Puddle Of Mudd
Come Clean

THE REVIEW

The important thing is to believe.

There are many examples of emulation in the world of music. Among the most sadly known, at least in the beautiful country, we recall Little Tony/Elvis Presley, not to mention the numerous groups eagerly seeking popularity by attempting to vaguely remind us of iconic bands like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.

In the case of Puddle Of Mudd, we could say the same, except that the result is not so bad, in fact, it is well-received. It's true, the first thing you notice when watching a live performance or a music video of the Kansas City band is how the leader Wes Scantlin forces himself to resemble a certain Mr. Kurt Cobain; with the proper proportions, the flashback works quite well.

"Come Clean" is the band's second CD, on the cover a cute little boy urinating near some bushes, but don't worry, it's not the same one from the "Nevermind" cover who might have grown up and perhaps wipes his pee hands with the dollar. Behind the scenes is Fred Durst, the band's discoverer and a point of reference along with Rick Rubin for bands wanting a good production and some money in their pockets. After the opening single "Control", the path towards the grunge CD of the decade seems paved (there wasn't much competition, for example, the grunge legends Pearl Jam would publish the very dreary "Riot Act" a few months later), but one must keep their feet on the ground.

"Drift & Die" very much, too much, recalls the "Cobain style", while much more alternative are the excellent "Out Of My Head", perhaps the best track of the album, and "Nobody Told Me". Some people frowned upon watching the videos of "Blurry" and "She... Hates Me" on MTV. Indeed, the latter has very little to do with grunge, but it was the single for the European launch, with a fun text unfortunately censored for a long time in the old continent just because of some explicit terms dedicated by Scantlin to his ex-partner. Note how Fred Durst's "electronic" hand is present in the bases of 8 tracks out of 11, especially in "Control" and "Basement". What is unconvincing about the album is that some tracks like "Said" and "Nobody Told Me" were already present on the band's previous album, "Abrasive", and have somehow been remodeled for a perfect fit into the CD.

Strong sound, scratchy voice, scratching riffs, melodic bases but never similar to each other; it's true, the Nirvana are still far away, but the important thing is to believe.