Mudhoney - Piece Of Cake
"Oh lord, what have we become? We're not fooling anyone," wails Mark Arm in the closer of "Piece Of Cake." He was acknowledging the fact that no one (least of all themselves) would have believed that Mudhoney would have signed to a major label. Yet, here they were, with a record deal with Reprise Records, and music videos that were very professionally produced and MTV ready.
The year was 1992, and thanks to Nirvana, grunge had become the rock world's new obsession. Mudhoney is often cited as one of the bands that helped define this genre, so this should have been their time to shine. All it would have taken would be to put together a well-produced grindfest, promote it correctly, and voila! You would have international superstars.
In typical Mudhoney fashion, however, the band did none of that. Instead they recorded an album that was decidedly non-grunge (more like indie rock with a punk flair) and kept the production seriously loose. It was recieved rather poorly critically (Rolling Stone gave it two stars), and Mudhoney remained relatively obscure. Something tells me they didn't mind, though.
Perhaps the critical reception this album recieved is because of the expectations placed on the band because of their reputation, which is a bit unfair. "Piece of Cake" is a solid rock record that could have been made fantastic by simply trimming some of the weaker songs. Songs like the droning "Let Me Let You Down" do little for the pace of the album, and the untitled instrumental interludes are annoying at best, downright stupid at worst. "Suck You Dry," "Make It Now," and "Ritzville," however are powerful and are the kind of building blocks a great record needs. The blues-y swagger Mudhoney always had is finally realized in the form of an actual blues tune for the first time here, "Thirteenth Floor", which is notable, considering how much an integral part of their sound this would become over the years.
Piece of Cake - 6 out of 10
Here's the music video that was shot for "Blinding Sun" and a great live performance from 1992 of "Suck You Dry" which is still a live staple for the band to this day.
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