The outstanding heavy metal band Mudvayne returns with thier fourth major album release "Lost and Found". sinse their first major label debut "L.D. 50" in August of 2000, their incredible talent has never ceased to amaze. from winning MTV2's first ever VMA award for "Dig", to the 2006 Grammy's where they were nominated for "Determined" as best metal performance, this remarkable band has managed to stay on top of their game and deliver the astounding new album "Lost and Found".
1.DETERMINED - starting off the album is the newly nominated single "determined". right from the beginning, the band's incredible talent begins to show through as all four members work in perfect harmony to deliver their amzing sound. within the first 15 seconds, you have already sampled the power of Tribbett's guitar and Martinie's bass; McDonough's outstanding footwork and of coarse Grey's vocals that fall nothing short of phenomenal. spining a furious web of emotion, Grey tears through the song screaming: "so ***ing determined, yeah go, you better believe it: confidence." an beautiful beginning to a beautiful album. 5/5
2.PUSHING THROUGH - an amazing follow up to Determined, Pushing Through brings all the heat Determined left in its wake and more. 1st verse begins a little weird, seeming sumwhat broken up until McDonough shines through, giving you a true taste of shear drumming and footwork talents, wrapping the sound together as a whole. Grey puts his game-face on for this one, screaming "step by step im pushing through this, eye for an eye im pushing through this...". this hidden gem deffinately earns itself a 5/5
3.HAPPY? - although a truely magnificent song, it is far from the sound long-time Mudvayne fans are used to. it has a very "quiet" rock sound to it (despite Grey's occational screams) compared to everything else they have done in the past. Mudvayne's step into clearer waters earned them more exposure, but all the same, "Happy?" is the calm before the storm, as "IMN" is quite possibly the most hardcore song on this album. 5/5
4.IMN - beginning with silence until it works itself up to the first thundering chords of Tribbett's guitar and Grey's anguished scream of "Suicide; don't give a ***..", IMN is without a doubt the hardest song on "Lost and Found". the whole while Grey continues to scream of self-loathing and disgust, not relaxing to a singing voice until a little more than half way through to say:"all work and no play makes me sick", only to return to a gutteral scream. deep and depressing, IMN ends on a distorted piano solo to lead the song into a sleepy hum. 4/5
5.FALL INTO SLEEP - the newest Mudvayne single begins queitly, with a relaxed, tired guitar riff. Grey finally showing his outstanding sining voice displays god-like talent, his soft melody layed out perfectly on Tribbett's hushed and at the same time defiant riffs, until the chorus rolls in, bringing with it a little more dirt. carried on expertly, the song continues, Grey all the while probing the very human soul with lines such as:"the angles are injured, fall with broken buring wings. are we dead inside? are we blind?". absolutely astounding to the last few seconds until the sound is at last "all gone". 6/5.... ok 5/5
6.RAIN.SUN.GONE. - this, unfortunaltely is where the album starts getting weird. Grey's never fail lyrics shine through where unfortunately musicianship fails. making statements like: "life's not meant to be disposable" and "the body is just a vehicle to hold, until we find another space, find another place.." clearly contradicts those of "IMN", but its easy to forgive. thoughtful, just not very catchy.. 3/5
7.CHOICES - rolling straight out of rain.sun.gone. comes this monster 8:05 minute song. a good display of all of Mudvayne's talents, it showcases all 4 members' area of expertise. hinting at a political view point, Grey tells how "leaders are guilty of nothing, they're perfectly insane" and eventualy shares the floor with what sounds like a group of children chanting "ini-mini-miny-mo". eventually shaping off to a well rounded sound, the song is led into completion with the voices of political speakers rising just above tribbett's light power chords. 3.5/5
8.FORGET TO REMEMBER - a shining pearl among the already amazing songs listed previously, forget to remember is one of my personal favorites. a supreme blend of anger, confusion, and alienation, Grey delivers yet again, weaving sad melodies and undeniably pissed-off versus. tribbett and grey work together to create an astounding musical pattern that will stick to the corners of you mind. crazy cool stuff :-) 5/5
9.TV RADIO - well, it had to happen eventually. this is the sucky song to make up for all the good stuff. plain and simple: its just difficult to listen to. again, Grey hints at politics, but a little less effectively. 2/5
10.JUST - this is the kick-ass song; the one you will get up and bang you head to (that is if you havn't already). from start to finish, a fast paced adrenaline ruch screaming of being fed up with people's BS. listen for McDonough's feet in this song. fully unleasing the double-kick, you'll swear there's no way the guy can be human to move that fast. Grey again showcases his un-matched screams. 5/5
11.ALL THAT YOU ARE - a weird little tune. maxing out at 6:11, it at some times seems to drag on and some times you just want it to end, especially following "Just", the slow hate-anthem comes unwelcome. 2/5
12.PULLING THE STRING - an interesting end to "lost and Found", this song offers little musically. getting very quiet and buliding up to face-melting status, it carries on, slowly.. some times painfully. nearing the end it starts getting better. finally ending with a laugh, a very cool note to leave off on, adding a weird effect. 3/5
--OVERALL--
this CD is straight up incredible. with such monumental songs, the sucky ones are quicly forgotten, stealing only a little momentum from the overall album. it is this album that brought Mudvayne, in my eyes, to god-like status. too many bands do a half ass job and think they can get away with it, and most of the time they do, but it doesn't go unnoticed. too many bands where the drummer is pushing medeocre and they make hundreds of thousands getting by without fully knowing their instrument and how to play it. too many singers that have seen a break-up once in their life, think its the end of the world and whines about it. and far too many guitarist that put absolutely no inspiration into thier work, getting by with power chords alone. it is hear where Mudvayne stands out in the crowd. every last one of the members in Mudvayne do their job, and do it well. in most bands the bassist can go completely unnoticed. Martinie stands out at times more than tribbett with crazy bass lines that i've never heard the likes of before. Tribbett, McDonough, and Grey, all of corse do what they do best and bring it like its never been brought. may these gods continue to rock for a long time to come; long live Mudvayne!!!
