Mudvayne

Mudvayne's By the People, For the People could easily have been called "Mudvayne 101"—the collection of demos, live songs, new cuts, unreleased tracks and b-sides proves to be an insightful glimpse into the creative process behind one of heavy music's most enigmatic and challenging bands. In groundbreaking fashion, Mudvayne allowed fans to choose the songs they wanted on the record online, and then the band chose the versions of each that would be included. Among some of the standouts are unreleased tracks from The End of All Things to Come, including the ethereal and brooding "Goodbye" and a classic neck-snapper of a song "On the Move." A live version of their breakout single "Dig" from L.D. 50 pummels just as much as the studio version, capturing the raw energy that has made Mudvayne a consistent draw live, while a demo of "Skrying" is almost as schizophrenic-yet-captivating as the final album version.

One of the big surprises is the acoustic rendition of the Lost and Found hit "Forget to Remember"—even when stripped of distortion, Mudvayne's songs remain powerful largely due to their intricate instrumentation. The one brand new track, "Dull Boy," evinces another evolution, with frontman Chad Gray's voice swinging from heavy to melodic like a guillotine and Greg Tribbett's riffs hitting harder than ever. The last track, a cover of The Police's "King of Pain," allows bassist Ryan Martinie and drummer Matt McDonough space for the mindblowing rhythmic experimentation that listeners have come to expect. As an added bonus, Gray provides audio intros to each track that elucidate the stories behind the music. The people have spoken, and Mudvayne have listened, providing a cohesive collection of rarities targeted at true fans.

Rick Florino
12.12.07

As the title By the People, for the People implies, the track listing of this comp was left up to Mudvayne's people, so to speak. The band's faithful fans voted on their favorite songs, via mudvayne.com, submitted and selected the artwork for the album, and left the group to pick their favorite unreleased versions of the songs -- live versions, rarities, demo versions, or other. With a new original song "Dull Boy," an acoustic version of "Forget to Remember," a new cover of the Police's "King of Pain" (that's about as good as you might expect), eight demos, and a few live songs, this is the type of for-fans-only CD that should bring great excitement to Mudvayne collectors and very little to others. If you are, in fact, a fan of the band, there is still one shortcoming to the disc. Every other track on is a ten- to 30-second explanation of the upcoming track, provided by vocalist Chad Gray. This is frustrating as it breaks up the continuity with "behind the music" factoids that never manage to be very insightful. For example, before "Death Blooms (Demo)" is played, you learn that it was originally recorded at Signal Sound Source in Chicago, March through April of 1999, and was one of the first songs to create a buzz about Mudvayne. While a description of how the songs were created could be interesting (albeit, disruptive to someone only wanting to hear music), the facts provided here are short enough to fit neatly in the liner notes. That said, the sound quality is great, and hardcore fans will enjoy the opportunity to hear some alternate songs from their favorite nu-metal band that sometimes dress up like scary aliens. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi