Trip Hazzard

It would be simple to blame Puddle of Mudd's multiplatinum success for the recent stream of bad metal coming out of KC, but it might be just as easy to point fingers at Korn and Tool. Trip Hazzard suffers from a terminal case of musical schizophrenia, eagerly mimicking big-name acts without producing anything remotely original. On "Evol," it latches onto a Tool blueprint; on "Dead President," it emulates Korn with fawning precision; and on "Innocence Lost," the quintet tosses Creed into its musical grab bag. Vocalist Glenn Hite alternates between pale imitations of Jonathan Davis' teeth-gnashing psychosis and Maynard Keenan's bellowed bombast, throwing in a smattering of devil-dog screaming. Oh Mother Mary please save me, he thunders on a tune that takes its name from the line. Listeners will surely agree.