ARTIST: Buckcherry
ALBUM: Black Butterfly
LABEL: Eleven Seven Music
RELEASE DATE: September 16, 2008
Still Lit Up!
Photo by Valeria Rosas
Written by Brett Bayne
Although they often find themselves teetering between generic rock ‘n’ roll and inspired craftsmen, the L.A.-based Buckcherry are never anything less than fun, and their fourth album, Black Butterfly, throws so many infectious guitar hooks at you, it’s hard to really care which side of the fence they’re on at any given time.
The bastard children of Aerosmith and Guns ‘N Roses, Los Angeles-based Buckcherry formed in 1995 and released two albums of easily digestible hard rock before disbanding in 2002. But when original singer Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson revived the band a few years ago, Buckcherry enjoyed a creative renaissance, producing its most famous hits, “Crazy Bitch” and “Sorry.” With its fourth studio set, Black Butterfly finds the boys kicking ass harder than ever, having honed their sound to a wild and raunchy groove that’s uncannily impossible to resist. The powerful “Rescue Me” is a shrewd way to kick off the album—a three-minute workout with driving chords, urgent vocals and a killer guitar solo. It’s a harbinger of many more good things to come, particularly the bright “Dreams,” the rollicking “Fallout,” and “Talk to Me,” which comes from the same musical neighborhood as Aerosmith’s “Love on an Elevator,” which it vaguely resembles melodically. Black Butterfly is 85 percent unbridled testosterone, with a couple of obligatory mellow tracks (“All of Me” and “Don’t Go Away”), presumably to give Todd a way to catch his breath during the inevitable live shows. His voice is fine form here, and Nelson’s guitar work continues to impress. Bolstered by the first single “Too Drunk,” Black Butterfly (released in 2008) paved the way for a live album, the newly released Live & Loud 2009, which features their best-known material—except, curiously enough, for “Too Drunk.”