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Puddle of Mudd, Life on Display

Reviewed by Sean Finney

If you put Nirvana and Alice in Chains in a room, and they had a baby, said baby would surely be named Puddle of Mudd. But where Nirvana excelled in tunes of personal angst and alienation, and Alice in Chains was like listening to a train wreck and loving it, Puddle of Mudd just splish splash like sewer water hitting the storm drain.

Okay, I really wanted to like this sophomore collection from the band, I really, really did. Their first major label release "Come Clean" was great stuff; powerful songs and inventive lyrics across the board. Who among us didn't love the line "I love the way you smack my ass" over a crunchy guitar line? Even though they did sound just like the previously mentioned bands, you could chalk it up to the genius of reduplication and enjoy the honest effort.

On the current release "Life of Display," you get the feeling that they had their whole life to write the first album, but only a short time to write this one. Aside from the first single "Away From Me" which is definitely the best track by far on the CD, the rest of the songs are almost an afterthought. The lyrics are uninspired and lazy; the music is boring, and the whole collection of songs is hard to listen to after about 15 minutes. This is the classic case of one great song, and a collection of filler tracks to get something on the market for Christmas. OK, there are some tracks that stand out such as "Think" with clean acoustic guitar work and nice use of vocal harmonies. The bass and guitar riff heavy tune "Nothing Left to Lose" swing hard. Unfortunately, even that track reminds me of the song "Fever Dog" from the Cameron Crowe pic "Almost Famous." Again, that's my biggest problem with this release, everything sounds old, played out, and unoriginal. I mean how many songs can you hear about the "crappy girl that did you wrong and now your life sucks because of it"? Okay, I think I made my point. On the plus side, I have seen P.O.M. live opening for another act, and they put on a great show full of energy and fist pumping rock. Also, if you buy the CD retail, you could win a chance to spend a weekend on the road with the band, or an autographed guitar. Look, they're big rock stars, have tons of money, and a huge fan base so they must be doing something right. Just not for me.

Bottom Line: I'd rather drink from a puddle of mud.

Rating: (1 1/2 out of 4 stars)