The New Game - Dark Publications

Location: Home » music » Alternative Metal » The New Game

Similar Items:

•	Dark Horse
•	All Hope Is Gone
•	Death Magnetic
•	Indestructible
•	The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]

Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Grammy nominated Mudvayne release in 2008 their first studio album in three years. All copies of the album contain an exclusive code for fans to register and play The New Game to solve a murder mystery as it unfolds with weekly clues. Grand prizes will be awarded to the winning finalists. Fans must own the CD in order to play and win prizes. Fans with the code can redeem for the free fan club membership which allows them the only way to get tickets to see Mudvayne live!

Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

A delicious feast that has gone stale November 20, 2008
8 out of 15 found this review helpful

With L.D 50, Mudvayne was one of the most exciting nu-metal bands of the new millennium. Nu-metal often (and deservedly) gets a bad rap, but what made it so infectious was the swagger and attitude, even if it was shallow and whiny. It was gangsta rap chest-thumping channeled through metal, and Mudvayne had more than enough attitude and maniacal intensity to stand out among the crowd. However, this is 2008 and the cola's gone a bit flat. Gone is the brashness and ferocity and insane-asylum psychosis and technical complexity. We're left with bland riffs, soft vocals, and enough melodic moments to earn these guys a slot on the next My Chemical Romance tour. "The New Game" sounds heavily inspired by "Lost and Found"'s radio hit "Happy?". Everything presented here is a shadow of their former greatness. No one is asking them to replicate L.D. 50, but at least then, they were unique. Now, they're just vanilla ice cream with some interesting sprinkles thrown in here and there.

2 out of 5 stars

Dull Boy is bummed by a broken Cinderella story November 22, 2008
8 out of 13 found this review helpful

I'm going to qualify my review by saying that I am a long-time, die-hard fan of MuDvAyNe. I'm fairly open-minded when it comes to music as my personal library boasts everything from Beethoven to Delerium to Slipknot. My favorite band is Pink Floyd followed by Tool and finally the VaYnE. I have been patiently awaiting new material since 2004 gave us "Lost and Found", and I've defended this band to my friends who have grown older and less receptive to bands of such a hard-core genre.

In qualifying my statements, I must first announce that the 2 stars I've awarded this album are in comparison to the disappointing material we hear on the radio. When compared to previous work released by this band, "The New Game" would garner a half-star at best. I'm more than happy to enjoy the evolution of a band as they explore a new sound or a new approach, but this album offers neither despite the promissory arguments of the blinded reviewers who were dumb enough to grant such a mediocre effort 4 or 5 stars.

Previous reviewers requested that I give this mess `a few listens' before posting a review, and I have done so. Here's my complaint. The music is clear, refined, over-produced and pre-packaged for mainstream radio play. There's nothing original here. We have 10 tracks following the prototypical 3:30 formula geared for individual singles. Not one track stands out the way it has in the past. This is a collection of HellNo rejects with another re-hashed and re-used sub-par track taken from the disappointing "By The People, For the Money" collection of B-sides and live-tracks released in 2007.

I think it's safe to say that every song on this pathetic album embellishes upon the ridiculous formula that satisfies mainstream rock radio stations. In the spirit of Nickelback, Five-Knuckle-Shuffle (or whatever the H*** that lousy band calls itself), Disturbed, Hinder, 10 years, AC/DC, and blah, blah, blah, Mudvayne has mastered the forgettable pattern of a quiet (yet predictable) stanza, hard-core chorus, quiet (yet predictable) stanza, hard-core chorus, a little-bitty, itsy-bitsy reprieve and a few more repetitions of a forgettable chorus before fading out anywhere between 3:25 and 3:45.

There are other bands I'd just as soon promote, but I don't want readers to feel I'm spitting on this mess just to bolster a different band. I will always cherish "L.D. 50", "The End of All Things to Come" and "Lost and Found." I'm even a big-time fan of "The Beginning of All Things to End."

Don't believe in the hype surrounding Mudvayne's new album. Listen to the samples first before sending them an email proclaiming your ultimate disappointment. To say they've `sold out' would be a compliment. They've simply quit. This is a commercial stunt geared to win your dollars more than it's aimed at winning your enthusiasm. What's with having to buy the album in order to get concert tickets? Mudvayne is bent on gimmicks now while pursuing any avenue to generate unwarranted revenue. 11 tracks of forgettable mush. Just like Cinderella, only F(expletive) stupid.

Sadly, Dave Fortman has done to Mudvayne what Bob Rock did to Metallica. Close the door, pull the curtains and call it a night. Mudvayne is dead.

3 out of 5 stars

A disappointment November 18, 2008
7 out of 12 found this review helpful

I love LD 50 and really like both TEoATtC and Lost and Found, but the artistry in this album is far from these two. It is not that the new album is horrific by any means, it is just that it gives the listener something completely different from what they've grown to expect as fans of this band. I am not saying that stagnating and never changing is good, but for me personally, this album lacks everything that initially drew me to this band. The only LD 50-reminiscent moment in the new album is the first 2 minutes of the track "A New Game." The song "Do What You Do" sounds similar to some of the more radio-friendly songs from Lost and Found. Lyrically, it seems a bit simple and lackadaisical. Try comparing the lyrics in the CD booklet from ANG to LD 50, and you will see what I mean. Some of the songs contain sections that seem a bit cut and paste with starkly different aesthetic contiguousness to what proceeded it (first and thirds track notably).

The majority of the tracks are a departure from what has previously been done, and for me, that is the disappointment. Except for the first two minutes of the track "A New Game," the album lacks intensity. Gone are nearly all semblances of virulent aggression. It feels tame. There is nothing close to something like "Pharmaecopia" or "IMN" on this album. I don't feel any energy when I listen to it. Alternative/math metal has been replaced with run-of-the-mill rock. In comparison to Mudvayne's previous albums, frankly ANG is boring and has transformed Mudvayne's sound from what was once unique and special into something that is ubiquitous and bland.

1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing and Boring December 6, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Big time disappointing album. Only 2 songs are worth listening to, the recycled Dull Boy and We The People. The uniqueness of Mudvayne is gone, the heaviness is gone, the noticeable bass lines are gone, the intense screaming that seemed to have substance behind them are gone. What you have left is boring, radio friendly, cookie cutter rock music.

Is it me or do you notice that when bands stop using swear words without inhibition (such as w/ this album) there music becomes a little more bland, (i.e Slipknot, Deftones and now Mudvayne). I guess that's a sign of them trying to become more radio friendly and wanting more record sales.

2 out of 5 stars

What happened? November 19, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful

I can imagine how hard it is to please fans while writing music and touring at the same time, but these guys have been getting their inspiration by listening to a mainstream rock station while on the road.

In no way is their creative muscle flexed on this album. I openly invite anyone who has bought or listened to this without previously hearing their first or second records to do so. Then pass sound judgment and see if you really care for this album.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic