With their debut album getting the recognition its avant-garde nature deserved, Mudvayne’s sophomore album was eagerly anticipated by many. While Mudvayne’s more extreme and progressive influences meant that they weren’t likely to sell tens of millions of albums, there was undoubtedly a huge fanbase behind them thanks to heavy touring and strong marketability. There was also the matter of the band’s technical abilities, especially bassist extraordinaire Ryan Martinie.
Released on November 19th, 2002, the album was buoyed by a more accessible approach – as well as huge single “Not Falling” appearing on the Ghost Ship soundtrack. With very little time to actually write and record the record compared to L.D. 50, it helped Mudvayne focus their sound and streamline it a bit. It eventually went Gold from the attention it received, and became the band’s third Gold-certified album. No easy feat for a band of this nature. And it’s still awfully impressive today, especially with the focus on strong musicianship.
