Candlebox!

Candlebox are considered by many from the early '90s Seattle music scene to be grunge-lite. Their approach to the genre leaned more to bluesy hard rock than the angst punk ubiquitous to the scene, but despite bucking the system, their commercial appear was tremendous, catapulting them to platinum stardom. Formed in December 1991, just after the grunge wave swept the world, the band was originally called Uncle Duke. They band changed its name to Candlebox when Peter Klett (lead guitar) and Bardi Martin (bass) joined Kevin Martin (lead vocals/guitar) and drummer Scott Mercado. In the hype of the moment, Madonna's label Maverick signed them and fast-tracked their self-titled debut in 1993 and their breakthrough hits "You" and "Far Behind." Like many bands from the grunge era, Candlebox suffered a significant loss of fans between their first and second album, and after Candlebox sold over three million albums, their sophomore effort didn't crack the top ten, and their third album, 1998's Happy Pills, went virtually unnoticed.
In a time when all bands seemed to blend together, Candlebox created a sound that didn't cleanly fit into either the grunge, pop or hard rock style. They were too melodic for the grunge scene, but too hard core for the pop stations. This unique quality was what made them and hit such as "Far Behind" and "You." Kevin Martin's vocals and Peter Klett's guitar riffs were the stars of this group for sure, ushering in the idea that not all music has to be rooted in depression and that there was still room for some feel good rock and roll. While their follow-up albums never reached the popularity of their debut, their third effort, Happy Pills, is actually a nice companion piece to Candlebox, produced a little better and shows how the band had matured as songwriters and musicians.