I suppose you could call them consistent, and that's true to a degree.īut in all of their mimicry of the Seattle-area rockers, they forgot one important element that was great about those bands - the conviction and depth of the songs themselves. Sophomore jinx? If you liked Come Clean, absolutely not - this much is true: They aren't fixing what isn't broken, hoping that they'll hit paydirt once again. Now comes their follow-up effort, Life On Display. Musically they pretty much paid homage to these bands throughout the whole album, and went multi-platinum with their derivative sound.
Come Clean came out in 2001, and let's put it this way - if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then these guys are clearly enamored with Nirvana and Alice In Chains. You want to talk about getting a lucky break? Frontman Wes Scantlin approached music industry impresario / reviled Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst with his demo tape, and evidently Durst liked what he heard enough to sign Puddle Of Mudd to his Flawless label.
As long as they're competent musicians and songwriters and have maybe a trace of originality, I'm content with that. In this day and age, we don't expect rock and roll bands to reinvent the wheel. Some albums are different because the music's different, but here the music sounds the same as the last album and still doesn't manage a great response. Puddle Of Mudd's sophmore effort, in my opinion, doesn't quite live up to the last album. "Time Flies" (3/5): Though the song is not a thrilling conclusion, it's not a horrible one. "Sydney" (3/5): Not a bad song, kind of reminds me of "Drift And Die" off of the last record. "Freak Of The World" (4/5): This track will keep you singing along. "Bottom" (3/5): Wes' whining in this song gets pretty tiresome, but the music's good. "Cloud 9" (5/5): Finally! Wes and company hit us with an awesome song, the best song since the opener. "Think" (2/5): THINK again if you play this one, skip to the next song. "Already Gone" (3/5): The trend of decent, but not memorable songs continue here. "Spin You Around" (3/5): Another average, at best, song. "Change My Mind" (3/5): This slow paced song is ok, but nothing more. "Nothing Left To Lose" (2/5): This song does nothing for me, at all. tune that could have been heard on Come Clean. "Heel Over Head" (4/5): Another solid P.O.M. "Away From Me" (5/5): The lead single is a really great song.