborted, though many of the tracks that ended up making the cut originated from this idea.

Track listing

All songs produced by Sponge and Tim Patalan.

• European Version contains "Slower Suicide"

Samplers

All songs produced by Sponge and Tim Patalan.
All songs produced by Sponge and Tim Patalan except where noted.

Band members

• Vinnie Dombroski
  Vinnie Dombroski
  Mark “Vinnie” Dombroski is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Sponge. He has also fronted various Detroit-based bands throughout his career.-Sponge:-Albums:...
  
   - vocals/drums/guitar
• Mike Cross - guitars/bass
• Tim Cross - bass
• Joey Mazzola
  Joey Mazzola
  Joseph "Joey" Mazzola is a guitarist, songwriter and is probably best known as a founding member of the American rock band Sponge. He is currently a member of The Detroit Cobras and The Sugarcoats.- Sponge :...
  
   - guitars
• Charlie Grover - drums

Additional personnel

• Tim Patalan - recording
• Andy Patalan & Matt Hanson - recording assistants
• Tim Palmer
  Tim Palmer
  Tim Palmer is a British music producer, audio engineer and songwriter of rock and alternative music.-1980-1990:Palmer worked as an assistant engineer at Utopia Studios in London, England in the early 1980s...
  
   - mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  , additional production on "Silence Is Their Drug"
• Mark O'Donoughue - mix engineer
  Mix engineer
  A mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
  
  
• Jamie Seyberth - additional engineering
• Lamont Hyde - engineering assistant
• Steve King - engineer
• Mike Corbett - post production edit
• Howie Weinberg
  Howie Weinberg
  Howie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...
  
   - mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
  
• Pablo Mathiason - A&R
  A&R
  Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
  
  
• 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
  Richard Butler (singer)
  Richard Lofthouse Butler is the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs. He is also the founder and vocalist for the disbanded Love Spit Love.-Musical career:...
  
   - additional vocal on "I Am Anastasia"
• Johnny Evans - tenor
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  , alto
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
   and baritone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
   sax
• Chris Codish - acoustic piano
• Mando Dorame
  Royal Crown Revue
  The Royal Crown Revue is a band formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California. They are often credited with starting the Swing Revival movement. Live, RCR has been extremely successful: They participated in 1998's Vans Warped Tour, opened for the B-52s and The Pretenders and played at major US Jazz...
  
   - 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

Equipment

• Fender
  Fender
  Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Fender, of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster...
  
   guitars and strings
• Naylor amps
• GHS
  GHS (strings)
  GHS Strings is a Battle Creek, Michigan based guitar and bass guitar string manufacturer. The company was founded in 1964, and in 1975 was bought by Robert McFee, who is still the CEO...
  
   strings
• Sabian cymbals
• Pearl
  Pearl Drums
  Founded in 1952, the is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominately percussion instruments.-History:Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa, who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo on April 2, 1946...
  
   drums
• Vic Firth
  Vic Firth
  Vic Firth is an American musician and is the founder of Vic Firth Company , a percussion stick and mallet manufacturing company that he started in 1963. The company bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of drum sticks and mallets...
  
   sticks

Album

Chart (1996)	Peak position
The Billboard 200	60

Singles

Year	Song	Chart	Peak position
1996	Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina) Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina) "Wax Ecstatic " is a song by alternative rock band Sponge, released in 1996 as the debut single from their second album Wax Ecstatic.-Track listing:-Chart performance:...	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	11
		Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	15
1997	Have You Seen Mary	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	7