Wikipedia

Big Empty

"Big Empty" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots that first appeared in 1994 on the soundtrack of the film The Crow. The band later included the song on their second album, Purple (1994), and was released as the album's final single only in Australia on March 20, 1995. The song reached No. 3 and No. 7 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts, respectively. The song won an MTV Movie Award for best song featured in a movie in 1995.[6]

"Big Empty"
Australian CD picture sleeve
Single by Stone Temple Pilots
from the album The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Purple
B-side"Lounge Fly"
ReleasedMarch 20, 1995
RecordedMay 25, 1993[1]
StudioRecord Plant (Los Angels)
Genre
Length4:55
LabelAtlantic
ComposerDean DeLeo
LyricistScott Weiland
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology
"Interstate Love Song"
(1994)		 "Big Empty"
(1995)		 "Big Bang Baby"
(1996)
Audio sample

Musically, the song has a similar format to one of the band's previous single "Creep", beginning with a slow, soft acoustic verse that leads into a loud and distorted chorus with a heavy guitar similar to "Plush".[7][8][9] "Big Empty" appears on the greatest hits compilation albums Thank You and Buy This.

Critical reception

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"Big Empty" received positive responses in reviews of The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1994). Upon the soundtrack's release, The Hard Report described the song as a "newest gem" and predicted that "many more of you will be quickly following to play" it after its big first week.[10] In the subsequent week's issue, the publication reported strong radio response, with KDJK's Beaver Brown calling the tune "a really great song…the gem of the soundtrack", while WKLQ's Dave Wellington said, "The phones have been real positive…Can't go wrong. Smash."[11] While Michael Saunders of The Boston Globe referred to "Big Empty" as the soundtrack's "anthem",[12] Todd Jirousek of The Plain Dealer, however, wrote that the song "is not as representative of the movie as most of the other tunes", even if it "has won the most radio play of all the songs on the soundtrack".[13]

Retrospective commentary on "Big Empty" in reviews of Purple has remained positive, with some critics identifying it as a highlight of the album. In the All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music (2001), Stephen Thomas Erlewine identified it as one of Purple's "two masterpieces", alongside "Interstate Love Song", writing that "mainstream hard rock didn't get better than these two cuts".[14] Similarly, Jack Mancuso of Sputnikmusic described it as the best song on the album, calling it "perhaps Weiland's shining moment as a vocalist; grandiose, uplifting and just all-out bombastic". He added that it is "written masterfully" and "one of the best songs of the nineties". Mancuso concluded: "Songs like 'Big Empty' are why I feel STP don't get enough recognition, you'd never see other bands from this time period write something so unflinchingly ambitious while still appealing to and marketing toward a mainstream audience."[15]

"Big Empty" is regarded as one of Stone Temple Pilots' best songs by both fans and critics. In a Revolver fan poll, the song was voted number one among the band's tracks, with Gregory Adams commenting that its release "had fans positively salivating for whatever was next" ahead of Purple.[16] It has also ranked high on lists of the band's best songs, including number three on Loudwire's and number six on American Songwriter's top ten.[17][18] Shawn Christ of Paste placed "Big Empty" at number 27 on a list of the 50 best grunge songs, writing that "with Weiland crooning lines like 'Too much trippin' and my soul's worn thin' and Dean DeLeo's slithering guitar work, the track is easily one of the band's best."[19] The song also reached number three in Rolling Stone's readers' poll of the best Scott Weiland songs and was included in Rolling Stone's list of his 20 essential tracks.[20][21]

Live performances

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The song was performed live for the first time during a taping of MTV Unplugged on November 17, 1993,[22] seven months before Purple was released. "Big Empty" was not included when their Unplugged episode debuted in January 1994. However, in May to help promote The Crow soundtrack, MTV placed the Unplugged performance of "Big Empty" into their heavy video rotation, as there was never an official promo video for the song. On STP's 2008 reunion tour, "Big Empty" was the opening song for every show except for the band's performance at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore on August 10.[23]

Charts

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Release history

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Release dates and formats for "Big Empty"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Australia March 20, 1995
  • CD
  • cassette
 Atlantic [30]

References

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  1. ↑ Purple (liner notes). Stone Temple Pilots. US: Atlantic Records. 1994. 82607-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ↑ Michael, Danaher (August 4, 2014). "The 50 Best Grunge Songs". Paste. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ "15 Essential Grunge Albums". Revolver. November 1, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2026.
  4. ↑ Reed, Ryan (September 12, 2022). "Stone Temple Pilots Albums Ranked". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  5. ↑ Multiple sources:
  6. ↑ "1995 Movie Awards | Past Movie Awards | Awards Show Highlights and Winners | MTV". www.mtv.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. ↑ True, Chris. "Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ Deville, Chris (June 6, 2014). "Purple Turns 20". Stereogum. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  9. ↑ Tucker, Kara (June 7, 2024). "Still Remains: Stone Temple Pilots' Purple at 30". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots, Big Empty, Atlantic" (PDF). The Hard Report. April 1, 1994. p. 35. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots, Big Empty, Atlantic" (PDF). The Hard Report. April 8, 1994. p. 9. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ Saunders, Michael (May 13, 1994). "Bands on soundtrack share a strident energy". The Boston Globe. p. 37. Archived from the original on May 2, 2026. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  13. ↑ Jirousek, Todd (August 1, 1994). "CD Review — 'The Crow' soundtrack: Film's dark side reflected in music". The Plain Dealer. p. 1-E. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  14. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2001). "Stone Temple Pilots". In Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (eds.). All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music (4th ed.). San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. pp. 394. ISBN 0-87930-627-0.
  15. ↑ Mancuso, Jack (October 29, 2012). "Stone Temple Pilots: Purple". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on April 23, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  16. ↑ Adams, Gregory (June 12, 2024). "Fan Poll: Top 5 Stone Temple Pilots Songs". Revolver. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  17. ↑ Cornell, Jeff (February 24, 2015). "10 Best Stone Temple Pilots Songs". Loudwire. Archived from the original on November 15, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  18. ↑ Uitti, Jacob (February 21, 2023). "The Top 10 Stone Temple Pilots Songs". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  19. ↑ Danaher, Michael; Powers, Chris; Christ, Shawn; Zohair, Hussain; Kane, Tyler (August 4, 2014). "The 50 Best Grunge Songs". Paste. Archived from the original on January 16, 2026. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  20. ↑ Greene, Andy (December 9, 2015). "Readers Poll: The 10 Best Scott Weiland Songs". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 25, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  21. ↑ Greene, Andy (December 4, 2015). "Scott Weiland: 20 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 17, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  22. ↑ "See Stone Temple Pilots Play "Big Empty" During MTV 'Unplugged' Session". Revolver. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  23. ↑ "Search for setlists: stone temple pilots (page 3) | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  24. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 21 May 1995". ARIA. Retrieved April 25, 2017 – via Imgur.
  25. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots – Big Empty". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  29. 1 2 "The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 52. December 24, 1994. p. YE-62. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  30. ↑ "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 20/03/95: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 266. March 19, 1995. p. 20.
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