Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots formed in San Diego in 1989, originally under the name Mighty Joe Young before signing to Atlantic Records and releasing Core in 1992. Critics dismissed them immediately as Pearl Jam imitators — Rolling Stone's critics voted them Worst New Band of 1993 while the magazine's readers voted them Best New Band in the same poll. They responded by making Purple in 1994, recording and mixing the entire album in three and a half weeks. It debuted at number one, stayed there for three weeks, and went six-times platinum.