''Villains'' is the second studio album, and first major label release by

the Verve Pipe The Verve Pipe is an American rock band from Michigan. It was formed in 1992 in East Lansing by Brian Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown. History In November 1992, Brian Vander Ark of the band "Johnny with an Eye" signed a production dea ...

. It was released in March 1996. The band received its first hit in "

Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

", which peaked in the top 10 on the ''Billboard Modern Rock Tracks''. A year after the release of the album, a reformatted version of " The Freshmen" peaked at number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single was also the band's sole appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number 5. The success of the song helped this album go platinum. To date, it is the Verve Pipe's best selling album.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Villains'' booklet and liner notes. The Verve Pipe *Brian Vander Ark –

Lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

*Brad Vander Ark –

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

*Donny Brown –

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals *A.J. Dunning –

Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, backing vocals *Doug Corella –

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Artwork *Sean Mosher-Smith – Art Direction, Design *Aldo Mauro – Band Photography *Slow HEARTH – Bird Photography Management *Doug Buttleman – Management for The Fitzgerald Hartley Company *Fred Bohlander – Booking for Monterey Peninsula Artists *Howard B. Abrams – Legal Production *

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...

– Producer *

Brian Malouf Brian Malouf (born September 8, 1955) is an American producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with acts such as Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Tokio Hotel, Wolfmother, and All Time Low. Also ...

– A&R *Jason Rio, Philip "Mac" Ward – Coordinators *Douglas Biro & Ria Lewerke – Creative Directors *Karl Derfler –

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Doug McKean – Additional Editing *Larry "Hot" Brewer – Additional engineering *Chris Buttleman – Guitar Technician *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– Mastering at Sterling Sound, New York, NY *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– Mixing *Alvaro Alencar & Mauricio Iragorri – Assistant mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Notes

1996 albums The Verve Pipe albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Harrison {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub