Buckcherry - Rock 'N' Roll

The last down n' dirty rock n' roll band in town is back for another round.

I've been a Buckcherry fan since they showed up on the scene with "Lit Up", so I'm always a little excited when they come out with a new album.  Hearing something new from them brings me back to the summer of '99, driving around with the D.W.O. doing loser laps, and trying to get into bars without any real form of ID.

The new album from Buckcherry, Rock 'N' Roll, is really good.  If you're looking for a departure from the usual Buckcherry flair, it's not here.  There's nothing overly new here, unless you count the funky horns section in Tight Pants, and that's a good thing.  Buckcherry is really the last of the old school rock bands.  And even though they weren't around during the heyday of Aerosmith, AC/DC, Motley Crue, or Guns N' Fuckin' Roses, you can feel like they belong in that club.

Last summer, Buckcherry released an EP simply called Fuck.  It was decent, but mostly a novelty when you think that it was pretty much recorded to set a record for the most times the word "Fuck" was used on an album.  Take that, hip hop!  But seriously, it worried me when the best song on the EP was the cover of Icona Pop's "I Love It", retitled brilliantly as "Say Fuck It".

What we have on Rock 'N' Roll is a return to Buckcherry basics - strong guitars, catchy hooks, and just enough swearing to make it cool but not completely unable to get on radio.  After the band had a huge hit with Crazy Bitch in '06, I think they tried relying too much on the blatant in-your-face swearing to keep themselves noticed.  Hence, the Fuck EP and a few other songs that had a good idea but lacked the hook of Crazy Bitch's pre-chorus.

I already mentioned Tight Pants, which has such a strong groove that it could have been an Aerosmith song from the Get A Grip era.  It rocks, it funks, it swears a little... it's Buckcherry at their finest.  Then there's The Madness and Sex Appeal, which follow the tried n' true Buckcherry verse-chorus-hook formula that worked on Lit Up, Everything, and Next 2 You in the past.

Wood continues Josh Todd's lyrical exploration of hooking up with chicks, while rockers like Cradle and Get With It are great to listen to while enjoying a beer.

The only throwaway for me was The Feeling Never Dies, which I seem to find myself skipping on each listen.

Overall, this is one of Buckcherry's strongest releases, and probably their most complete offering since 2006's 15.  It's tight, fast-paced, and leaves you wanting more.  Definitely worth the $9.99 I dropped on iTunes for it.

- ryan

Top 11 Retitled 80's Songs

I had such a good time writing RFC Newzinetter #4, that I'm going to be uploading it all into the blog for easy-reading (for those of you who aren't conditioned to read my true style of writing - it's all over the place)

Uncle Jesse's Girl

So here's the
Top 11 Retitled 80's Songs

11. You Shook Me All Night Long Until I Woke Up
10. I Laugh When Doves Cry
09. If OK With You, I Want Your Sex
08. Billie's Jeans Aren't Real Levi's
07. Girls Just Want To Have Fungus
06. Unusually Cold Summer of '69
05. Safety Dancing In The Dark
04. Sweet Child O' Mein Kampf
03. Mony Mony Mony Mony Mony
02. Never Gonna Give You Up For Adoption Unless I Have To
01. Uncle Jesse's Girl

Ryan's Christmas Wish List 2013

 
...before you know it Christmas will be here.  It's that time of year when we all greedily ask for as much loot as possible.  We give gifts, we get gifts, and we ultimately hope that the crappy stuff still has a UPC code on it so we can take it back anywhere in hopes of store credit.  Every year someone gives me a pair of pajama pants that I'd never wear and I exchange them for some useful socks or underwear.  And don't try to say, "it's the thought that counts," because if you don't do the same thing then you find yourself putting those gifts into a box for donation to the Salvation Army.  Admit it, I'm right.

I'm at the point in my life where if I want something, I just go get it.  If I want Man Of Steel on Blu-Ray, I just go buy it.  In the mood for a beer?  I go get one.  Got a hole in my socks?  I'll just grab a few pair while I'm buying groceries.

So every year I put together my Christmas Wish List, asking for things that I wouldn't just be able to pick up on my way home.  Some things have actually come true - the Ruby Spears Superman show on DVD, a new Aerosmith album, a Stanley Cup for the Boston Bruins - buy I'm still waiting to see Bionic Six on DVD.  And of course, the ever eluding...

Uncle Jesse doll - this is the last year.
...every year, at the very top of my list, is always the rockin' Uncle Jesse doll.  Yes, this thing exists.  In the early 90s you could either get Uncle Jesse on his own, or in a collection with Aunt Becky and the twins.  There's also a pack that features Danny and the girls.  Honestly, I'd like to have the entire collection of these things, but the rockin' Uncle Jesse doll is truly the holy grail of them all.  I've been hyping this toy up for years and years, and I'd surely take it with me wherever I went.  Just like I was a little girl again.
However, as a grown man now, I feel it's time that 2013 is the make-it-or-break-it year for the Uncle Jesse doll.  I've been a good boy all these years.  So I've come to one simple conclusion: If I don't get an Uncle Jesse doll this year, then there really is no Santa Claus.  I hate to be so extreme, but this could really be a life-changing lesson.  So, if you the reader truly believe in Christmas miracles, you'll find some way to help make this happen.
Note: There was a mail-away Joey Gladstone doll too.
See the whole Tanner family here - http://twinsonline.tripod.com/pictures/family.jpg

Mr. T's Be Somebody Or Be Somebody's Fool on Blu-Ray
...if you've never seen this movie, it's really quite a gem.  I have it on VHS and at one point I converted it to DVD for myself and a few friends who share my appreciation of it.  In little segments, Mr. T teaches us about being ourselves - including saying no to drugs, being frustrated, not being a little fat kid, and how to treat our mothers right.  Hell, there's even a music video featuring Bobby Brown and New Edition.  This flick truly needs the hi-definition treatment.  There could be a second disc that features a remastered soudtrack, as well as a Mr. T commentary track, and a "Where Are They Now?" segment focusing on what those kids are doing today.  Naturally, this 3-disc set would also include a standard definition DVD and digital download, and a 48-page full-color booklet with many behind the scenes photos.  The Best Buy exclusive edition could come with a poster or a Mr. T action figure.
Never seen it?  Check it out here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv0m1YzRu4M

The Real Guns N' Roses Back Together
...Slash... Axl... Dufff... that's really what the world needs right now.  I know it will NEVER happen, and that's why it would be a true Christmas miracle.  Sure, there's also the part of me that knows GnFnR are the greatest rock band of all time because of the way they burnt out before they could fade away.  That's part of what makes us still think so fondly of them.  They never had a "Fat Elvis" phase, or the "touring the greatest hits for 9 years" tour.  So maybe what we need is for the powers that be to unearth some rare, unreleased tracks from the Gunners.  That might be the best we'd ever get.  And it would still be awesome.
Something like this, maybe? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfG87P7SEAg

Masters Of The Universe #12
...I had this comic when I was eight years old.  It was pretty fucking epic.  Skeletor has taken over Eternia and Castle Greyskull.  He-Man is nowhere to be found, and thus pronounced dead.  The rest of the Masters of the Universe have to try and reclaim Eternia, and hopefully bring back He-Man!
You can read it here -http://www.he-man.org/publishing/item.php?id=474


And that's that!  I don't ask for much.

- ryan

Guns N' Aero - The Greatest Super Group EVER!

I was chatting with my buddy Nick Dewolfe the other day about the usual things... rock n' roll, coffee, beautiful ladies we'd love to love... and we pondered what it would be like if Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses did more than tour together...

Imagine, if you will, a parallel universe.
One in which Steven Tyler never saw Joe Perry making french fries and formed Aerosmith.
Where L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose didn't combine forces to rule the late 80s and early 90s.
An alternate reality with the greatest super-group ever - Guns N' Aero!

And this is what their set list would look like:

1. Nightrain Kept A-Rollin'

2. So F.I.N.E.*

3. Sweet Last Child O' Mine

4. Back Off Bitch's Brew

5. Garden Of Adam's Apple

6. Kings And Rocket Queens

7. Let The Music Do The Knockin' On Heaven's Door

8. Movin' Out To The City

9. Get A Grip In The Ring

ENCORE!

10. Mama Kin

11. Lovin' My Michellevator

12. Chip Away At The Mr. Brownstone

Realistically, this band would do more drugs than possibly exist, start the show four hours late (if at all), and pretty much rule the world.

- Ryan

p.s. - if you can think of any other awesome song title mash-ups for these two, post 'em below.