Lost And Found
Epic, 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudvayne
REVIEW BY: Paul Hanson
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/09/2005
I asked my kids for Lost And Found because of the energetic single "Happy?" that I had been hearing on the radio daily. Each time I heard it, I found myself more and more interested in finding out more about the band, and once I got it I realized this band is more than just that song.
For their fourth album, the band ditches the nicknames and bizarre makeup and focuses on the music. Vocalist Chad Gray has the ability to sing in both a clean and guttural vocal style, and his ability to toggle between the two is refreshing. Also, drummer Matt McDonough is amazing, with a warm tone and the full-sounding toms sound full. He frequently throws in fills that throw off the standard meter of the song, giving some of the songs, giving them a more chaotic feel, such as in the opener "Determined" and "Just."
There is also real strength in the riffs of guitarist Greg Tribbett and the manic bass lines of Ryan Martine, and both musicians play enough wild parts to satisfy the listener. The best example of all these styles coming together is the epic closer "Choices," an eight-minute tour de force that is only marred by the stupid "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" lyrics.
Other songs have a strong introspective personal message, such as "Forget To Remember," which deals with rejection and confronting the past. "Happy?" is about acknowledging that someone else's happiness is based upon the speaker's misery ("Do you pull me up / Just to push me down again?"). Also, "Determined" is an excellent start to the release and would be my hope for an opening concert number, with lyrics such as "I'm flushing the trust of everyone / Stabbing in the back and thinkin' they can break me / Set my sight can't die till I'm done."
There are a few missteps, such as the screaming vocals of "TV Radio" and the ordinary "Rain. Sun. Gone." But overall the band shows a lot of potential, blending thrash and nu-metal and focusing on the songs, not the posturing.