Villains (The Verve Pipe album)

Villains is the third studio album and first major label release by American rock band the Verve Pipe. It was released in March 1996. The band received its first hit in "Photograph", 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. The album was originally pressed in a blue case to match the color of the artwork, which included the slower recording of "The Freshmen," before it was later re-recorded and added to subsequent pressings.

Artwork
The artwork includes a toy duck in a darkened background and inverted-like coloring.

Personnel
Adapted from the Villains booklet and liner notes.

The Verve Pipe
 * Brian Vander Ark – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar
 * Brad Vander Ark – Bass guitar, backing vocals
 * Donny Brown – Drums, backing vocals
 * A.J. Dunning – Lead guitar, backing vocals
 * Doug Corella – Keyboards, percussion

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 – Producer
 * Brian Malouf – A&R
 * Jason Rio, Philip "Mac" Ward – Coordinators
 * Douglas Biro & Ria Lewerke – Creative Directors
 * Karl Derfler – Engineer
 * Doug McKean – Additional Editing
 * Larry "Hot" Brewer – Additional engineering
 * Chris Buttleman – Guitar Technician
 * Ted Jensen – Mastering at Sterling Sound, New York, NY
 * Tom Lord-Alge – Mixing
 * Alvaro Alencar & Mauricio Iragorri – Assistant mixing