Puddle Of Mudd - Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love And Hate (2009) (7/10)

Many famous bands have a record entitled "Volume 4," like LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH for example. PUDDLE OF MUDD now follow that tradition but they obviously can't come close to the classic records of the aforementioned bands. This is the band's sixth studio record overall, but their fourth major lable output.

Since the more or less convincing comeback record "Famous," only guitar player Christian Stone left the band and Paul Phillips who had recorded "Come Clean" as well as "Life On Display" with the band came back on board. On a starnge side note, a wanted fugitive for assault with a deadly weapon had claimed back in 2006 to be Paul Phillips which of course wasn't true.

Even though the new release was elaborated in three separated recording sessions, this new release sounds more coherent than its precedessor and seems to involve less producers and songwriters. The band focuses more on Hard Rock orientated tracks. There are still a couple of ballads on here but they are not as commercially flavoured as before which is a good sign.

Despite the band's efforts to only include killer songs on this rather short record, this album though includes a couple of less impressive tracks that harm the flow of this release. The kitsch ballad "Keep It Together" really wasn't necessary and is one the worst songs from the last record. The warm-hearted, more laid back and natural "The Only Reason" is a clearly better ballad, but this song is in fact a rerecorded version of the last record's bonus track "Reason" which isn't all too original. The average Hard Rock anthem and album closer "Hooky" with its childish lyrics is also rather embarassing.

On the good side, we have the angry and straight album opener "Stoned" and its rebellious video clip that reminds of tracks like "Out Of My Head" or "Cloud 9." The more thought out Modern Rock songs "Out Of My Way" as well as "Blood On The Table" also have a slightly melancholic yet angry atmosphere and convince thanks to Wesley Reid Scantlin's unique vocals. Despite several very solid tracks, a truly outstanding track is missing on the record as even the previous album had some of them.

Ironically, the best songs can be found on the Special Editions of the record that eventually save this release. The experimental and even slightly Folk Rock and Progressive Rock driven "Crowsfeet" is one of the most original PUDDLE OF MUDD songs in the last few years. "Living In A Dream" is also an energizing grower that should have made it on all regular editions. The true highlight is though the song "Shook Up The World" that was written for the American team for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia, Canada. The song wasn't finished at time to make it on the regular album and wasn't even included on the official Olympic games soundtrack for the American team as the band had also missed that deadline. That's a sad thing but the track here is really worth the wait. It features an epic feeling with pianos and string sessions, powerful but still edgy vocals and a truly catchy chorus. For me, this is without a doubt one of the best PUDDLE OF MUDD songs ever written and this means that there is still hope for the band. I hope that the band may include this song again on a future release to spread ist name even though I'm usually not a big fan of this kind of release policies.

Let's also add that the three acoustic tracks are very interesting alternatives to the original songs and make them sound more rich and profound to my positive surprise. The band has always talked about the possibility to record an entire acoustic record and these three acoustic pieces make me hope for this kind of release in the future.

At the end of the day, this release sounds more coherent than "Famous," but it surely includes less hit songs. If you can get your hands on the bonus tracks, you should definitely do so because they are in fact among the best songs on here. In the beginning, I liked this record less than "Famous" at first contact but today I would say that this commercially unsuccessful output is a step back in the right direction for the band. Even the somewhat superficial first single "Spaceship" pleases me enough today and is a quite unusual and almost groovy party Rock anthem from the band.

The band is less commercial on here and only recorded the tracks where they really stood behind and you can feel this on this record even though some tracks are not really my cup of tea. Long time fans should get their hands on this album but everybody else doesn't miss that much on here.

(Online July 25, 2013)