Buckcherry Album: “15 [Edited]”

While all those pop-punk stars are whining about how hard it is to be half a man in this cruel, cruel world, Buckcherry are screwing their girlfriends. Great album

After a five year hiatus Buckcherry are back with "15," (2006) the band's third album.

"15" doesn't sound like a radical departure from the band's self-titled debut (1999) or "Time Bomb" (2001). It's the same mix of Guns N' Roses, Black Crows, and AC/DC that so defined the band's first two albums. Founding members Keith Nelson (guitar) and Josh Todd (vocals) are in their element and do what they do best-meat-and-potatoes, kick-ass rock n' roll.

"15" isn't terribly challenging or revolutionary, but if you're not looking for Rush or Axl's upcoming epic and merely want an old-school album that rocks, "15" will do the trick.

I've been a fan of Buckcherry for a while, so when I heard about "Fifteen," I obviously was overjoyed. Sadly though, it's only been released in Japan thus far, but lucky for me, I got my hands on a copy for an unbelievably small amount of money.

So how's the album shape up?

There are two ways to look at this album; from the perspective of a Buckcherry fan and from the perspective of a Rock n' Roll fan. If you're a fan of Buckcherry, you may do a bit of skipping in some of the earlier tracks to get to more of the dirty Blues-laced Trash Metal we've come accustomed to from Josh Todd and gang.

From the perspective of a Rock n' Roller looking for a good band, you may find yourself bored as the album comes to an end. From this perspective, the album seems to peak at "Crazy Bitch" and then go downhill. Tracks like "Everything," "Crazy Bitch," and "Next 2 You" are stands on the album, with other trakcs becoming toss up's to where you stand on Buckcherry.

Here's my personal rundown of the album:

1. "So Far"

A quick paced, catchy track that is a solid intro to the album. Not amazing, but it's definately a good Buckcherry track.

2. "Next 2 You"

One of my personal favorites, "Next 2 You" is catchy and delivers that Buckcherry cockiness in a solid three and a half minutes. Incredibly catchy chorus.

3. "Out Of Line"

Hard Rock hasn't sounded this good in years. It's a good track, which seems to begin the change from classic Buckcherry to a more mature sounding band. While not quite leaving dirty Rock area, it's still a enough to be noticably different.

4. "Everything"

A slower track, which old Buckcherry fans may not like that much. You can hear some Punk influence in the basic riffing, but it vaguely reminds me of The Cure at the beginning. Awesome chorus'.

5. "Carousel"

This is Blues Rock at it's finest in modern music, but it takes a listen or to to get used to if you're wanting another "Lit Up." Another slower track, which may deter old fans from continuing the album.

6. "Sorry"

The slowest and most mature song on the album. Josh Todd holds back on his perfect screams and has a steady voice in the song, bringing a powerful tenor voice in this piece. As you could probably tell from the title, it's not exactly one of those upper songs. Still though, it's a great song.

7. "Crazy Bitch"

Buckcherry makes a 360 turn from "Sorry" with "Crazy Bitch" which will definately have old Buckcherry fans banging their heads and raising the horns. Will definately go down as a Buckcherry classic alongside of "Ridin'" and "Lit Up."

8. "Onset"

Rock n' Roll to the max, which seems a bit reminiscent of 90's Arena Rock to me. Solid Rocker.

9. "Sunshine"

Buckcherry's style is coming through on this song, and those fans that almost turned off the album as they went through "Sorry," are by now glad they didn't. Perfect driving music.

10. "Brooklyn"

This where the album begins to drop for me personally. The acoustic guitars on this track are vaguely country, sort of Southern, and it gets old fairly quick. The song almost sounds like it isn't apart of the album. Not horrible, but it's probably only a song you'd listen to while listening to the whole album.

11. "Back In The Day"

The shortest song on the album, not even making three minutes. This is a great Rocking song that should have been made way longer. Had this song been about thirty seconds longer, it could have become a huge standout song. Either that, or they should have had this been the opening to the abum, due to it's length.

12. "Broken Glass"

Old Buckcherry fans will probably like this song, because it's a face full of Blues Metal that is great to Rock out to. Myself, on the other hand, finds it a little annoying. The chorus' is lackluster and the lyrics are pretty bland. Probably thge worst song on the album for me.

13. "Pump It Up"

I think they chose the wrong song to cover, since the song wasn't that great the first time around. An AC/DC, Aerosmith, or Rolling Stones cover would have been put to better use here. They do a good job covering it, making it better than the original, in my opinion, but it's hard to make a song that wasn't good in the first place good now.

So why three stars instead of four? Simply put, the ending of the album kills it for me. The three bad tracks ("Brooklyn," "Broken Glass," and "Pump It Up") mixed with a track that should have been longer ("Back In The Day") brings the rating down. If these four tracks could have been fixed, it would easily get a four star from me, and possibly a five.

Overall, the album is good, but it's not perfect. Not quite up to the original Buckcherry status, but it's a little better than Time Bomb. Buckcherry does a solid job and proves that this isn't a one off deal trying to make a buck off the Buckcherry name. With tips off to their Blues Metal forefathers AC/DC, Buckcherry deliver a great Rock n' Roll album. Like any Buckcherry album though, the solos could have been longer.

Hey, just think of it this way; it's better than anything else out there today.

I have loved these guys for some time now and they seldom disappoint, but I guess I am a bit 'old school' in that I don't need a ton of profanity and vulgarity in my music. Obviously if I am a fan of Buckcherry I am not all that offended but they could tone it down a bit and still be the great rock talent they are now. Just saw their latest video from their website and the music was awesome and the lyrics were filthy. I guess I just hate to have to make moral decisions on my music, we all draw a line out there someplace of what you will tolerate and these talented guys are always on the edge or across it, damn I just wish their music sucked (but it don't :)

I would have given this album 5 stars but I believe that's for classics like: Led Zep 4, Appetite For Destruction, Van Halen's first album, and Back In Black etc... But, this is a great record! Its nice to see that there are still a few bands out there that have the goods! And, that are not ashamed to admit that they make heavy rock and roll. The fact that this record has sold 1 million copies (with just little support from their label)by heavy touring and word of mouth should make music executives stop and think! Everyone I have played it for (if they like rock or not) wanted to buy it after they heard it!