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Puddle of Mudd is an American band from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. They achieved success on rock radio and some success in the mainstream, and their debut album Come Clean has sold well over 5 million copies. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had many #1 mainstream rock singles in the U.S. They have released 5 albums, with their latest being Famous, released in 2007.

History

Early years

Puddle of Mudd was formed in 1993 by Wes Scantlin (vocals), Kenny Burkett (drums), Jimmy Allen (lead guitar), and Sean Samon (bass guitar). The name was inspired by the Missouri River flood, which inundated the band's practice space, and left the floor a big "puddle of mud". The group's first album, Stuck, was released in 1994 on V&R Records. The seven-song album, of entirely original compositions, was produced by PoM and E.J. Rose, and recorded at Red House Studio in Lawrence, Kansas. The album did well in Kansas City, but never made it much further.

Minus Jimmy Allen, the group released a second album, Abrasive, in 1997 on Hardknocks Records. It had eleven tracks, all written by the band, three of which would eventually make it on to Puddle of Mudd's first major label release.

These would be the only two albums that exhibit a dirtier, grungier sound, compared to the semi-polished, maturing sound of later work.

Scantlin's start in the music business came after a copy of his demo tape was delivered to Fred Durst. Durst contacted Scantlin, and after hearing that his band had broken up, decided to bring him to California to attempt to put a new band together.

One of the first people Scantlin met upon arriving in California was Doug Ardito, an intern at Interscope Records. Ardito was also in a Boston-based band called Throat Culture. When Scantlin found out about Ardito's bass playing, they decided to work together. They were still in need of a guitarist and drummer.

Fred Durst decided to contact a guitarist he knew from his hometown of Jacksonville, FL, Paul Phillips, who had formerly played in a local band there called Happy Hour. After getting the call from Durst, Paul decided to try out for Puddle of Mudd, and was accepted, choosing to leave college in order to join.

Puddle of Mudd found a drummer from Jacksonville, and the four began playing together on some of the band's older songs, as well as some new ones. Durst signed the group to another showcase, and this time all went well. Durst then recruited the band to his new record label, Flawless Records.

Unfortunately, things did not work out with the Jacksonville drummer, and Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle and The Vandals (and later Guns N' Roses) did the drum tracks for Puddle of Mudd's next album instead. The band later held auditions for a new drummer, which produced Greg Upchurch, an ex-member of Eleven who had also toured with Chris Cornell.

The breakthrough and mainstream success

Puddle of Mudd released its major-label debut album Come Clean on August 28 2001. The lead single from the album, "Control" was successful and grabbed the attention of rock music audiences worldwide. It was also the theme song for WWE's Survivor Series 2001.

The second single off the album, "Blurry" turned out to be Puddle of Mudd's most successful single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the United Kingdom. Drift & Die was also released as a single and was very successful with rock audiences with the single spending 6 weeks at the #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, "She Hates Me", was released in late 2002 and became a massive hit reaching the #1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as well as #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The group then embarked on a European tour with Godsmack and were also part of the Family Values 2001 tour, alongside the Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park and Staind.

Copies of the album were selling well. It was certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 31 2003, and as of late 2006 total sales worldwide were in excess of 5 million copies.

Misconceptions of musical style

Critics everywhere denounce the band as a talentless derivative of true grunge bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains, though they were actually around during the heyday of grunge. This common misconception can be traced back to the fact that Puddle of Mudd did not release a major label album until 2001's hit Come Clean, after which they seemed to be everywhere at once after coming out of nowhere. By then, the grungier sound of their previous two efforts would no longer be present in the major-label releases, which were their only public works.

Life On Display and Famous

Puddle of Mudd's follow up, Life On Display spawned two hit singles "Away From Me" and "Heel Over Head". The album sold 706,191 copies to date, a considerable fall off from the previous album. Some suggested this was the primary cause of of drummer Greg Upchurch's jumping ship when 3 Doors Down came looking for a new drummer. Guitarist Paul Phillips left the band later on due to creative differences between him and Wes Scantlin. Marisa Miller appears in the music video for "Spin You Around". "Away From Me" featured in the The O.C. in 2004. The song "Nothing Left to Lose" was the official theme song of WWE's 2004 Royal Rumble.

On July 24 2007 they released "Famous EP" featuring "Famous", as well as an acoustic version of "Blurry", and a new track "Merry Go Round". The full length Famous album was released October 9, 2007. Including Puddle of Mudd's new hit single "Psycho".

Their song "Famous" was the WWE One Night Stand 2007 official theme song, and is also featured in the videogame WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 as well.

Future Plans

Wes has stated in an interview that the band's next project would be a live concert album release, an idea that Puddle of Mudd has wanted to do for some time. Then back to the studio for their next album release.

Members

• Wes Scantlin - Lead Vocals, Guitar (1993-Present)
• Doug Ardito - Bass, Backing Vocals (1998-Present)
• Christian Stone - Lead Guitar (2006-Present)
• Ryan Yerdon - Drums (2007-Present)

Former members

• Paul Phillips - Lead Guitar (1998-2005)
• Greg Upchurch - Drums (2000-2005)
• Jimmy Allen - Lead Guitar (1993-1998), (2005-2006)
• Mark "Moke" Bistany - Drums (2005-2007)
• Kenny Burkett - Drums (1993-1998)
• Sean Samon - Bass (1993-1998)

Discography

Albums

• Stuck (1994)
• Abrasive (1997)
• Come Clean (August 28 2001) - #9 U.S. - 3x Platinum - RIAA
• Life On Display (November 25 2003) - #20 U.S. - 706,191 - Gold - RIAA
• Famous (October 9 2007) - #27 U.S. - 218,772 copies

Singles

B-Sides

• "Bleed" (3:41) - From The Punisher Soundtrack
• "Daddy" (4:19) - From Life On Display
• "Life Ain't Fair" (3:45) - From Life On Display
• "Cast Away" (3:18) - From Famous (Best Buy Exclusive Download Track)
• "Miracle" (4:01) - From Famous (Target Exclusive Download Track)
• "Reason" (4:08) - From Famous (Target Exclusive Download Track)

Demos

• "Chemical Head Change" (3:11)
• "Gimp" (3:16)
• "Hip New Groove" (3:25)
• "Pussy Perfume" (4:45)
• "Sex Hate" (3:23)
• "Where U Gonna Go?" (AKA 'Young Angry Revolution', and 'What U Gonna Do?') (3:35)
• "Overdose" (4:47)
• "Down On Me" (3:03)
• "Bitter End" (AKA 'Bitter Friend') (4:01)
• (Unknown Recording) (1:20)
• "Stuck"

References

• Puddle of Mudd at Band-online.net

External links

• Record Label website
• Official website
• The Puddle of Mudd Pit Fansite
• Official RSS Feed
• Puddle of Mudd at MySpace.com

• 1990s music groups
• 2000s music groups
• Missouri heavy metal musical groups
• Post-grunge groups