Come Clean (Puddle of Mudd album)

Come Clean
Studio album by Puddle of Mudd
Released	August 28, 2001
Recorded	2000–2001
Studio	Third Stone Recording (Woodland Hills, California) NRG Recording Studios (North Hollywood, California)
Genre	Post-grunge [1] [2] nu metal [3]
Length	48:14
Label	Flawless Geffen
Producer	John Kurzweg
Puddle of Mudd chronology
Abrasive (1997) Come Clean (2001) Life on Display (2003)
Singles from Come Clean
"Control" Released: July 17, 2001 "Blurry" Released: October 29, 2001 "Drift & Die" Released: April 23, 2002 "She Hates Me" Released: August 13, 2002

Come Clean is the second studio album and major label debut by the American rock band Puddle of Mudd. Released on August 28, 2001, the album's music was responsible for breaking Puddle of Mudd into the mainstream music scene. It features the singles "Control," "Blurry," "Drift & Die" and "She Hates Me". Various tracks were re-recorded from the band's previous releases, Stuck and Abrasive . The album was the band's biggest hit on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number nine.

The album has sold over 5,000,000 copies ^[4] and was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA.

Music

The vocals have drawn comparisons to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, "but with a bit more sneer," according to Lauryn Schaffner of Loudwire. She described the album's instrumentation as "certainly a bit sludgier than Nirvana". The album contains hooks. ^[5]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Drowned in Sound	6/10 [7]
Entertainment Weekly	C [8]
NME	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]

Come Clean received mixed reviews from critics. AllMusic and Rolling Stone said that Puddle of Mudd did not stand out from other post-grunge bands with this album. ^{[6] [10]} In contrast, Stephanie Dickison of PopMatters touted Come Clean as the band's "album of the year". ^[11] In 2014, Tom Hawking of Flavorwire included the album in his list of "The 50 Worst Albums Ever Made", in which he said: "Sadly, grunge led straight to post-grunge, a genre that retained grunge’s guitar sound and jettisoned everything else that made it special. The result was torpid pseudo-grunge made by the sort of bros who Cobain would have loathed. Like this album, for instance." ^[12] In 2025, Lauryn Schaffner of Loudwire said it was the band's best album, saying: "Though they've released six other albums since, Puddle of Mudd never surpassed the success they had with Come Clean, making it the best offering of their catalog." ^[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Wes Scantlin except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Control"	Scantlin Brad Stewart	3:49
2.	"Drift & Die"	Scantlin Jimmy Allen	4:25
3.	"Out of My Head"		3:43
4.	"Nobody Told Me"		5:22
5.	"Blurry"	Wes Scantlin Doug Ardito Jimmy Allen	5:04
6.	"She Hates Me (listed as "She fucking hates me" in liner notes)"	Scantlin Allen	3:37
7.	"Bring Me Down"		4:03
8.	"Never Change"		3:59
9.	"Basement"		4:22
10.	"Said"		4:08
11.	"Piss It All Away"		5:39
Total length:			48:11

Some copies of the album have one or both of the following bonus tracks:

• "Abrasive" Japanese Edition – 3:14
• "Control" (Acoustic) – 4:09

Personnel

Puddle of Mudd

• Wes Scantlin – lead vocals, guitars
• Paul Phillips – guitars
• Doug Ardito – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Greg Upchurch – drums (credit only), backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Josh Freese – drums (uncredited)
• John Kurzweg - producer, engineer
• Andy Wallace – mixing
• Scott Sisco - assistant mixing engineer
• Scott Francisco, Steve Mixdorf - recording engineer
• Bobby Selvaggio - digital editing (Pro Tools)
• Vlado Meller - mastering
• Steve Twigger – string arrangements (track 11)
• Kate Schermerhorn – cover photo

A&R / Coordinators

• Fred Durst – A&R
• Danny Wimmer – A&R Coordinator
• Les Scurry – Production Coordinator

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Come Clean Chart (2001–2003) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] 23 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] 8 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] 26 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] 53 Europe (European Top 100 Albums) [17] 22 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [18] 27 French Albums (SNEP) [19] 82 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [20] 10 Irish Albums (IRMA) [21] 15 Italian Albums (FIMI) [22] 26 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [23] 10 Scottish Albums (OCC) [24] 90 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [25] 52 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [26] 26 UK Albums (OCC) [27] 12 US Billboard 200 [28] 9

Year-end charts 2002 year-end chart performance for Come Clean Chart (2002) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [29] 31 Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [30] 55 Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [31] 16 Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [32] 9 European Albums (Music & Media) [33] 58 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [34] 32 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [35] 96 UK Albums (OCC) [36] 60 US Billboard 200 [37] 24 Worldwide Albums (IFPI) [38] 32 2003 year-end chart performance for Come Clean Chart (2003) Position US Billboard 200 [39] 114 Decade-end charts Decade-end chart performance for Come Clean Chart (2000–2009) Position US Billboard 200 [40] 91

Certifications

Certifications for Come Clean

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [41]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [42]	Platinum	100,000^
Germany (BVMI) [43]	Gold	150,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [44]	Gold	7,500^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [45]	Gold	20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [46]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA) [47]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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3. Heaney, Chris. "Bland, mindless nu-metal music: many bands still love it". Chicago Maroon . Retrieved June 19, 2025.
4. Dinsdale, Nathan (December 4, 2003). "The Prodigal Son". The Pitch . Kansas City, Missouri. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
5. Schaffner, Lauryn SchaffnerLauryn (May 23, 2025). "The Best Album by 11 Post-Grunge Bands". Loudwire. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
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