http://www.nuvo.net/article.php?title=puddle_of_mudd
10-31-07
Puddle
of
Mudd
The
Vogue
Tuesday,
Nov.
6,
8
p.m.,
$25/$27,
21+
Puddle
of
Mudd’s
style
of
straight-ahead
guitar
rock
has
little
to
do
musically
with
hip-hop.
But
that
didn’t
stop
the
band
from
seeing
a
common
practice
in
hip-hop
that
it
could
apply
to
their
new
CD,
Famous.
Where
most
rock
bands
work
with
a
single
producer
in
making
a
CD,
Puddle
of
Mudd
borrowed
a
page
from
a
hip-hop
trend
and
tried
to
match
producers
to
the
types
of
individual
songs
on
Famous.
That
wasn’t
the
original
plan.
In
fact,
Puddle
of
Mudd
appeared
poised
to
surprise
its
fans
by
teaming
up
with
two
of
the
biggest
names
in
punk
rock
as
its
producers:
Bill
Stevenson
(drummer
for
Black
Flag
and
The
Descendents,
who
has
produced
Rise
Against,
MxPx
and
others)
and
Jason
Livermore
(whose
credits
include
NOFX
and
The
Lemonheads).
“We
did
go
to
Colorado
and
worked
with
Jason
and
Bill
on
a
full
record’s
worth
of
material,”
Wes
Scantlin,
Puddle
of
Mudd
singer/guitarist,
says.
“Then
when
we
listened
and
sat
back
with
it
…
we
realized,
‘Hey,
maybe
we
should
hit
up
some
more
avenues
rather
than
this
punk
direction.’”
That’s
when
the
group
began
seeking
out
other
producers.
In
the
end,
another
half-dozen
producers
contributed
to
the
Famous
CD,
including
Brian
Howes
(who
has
worked
with
Daughtry
and
Hinder),
Jack
Joseph
Puig
(whose
long
resume
includes
projects
with
John
Mayer,
The
Goo
Goo
Dolls
and
Jellyfish)
and
Howard
Benson
(My
Chemical
Romance
and
the
All-American
Rejects,
among
others).
What’s
surprising,
given
the
number
of
production
cooks
in
the
kitchen,
is
that
Famous
still
sounds
very
much
like
the
work
of
Puddle
of
Mudd,
which
hit
big
with
a
2001
debut,
Come
Clean,
selling
more
than
5
million
copies.
Like
that
album
(and
2003’s
far
less
successful
Life
On
Display),
Famous
features
plenty
of
straight-ahead
melodic
rock
and
a
couple
of
sturdy
ballads.
The
one
song
that
truly
breaks
formula
is
the
Puig-produced
“Radiate,”
which
blends
in
some
touches
of
techno
and
electronica.
Scantlin
is
pleased
with
the
results
of
the
multiproducer
approach.
“We
got
the
best
work
from
each
person
respectively
at
his
forte,”
he
says.