I rated this album as average, cause that’s what it was. Just an average album from a semi-decent band. It had a few amazing songs on this album and the progression seems to melt half way through. And then there are some rather worthless songs.
The Album is the second album from Puddle of Mudd. Hitting stores in early 2003. The album like its predecessor was executive produced by Fred Durst and Jordan Schur. Though some may argue the ban only gained stardom from riding Durst’s coat tails I beg to differ seeing as they can produce some songs worth listening to.
Away from Me - This song starts off the album with a quick passed rock picking rift which from a guitarists point of few sounds pretty cool, and quickly turns into a powerful hard hitting distorted rock rift. The lyrics pick up off of their previous album, Come Clean. Fear of a breaking relationship is the major theme in Away from Me. The song is highly reminiscient of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. 4/5
Heel Over Head - Another song which the lyrics touch upon failing relationships. The song begins slightly more mellow then the previous but ends with a tremendous climax of feeling and angst. 3.5/5
Nothing Left to Lose - Puddle of Mudd really had nothing left to lose by putting this song on the album. The only musical part that sounds any different then other puddle of Mudd songs is the intro. A slowly power cord base mixed in with a little wah peddling. The only thing I found of any value in this song is the progression of the album, The lyrics seem to fit in with the previous two songs. 1/5
Change My Mind - The music in this song is much calmer, then the previous three songs, But the lyrics hold the same angst and continue the "story" of the album. 3/5
Spin You Around - Horribly simplistic and boring... I hated this song from start to finish. Not worth writing a review for... 0/5
Already Gone - It is blatantly clear what this song is about. Drug abuse and rehab. While songs like this have their place in society, it makes no sense in the middle of this album. Though the music progresses quite steadily I had lost interest by the climax. 2/5
Think - Quite literally this song made me think. What are the lyrics about? I came to the conclusion that this is yet another failing relationship song, with Wes' asking for some more time to figure his *** out. The music supports the song with some decent rifts. 3/5
Cloud 9 - This song brings the album back up to cloud 9. This is a harder hitting song, about sex and not just any sex, good sex, oh and drugs.... /shrug. Finally a song that isn’t all about break ups. The song starts off with a insidious guitar rift that quickly turns in a stream of distorted and vibrating guitar rifts. The climax of this song starts to pick the album back up. 5/5
Bottom - Bottom is another hard hitting song. The lyrics are harsh and stick with their listener. Though Wes’ gets quite repetitive after a certain point. “I’m just sitting at the bottom with you.” This mono-tone chant gets quite irritatingly boring / annoying after someone has chanted 10-20 times. 3/5
Freak of the World - Another heavier of the songs on the album. The lyrics will resonate well with angsty teens and even those in their early to mid 20's. The progression of the song is very well done and very well thought out. 3.5/5
Sydney - A boring song both musically and lyrically. The intro brings this 4:56 minute track into a amazingly pain staking start. Its slow pace and exhausting lyrics kill the song. The only part of this song that brings it up is the verse, other-wise this track would be a complete bomb. 2/5
Time Flies - This song is a prefect song to end the album with it mixes acoustic picking and strumming with distorted electric rifts. The vocals are stunning and the lyric are well thought out. The combination of mixing effects and having the vocals resonating well with the different styles makes for quite a classic song. 5/5
2.888 Not quite good enough to be a good C.D. The Album runs through some decent tracks and then hits a speed bump and nearly crashes. The progression wildly shifts and loses a lot of its focus. (Though some can argue this is a good thing since it would be an almost replica of their first album if it stayed on track.) After a shift between a few good songs and some crazy crappy songs, the album takes shape again and picks up. Cloud 9 brings the progression back on track a little bit and after a string of some semi-decent songs the album ends on a high note. Time Flies is seals the deal on the album almost like a conclusionary note.
The Band
Wesley Reid Scantlin - Vocals / Guitar
Paul Phillips - Guitars / Vocals
Douglas John Ardito - Bass / Vocals
Greg Upchurch - Drums / Vocals
Any-who haven't heard this album, but from the review maybe I should... might cure me from thinking this was a decent band! Nice review btw
