Life On Display : Puddle Of Mudd : Review : Rolling Stone

Forty-five seconds into "life on Display," Puddle of Mudd's second major-label album, singer Wesley Scantlin announces he's "drowning in a pool of misery." While most bands would spend more time working their way up to such a histrionic confession, it's par for the course with the Puddles, who specialize in third-rate grunge retreads stuffed with overdriven guitars and generic rock-dude melancholia. The only attempt at subtlety or nuance is "Change My Mind," which could have been an outtake from an Alice in Chains unplugged album. Though Scantlin yowls his pain about his place in the universe and girls who don't understand him, the predominant emotion transmitted by these tired, hookless tunes is a kind of skull-banging numbness. The extra d is for dismal.

CHRISTIAN HOARD
(RS 937, December 11, 2003)