Mudvayne Album: “The New Game”

Big time disappointing album. Only 2 songs are worth listening to, the recycled Dull Boy and We The People. The uniqueness of Mudvayne is gone, the heaviness is gone, the noticeable bass lines are gone, the intense screaming that seemed to have substance behind them are gone. What you have left is boring, radio friendly, cookie cutter rock music.

Is it me or do you notice that when bands stop using swear words without inhibition (such as w/ this album) there music becomes a little more bland, (i.e Slipknot, Deftones and now Mudvayne). I guess that's a sign of them trying to become more radio friendly and wanting more record sales.

If you want to listen to an album like LD 50, then go buy... uh, LD 50. No, this album isn't what you might expect from Mudvayne, but the great thing from this band is that they don't have to define themselves and box themselves up the way most of the reviewers here apparently have. They're going to experiment with new sounds, new formats, new themes, and if you really do like THE BAND and not just the swearing and screaming, you'll be able to still enjoy them. The talent is still there. You can hear that this band cares about their music. They're still a supremely talented band that went in a slightly different direction than everyone is used to, and their fans are freaking out? Really? My God, calm down folks, it's not the end of the world.

So what, Chad doesn't swear every 15 seconds like he did in previous albums. He still has the scream down. And what do you care if they make their CD more radio friendly? They may love the music, but they still need to make money otherwise no one is going to pay them to play music. If you want Mudvayne to never change, then just keep LD 50 playing and never listen to anything else. But if you can appreciate watching this band twist and change and still maintain the essence of what they were, then you'll like this album.

No, it's not their best album, but as a huge Mudvayne fan, it's no exaggeration for me to say that I can listen to this CD on repeat all day and find something interesting and new each time I listen. They haven't worn the facepaint for years now. Their look has evolved. Let their sound evolve, too.

I have been gravitating towards black and death metal since 2003. And this album is even more reason for me too.

I have already pretty much stopped listening to the radio a couple of years ago because I got sick of hearing Nirvana and Sublime 10 times a day, each, and they were first popular 15 YEARS AGO. Plus there is the crap that is currently being played adnaseum on any rock station.

I was a big fan when they first came out, but like most bands they ran out of ideas and put out crap like this and the last "album" just to make money. This is a completely uninspired piece of dreck, totally radio friendly and a complete waste of my time.

Only get this if you are a die-hard Mudvayne fan and if you do, you aren't.

Even to this day, Mudvayne's first full-length on a major label, 2000's "L.D. 50," remains one of the best metal albums of the new millennium. Their follow-up, 2002's "The End Of All Things To Come," did make for a few good listens; but, at the end of the day, was fairly disappointing (especially when considering the standards set by its predecessor). Frontman Chad BLANK and Co. got back on the road to recovery in 2005 by releasing "Lost And Found," an effort which forfeited all of the band's math metal roots in favor of a much rawer and more urgent and aggressive edge. But whatever progress was made on that 2005 release went out the window three years later when Mudvayne's fourth album proper, 2008's "The New Game," saw the light of day. Again, that 2005 release may have been an improvement over the 2002 one. But that does not make it an excuse to simply rehash it the next time around (which is what "The New Game" does).

This record sounds so tired and played that it actually brings to light some of the promising elements in "TEOATTC." At least that effort showed the Peoria, Illinois-based quartet further pursing their progressive influences. (And besides, those results weren't all bad; several of the songs - especially the radio hit "Not Falling," and the touching balladry of "World So Cold" - were very good.) It has a few smart, and borderline "math-y" leanings, but they are so fleeting that they are almost not worth mentioning. Yes, Mudvayne's musicianship remains top notch, here. So, you will be sure to find more than an ample share of abrasive guitar licks, precise, syncopated, and natural-sounding drumming, and very technical, fluid, and uniquely jazzy bass lines. But with the songwriting lacking the way it is, none of this translates into great groundbreaking, or even consistently noteworthy music with staying power. As a result, "TNG" is, at best, fairly bland, recycled, unimaginative, and watered down alternative/nu-metal; at worst, it is uninspired hard rock. The head of second/third-rate post-grunge undeniably rears its ugly head from time to time, too!

And, unfortunately, the songs themselves are mostly hit-or-miss, too. In fact, this feeling becomes so overwhelming at times that one can't help but wonder if they are listening to an actually and completely new studio album, or just a compilation of b-sides and rarities. (It is more "By The People, For The People" than it is "L.D. 50.," and that is for sure.) The lead-off "Fish Out Of Water" is more-or-less a good representation of the record as a whole in that it is but one example of beginning on a soft note before predictably builds into a substantial amount of heaviness soon thereafter. "Do What You Do" and "Same Ol'" are two other numbers that work almost identically. One has an acoustic intro followed by the usual wall of guitar crunch and decent bass work; and the other hits more convincingly, with a dreamy melodic guitar intro offset by bruising rhythms, a steady, humming bass, and cool, full-bodied howls from Chad. "Do What You Do" also can claim to have the first guitar solo ever recorded by Greg Tribbett - a short and moronically simplistic one, but a guitar solo, nonetheless.

The title track is one of the biggest standouts, and is probably better than anything found elsewhere. It attacks with a savagely fiery and aggressive attitude, steamrolling rhythms, and slamming, profusely hard-rocking, head-banging grooves. It is also highlighted by a shocking guitar solo section - there are four decent solos in all, here. "Never Enough" is another one of the more enjoyable moments in that it is fat driven by excellent, complex, Primus-esque bass work. "We The People," a borderline brutal and surprisingly thrashy and propulsive set closer, and "The Hate In Me," a bearable hard-rocker with a few noteworthy slap bass interludes, are decent, as well.

But it is just too-darn-hard for the same to be said about the remainder of the material. "Have It Your Way" and the ironically-titled "Dull Boy" are both nothing more than predictable filler. They go absolutely nowhere, contribute nothing, and fail to leave much of an impression on the listener. Both of them also follow the same formulaic, soft-hard song-structures that have only been beaten into the ground an unquantifiable number of times since Nirvana and Alice In Chains invented them so many years ago. The latter song's cheesy lyrics don't help its cause, either. Next, "A Cinderella Story" may be have plenty of math-y bass lines that are impressive-to-say-the-least; but the bass work is really all this song has going for it. (And that isn't enough.) Lastly, "Scarlet Letters" does have the occasional burst of half-hearted heaviness, but it is mostly an obligatory, bloated, and entirely forgettable ballad that wouldn't sound mismatched coming from Staind (!).

To be brutally honest, there really isn't all that much to enjoy, here. "The New Game" is ironically titled because it is anything but new! The level of maturity and improvement displayed by Mudvayne throughout is zero. (Fans would have better luck finding growth if they looked on an old piece of cheese.) Sure, a few of these tunes could be qualified as keepers, but even they are not worth going out of one's way to get. For the most part, though, this is a VERY mediocre, disappointing, and skippable release from a band that, even at a relatively young age, seems content on distancing itself from its legacy.

This is one of the best rock issues ever. Musically this one of the best records ever made in the modern hard rock scene. I wish more bands would have the balls follow their instincts and put out music of this class. I have listened to this CD for months and I just cannot put it out of my top ten list.