Ok. I must admit it. I'm a fan! I can't even play it cool when it comes to Ani. She is just AMAZING! This is my favorite record simply because it shows MR Difranco at her very best. Bouncy and playful and yet also serious and emotional. Lines like..."Im not going to pretend that I dont pick my nose, thats just the way it is my friends thats just the way it goes..." will make you smile to yourself and maybe laugh. Her sheer honesty, quick wit and mellow guitar make this a perfect album for a sunday drive, or the perfect soundtrack for playing cards with friends on a warm summer nite... The track "My IQ" is a out and out poem but if you listen to the cadence and rhyme of the songs you will see that Ani is a gifted poet even when her poems are set to music. If you dig the sound of REM and the wit of Dar Williams (only I find Ani more witty) you will LOVE this album.

This was one of the later Ani albums I bought, starting with Out of Range, jumping to Little Plastic Castle (which was brand new at the time)and jumping around from there.

After her recent change of style (from 6up on) I was looking for more of that familiar "out of range" sound.... THIS WAS IT! Not quite as razor-edged as Dilate, not as simple as her self-titled debut, this album was like digging into the memories of that first year back in High school I spent absorbing all things Ani.

A few hits, a few minor misses, and as always, her prophetic, insightful lyrics.

boy, oh boy, what can i say about this album? I already owned Dilate, NAPG, and Out Of Range when I got this, but halfway into the first track "Names and Dates and Times" I knew that the way I looked at life was going to change. The way I looked at Ani's music changed. For such a long time I listened to the songs and enjoyed them, but this album made me HEAR. Probably because it is lighthearted and fun, and humorous. But it also has the ferocity of most of her music and has some of the most quotable, life-endearing lines she's ever written. This is my favorite album. It often gets lost in the heap amongst a lot of Ani fans, but I recommend it with the highest accolades.

But she has better albums. This is a good album, but not necessarily a fabulous Ani album.. I can listen to whole Ani albums and not feel the urge to press the forward button, but this is not one of them. Certainly, it has wonderful tracks, particularly 'Anyday', '4th of July' and 'Pick yer Nose', but I must confess I find some of the tracks exceptionally irritating, particularly 'Names Dates and Time' (I don't know why, I find it grating!) and 'Blood in the Boardroom.' I am by no means a prude, but that strikes me as a particularly crude track and beyonds the realms of mere feminism.. She seems more like a joyful girl on this album, and while it is Ani and therefore marvellous, there are higher degrees of marvellous I am afraid!

This is one of my absolute favorite Ani albums. The lyrics and melodies are catchy and the album is short (only about 30 minutes) so it's perfect for driving in the car or while tooling around the house. Her lyrics and poetry are as personally and politically relevant as always but there's also a really playful side (Blood in the Boardroom, Pick Yer Nose) that Ani doesn't showcase too often in her later albums. A more "human" Ani is appparent in this album than in any she's produced since. Definitely buy Puddle Dive.