Come Clean is the second studio album and major label debut by the American rock band Puddle of Mudd. It was released on August 28, 2001, through Flawless Records. The album broke Puddle of Mudd into the mainstream, featuring the singles "Control", "Blurry", "Drift & Die" and "She Hates Me". Various tracks were re-recorded from the band's previous releases, Stuck and Abrasive.
Come Clean was the band's biggest hit on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number nine. The album has sold over 5,000,000 copies 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.
Reception and legacy
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. In contrast, Stephanie Dickison of PopMatters touted Come Clean as the band's "album of the year". 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." 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."
Track listing All tracks written by Wes Scantlin except where noted.
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 CleanChart (2002–2003)PeakpositionAustralian Heavy Rock & Metal Albums (ARIA)2Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)14Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)31European Albums (Music & Media)22
Year-end charts +2002 year-end chart performance for Come CleanChart (2002)PositionAustrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)31Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)55Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)16Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 9 European Albums (Music & Media)58German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)32Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)96UK Albums (OCC)60US Billboard 20024Worldwide Albums (IFPI)32 +2003 year-end chart performance for Come CleanChart (2003)PositionUS Billboard 200114
Decade-end charts +Decade-end chart performance for Come CleanChart (2000–2009)Position US Billboard 200 Digit page 167 on the PDF archive.91
Certifications
References