Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate

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Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate
Pomvol4.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 8, 2009
RecordedEarly 2009
Genre Post-grunge
Length35:50
Label
Producer
Puddle of Mudd chronology
Famous
(2007)
Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate
(2009)
re:(disc)overed
(2011)
Singles from Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate
  1. "Spaceship"
    Released: October 27, 2009
  2. "Shook Up the World"
    Released: February 9, 2010
  3. "Stoned"
    Released: March 8, 2010
  4. "Keep It Together"
    Released: July 12, 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
BLARE MagazineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
EarsuckerStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The DiamondbackStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
TuneLab MusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]

Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate is the fifth full-length studio album by the American rock band Puddle of Mudd. Released on December 8, 2009 via Flawless Records, the album contains four singles released to radio, Spaceship, Stoned, Keep It Together, and Shook Up the World, the latter appearing on a deluxe edition in which was sold exclusively on the band's official website.

Contents

The album was the follow-up to the Famous album (2007), serving as their fourth major-label release and the final release with Flawless/Geffen, their longtime record label.

Background

In Spring 2009, the band began recording sessions in Vancouver with Famous producer Brian Howes. Recording in a three part, three week session in Canada initially because of extensive touring duties. Afterwards the band relocated to Hollywood, California for three weeks for additional production with producer and engineer Brian Virtue and Come Clean and Life on Display producer John Kurzweg. [7] Their first time together in six years. Scantlin commented on production work, "Even though we hate messing with success, we felt adding newcomer Brian Virtue to the producer mix would be a welcome change. What we got is 10 tracks of exactly what we were looking for." [8]

The band announced through their MySpace and follow-up interviews in late summer that the album had finished production and was in mixing. Bassist Doug Ardito confirmed only 10 songs to avoid what he called "filler material" and to have new listeners focus more on non-single songs. [9]

Around 21 songs were worked on during production, and whittled down to 10 to 12 tracks according to singer Scantlin. [10] Scantlin described the sound as more edgier, punk rock, similar to earlier releases. [11]

The album was released on December 8, 2009. It debuted at #95 on the Billboard 200. [12] It sold around 100,000 copies in the United States, and the lead single "Spaceship" also sold well over 100,000 copies. Volume 4 was however the band's first album to not produce a Hot 100 hit, and, unlike the previous albums Come Clean , Life on Display and Famous , neither the album sales or any single sales topped 500,000. The album was mixed at Ocean Way Recording. [13]

On February 9, 2010 the and released the single Shook Up the World, a song they contributed to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The single was written and recorded in 2009 during the same sessions as Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate. Shook Up the World would later be released as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album that was exclusively released on the band's official website on April 15, 2010.

Track listing

Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate [14]
No.TitleLength
1."Stoned"3:30
2."Spaceship"3:14
3."Keep It Together"3:52
4."Out of My Way"4:02
5."Blood on the Table"3:13
6."The Only Reason"4:07
7."Pitchin' a Fit"3:39
8."Uno Mas"2:59
9."Better Place"4:01
10."Hooky"3:10
Total length:35:50
Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Spaceship" (Acoustic)3:15
12."Better Place" (Acoustic)3:53
13."Stoned" (Acoustic)3:33
14."Crowsfeet"4:08
iTunes exclusive track
No.TitleLength
15."Living in a Dream"4:27
Puddle of Mudd website exclusive
No.TitleLength
16."Shook Up the World"4:55

Due to the departure of some members during 2009–2011, more than half of the album's songs were never performed live. The only songs that are constant parts of current live gigs are Stoned and Spaceship. In the early 2010s, Keep It Together and Blood On The Table were performed several times. The rest of the songs have yet to be performed live. In 2024, Puddle of Mudd added Pitchin‘ a Fit to their live setlist and performed it live twice.

Personnel

Production

"Shook Up the World" produced/mixed/engineered by – Bill Appelerry

References

  1. "About.com review". Rock.about.com. December 8, 2009. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review:Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate". Allmusic . Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  3. "BLARE Magazine review". Blaremagazine.com. December 7, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  4. "Earsucker review". Earsucker.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  5. "The Diamondback review". Diamondbackonline.com. December 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  6. "TuneLab Music review". Tunelab.com. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  7. "New Interview With Puddle Of Mudd's Wes Scantlin | tunelab™". Tunelab.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  8. "Puddle of Mudd – Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love & Hate + 2009 tour dates". Band Weblogs. October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  9. [ dead link ]
  10. "Rock 94 1/2, Spokane's Best Rock. KHTQ-FM Spokane Washington". Rock945.com. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  11. "Audio : AUDIO: Wesley Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd". Qctimes.com. June 24, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  12. "Puddle of Mudd Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  13. "Puddle of Mudd Mix New Album at Ocean Way Recording". Consumerelectronicsnet.com. October 30, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  14. "iTunes - Music - Volume 4: Songs In the Key of Love & Hate (Deluxe Version) by Puddle of Mudd". iTunes. December 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2011.