''Famous'' is the third studio album by American rock band

Puddle of Mudd Puddle of Mudd is an American post-grunge band formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1992. The band has sold over seven million albums. Their major-label debut, '' Come Clean'' (2001), spawned the single " Blurry", which peaked at number 5 on the ...

, released on October 9, 2007 on

Flawless Records Flawless Records was a record label formed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as a division of Geffen Records. It has signed such bands as Puddle of Mudd, The Revolution Smile, and Ringside. Artists * Big Dumb Face * Kenna *Puddle of Mudd * She ...

. It was originally set to be released in May, but was pushed back to add more songs to the album. The title track provided the album's lead single in May 2007. " Psycho", " We Don't Have to Look Back Now" and "Livin' on Borrowed Time" would follow in November, then May and August 2008. ''Famous'' debuted at number 27 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, selling about 31,000 copies in its first week. The album had sold around 363,000 copies in the US by the time Puddle of Mudd released their next album, '' Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate'' (2009).

History

After the previous album was released, guitarists Paul Phillips and drummer

Greg Upchurch 3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi that formed in 1996. The band's music is described as post-grunge, alternative rock, and hard rock. The band's 2000 debut single "Kryptonite" became their breakthrough hit, pea ...

left the band, being replaced by Christian Stone and Ryan Yerdon respectively. The two moved on to play for

Operator Operator may refer to: Mathematics * A symbol indicating a mathematical operation * Logical operator or logical connective in mathematical logic * Operator (mathematics), mapping that acts on elements of a space to produce elements of another sp ...

and

3 Doors Down 3 Doors Down is an American Rock music, rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi that formed in 1996. The band's music is described as post-grunge, alternative rock, and hard rock. The band's 2000 debut single "Kryptonite (3 Doors Down song), Kr ...

, respectively. In early 2007, the album was in finishing stages with producer Bill Stevenson. The band had written 60 to 70 songs, eventually narrowing it down to just a few tracks. Originally, the album was due out in July with the title, ''Living on Borrowed Time''. The band employed a tactic common with

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artists, having multiple producers on the album to match the feel of each song.herald tribune
/ref> After first working with Stevenson and Jason Livermore, the band decided to change directions on the recording style, with Scantlin stating "We did go to Colorado and worked with Jason and Bill on a full record's worth of material... we decided to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb and make sure it was the record we truly wanted to put out. And we realized, 'Hey, maybe we should hit up some more avenues rather than this punk direction.'" The band hired

Brian Howes Brian Howes, also known as Howes, is a Canadian songwriter and record producer who has found success within a wide range of genres, including his work with Puddle of Mudd and Simple Plan. Career Howes played in a British Columbia band, Young Gu ...

, a writer-producer known for working with bands like

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry (album), Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb (Buckcherry album), Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckche ...

and

Hinder Hinder is an American Rock music, rock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formed in 2001 by former lead singer Austin John Winkler, guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey, drummer Cody Hanson, with bass player Cole Parker being recruited in 2002 during ...

, to assist in writing and production, alongside several other producers including Jack Joseph Puig and Howard Benson. Bassist Douglas Ardito explained the writing process, stating "We had a lot of time to write and then make the record... This time we had time to live life and have experiences to talk about."alternativeaddiction
/ref> Scantlin explained "It's about passion and writing music that connects with other people and somehow heals them. really want to try to crawl under peoples' skin and at the same time make some kick-ass rock 'n roll music." The album's title was changed to match that of its lead single by the label. Scantlin was unhappy with the results of the additional producers brought in, stating in a 2009 interview that the initial version "was fine" and expressing regrets about the final release.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;Puddle of Mudd * Wesley Scantlin – lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Doug Ardito Douglas John Ardito (born March 10, 1971) is an American musician who was a member and played guitar as well as bass guitar for the band Puddle of Mudd. He is a Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Fender Musical Instruments endorsed artist. ...

– bass, vocals *Christian Stone – lead guitar, vocals *Ryan Yerdon – drums ;Additional personnel *

Tony Fagenson Tony Fagenson (born July 18, 1978), also known as Tony Nova, is a guitarist, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for his work with rock bands Eve 6 and Dead Posey. Eve 6 While attending the University of Southern ...

– piano, guitars, keyboards, percussion, programming, backing vocals, engineering, production *Kenny Aranoff – drums *

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American drummer. A member of punk rock band the Vandals since 1989, Freese has also been a member of new wave band Devo since 1996. He was previously a member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses ...

– drums *Xandy Barry – guitars *Duane Betts – guitars *Lenny Castro – percussion * Max Collins – acoustic guitar, production *Tony Battaglia – guitars, engineer, production *Andrew Berlin – guitars, engineer *

– guitars, production *Christopher Jak – guitars, engineer *Abe Laboriel, Jr. – drums, percussion *Lee Miles – guitar, engineer *Tim Pierce – guitars *Mark Pontius – drums *Gabe Witcher – backing vocals ;Production *Bryan Coisne – engineer *Paul DeCarli – digital editing *

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi ( ; December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She primarily writes music in the pop rock genre. She has worked with many popular artists; sales of albums ...

– vocal production *Tal Herzberg – engineer *Hatsukazu Inagaki – engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering *Jolie Jones Levine – production coordinator *Jason Livermore – engineer, production *Jon Nicholson – drum tech *Mike Plotnikoff – engineer *Johnny Schou – engineer *Matt Serrecchio – engineer *Marc VanGool – guitar tech *

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, record executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Dou ...

– executive producer, mixing, production, A&R * Bill Stevenson – engineer, production *Jason VanPoederooyen – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Puddle of Mudd albums Geffen Records albums Albums produced by Howard Benson Albums produced by Bill Stevenson (musician) Albums produced by Jack Joseph Puig