The unofficial first single from STP’s big-deal sophomore effort, and a featured song from a movie I still have yet to see (”The Crow”),  “Big Empty” brooded in the manner of much ‘90s-era grunge. The quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic worked its best here, and Weiland’s anguished growl proved him a worthy successor (or mimicker) to Vedder, Cobain, Staley, Cornell (ehhh, there’s no worthy successor to Chris Cornell.)

Speaking of Weiland’s vocal ability, I have to add that he was the best pure crooner out of his grungy brethren. I feel like there’s a standards album somewhere in his catalog (I’m too lazy to do the research), but that totally fits. Weird that I can listen to a song as tortured as “Big Empty” and then think of the same guy singing The Great American Songbook, but seriously. Doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch! What a versatile guy/great mimic. He could croon. He could do Bowie. He could howl. Talented fella.

And this is the second straight song on this list that doesn’t mention the title explicitly in the lyrics.