During this time, drummer John Freese was replaced by new kit man Greg Upchurch. as part of the Family Values 2001 tour alongside Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park, and Staind. The band embarked on a European tour with Godsmack in support of the album before touring the U.S. The resulting Come Clean, which would eventually go triple platinum, went widescreen on the strength of the singles 'Control,' 'Blurry,' 'Drift & Die,' and 'She Hates Me,' and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In 2001, with Durst acting as executive producer and A&R man, a line-up consisting of Scantlin, Paul Phillips (guitar), Douglas Ardito (bass), and John Freese (drums) began laying down tracks for a proper album. Luckily, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst had gotten hold of the demo and invited Scantlin out to California to begin putting together a new iteration of the group. Lead guitarist Allen left the fold ahead of the release of the 1997 demo Abrasive - many of the tracks would appear on the group's major-label debut - but he wasn't the only one unhappy with the current state of the band, and by 1999 Scantlin was the only original member left. They released their first EP, Stuck, in 1994 via V&R Records. Taking their name from the mud-caked Missouri river levee that was adjacent to their rehearsal space, Puddle of Mudd was formed in 1991 around the talents of Wes Scantlin (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Jimmy Allen (lead guitar), Sean Sammon (bass), and Kenny Burkitt (drums).

The group broke into the mainstream with the release of their 2001 debut Come Clean, which went on to sell over five million copies, and continued their commercial ascent via chart-topping albums like Life on Display (2003), Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate (2009), and Welcome to Galvania (2019). While their songs expectedly contain the fury of such contemporaries as Korn and Rage Against the Machine, frontman Wesley Scantlin's voice is at times eerily similar to Nirvana's late, great frontman Kurt Cobain, containing unmistakable elements of traditional hard rock.

One of the first acts signed to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's label, Flawless Records, was the alternative metal/post-grunge quartet Puddle of Mudd.

She hates me puddle of mudd album cover