With a band like Puddle of Mudd, there is always going to be loads of people who despise them because they appeal to a mainstream audience. Yeah, Blurry and She Hates Me were big hits but that doesn’t take away from the music. My point is, this album isn’t half bad but it is quite flawed. Puddle of Mudd could be seen as one hit wonders though, releasing this album never to be heard again and then come back with a second album only to get slated by critics. But while we are looking at how they disappeared, let’s look at what they showed us a few years back. Puddle of Mudd’s sound is very simple. It’s catchy hard rock, with a singer who acts like Kurt Cobain and a band who play pretty basic stuff. This album is actually good at points; it’s catchy and it’s fun to listen to but while it is quite catchy, it can get old and repetitive quite fast. Puddle of Mudd just got it lucky though; Control, She Hates Me and the big hit Blurry were constantly played on radio and TV. I should know, I was there watching the same music channel they were always on. None the less, it is an okay listen but on the other side, the musician’s are kind of stale. For instance, Wes can do a good bit of vocals but his voice can get irritating. The guitars are very stale, it never really goes out power chords (not really a bad thing but a little more variance and this album could have been a bit more interesting. The drums are boring, and I’m not saying that because there isn’t any fills, the beats are so simple and uninteresting. The lyrics are really cliché, and filled with instances of teenage angst.
”Can you take it all away, can you shove it in my face” is the main line infesting hit single Blurry but can I ask you this question, how many songs has those type of lyrics in it? That isn’t the worst example though, look at Control, a totally stupid song lyrically.
”I can’t control you, you can’t control me” is another instance of total cliché lyrics.
I’ve been pretty negative this far into the review but it isn’t all bad. Some songs interest me a lot, though I just hate the lyrics. Drift And Die is a very interesting track, with some nice acoustic melodies and one of the only times I like Wes’s vocals. His voice really suits this song and it is a good example of a song that doesn’t need a lot of technical ability. The song is packed full of emotion that the band actually portray very well. I love it when Wes screams with emotion,
“As I drift and die!”. I think the band pull off slow songs very well which is also apparent in
Blurry, when it was released, there wasn’t a time where you didn’t hear it on TV and radio. It’s a good, dare I say, power-ballad. It’s about Wes’s son (who seems pretty dear to him) and Wes shows his feelings perfectly in the song. The song shows great use of a slow verse and a powerful chorus. The bridge is probably the breaking point of the song and which prevents the song from getting boring. She Hates Me is a pile of crap, a horribly catchy teenage love song which just doesn’t work. The lyrics are atrocious and make me cringe while listening. The only good part is the right end where the guitar riff is just played. It doesn’t seem a lot but it shows how bad the song is.
On a wide point of view, this album is for certain people. People into bland radio rock will love this to death but people outside the mainstream circle might like a song or two but hate the album. I don’t hate the album at all, I just find it boring after a few listens and that’s basically brings the rating down. This would have been a 2 if it weren’t for Blurry and Drift and Die. This will get boring and it is really repetitive so if you think you’re going to listen to this all in one sitting then you’d be wrong, dead wrong. My suggestion is, listen to a few songs then turn it off.
