Buckcherry – Black Butterfly (Release Year – 2008)
Hot on the heels of their platinum selling disc 15, Buckcherry has released their 4th effort, Black Butterfly.
I thought 15 was one of the best hard rock albums of 2006. For this listener, Black Butterfly has a lot to live up to, if it is going to surpass that disc. To prepare myself for this review, I listened to Buckcherry’s last two releases Time bomb and 15. I am pretty fond of both discs, and I wanted a refresher on both of these before I spun Black Butterfly. If anything I wanted to make sure that I gave Black Butterfly a fair review.
Black Butterfly starts off strong enough, with two rocking cuts, “Rescue Me” and “Tired of You”. Both of these songs, along with “Talk to Me” are amongst my early favorites on this disc.
Every Buckcherry CD to date has had a nasty but catchy tune on it. Time bomb had “Porno star” and “Time Bomb”, 15 has “Crazy Bitch”and “So Far”, and Black Butterfly follows suit with “Too Drunk…”. The lyrics may be juvenile, but I have come to expect these type of songs from Buckcherry, and I can’t help but to like them.
There are several cuts which have a lot of radio potential including “Dreams”, “Don’t Go Away”, and “All of Me”. “Don’t Go Away” kind of feels like a rip off of “Sorry” to me, and because of that, I don’t like this song as much. In fact, I think “All of Me” is the better ballad on Black Butterfly.
The lyrics for the song “Cream” are somewhat puzzling. You can probably guess the subject matter of the song. I have listened to this song several times, and the lyrics just don’t make sense to me. I get the chorus, but the song verses don’t seem to follow suit. I like the music well enough, but the song writing is suspect on this tune.
As a whole, I think Black Butterfly is another solid but not spectacular effort for Buckcherry. I don’t think this disc has as many strong songs as 15, but it is a little more consistent than Time Bomb. Black Butterfly feels like Buckcherry was trying to repeat the same formula they used for 15. On some songs it works, and on others it doesn’t. The end result is a good hard rock disc, that Buckcherry fans will likely enjoy, even if it doesn’t measure up to their last disc.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Rescue Me
2. Tired of You
3. Too Drunk…
4. Dreams
5. Talk to Me
6. Child Called “It”
7. Don’t Go Away
8. Fallout
9. Rose
10. All of Me
11. Imminent Bail Out
12. Cream
Buckcherry is:
Josh Todd – Vocals
Keith Nelson – Guitars
Stevie D. – guitar
Xavier Muriel – drums, percussion
Jimmy Ashhurst – bass guitar
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I must admit, weeks after its release, I am listening to this disc more and more. Some songs have grown on me. I really like Rose a lot. I still don’t think this is as good as 15, but it is a CD worth picking up.
I’m wondering when these guys even had time to record this thing. They have been touring almost non-stop for years. They must have a studio on the bus for Christs sake.
Anyway, it is my belief that they should have taken some time off from the road because this album is definitely a disappointment. It’s sounds like it was thrown together quickly just to keep the momentum going from 15. There are a couple a good songs…I really like imminent bail out, it’s a throw back to their old stuff, but for the most part this sounds like Buckcherry-lite, watered down for the masses (yes, chasing radio). Artistically, this could have been Buckcherrys greatest album, they had everything going for them, but instead, they shit the bed. Commercially though, this will be Buckcherrys greatest album, isn’t that fucked up?
I hope people read these before buying…this album is flat…a real disappointment. Maybe next time.
I feel completely let down by this album. I really wanted this one to be the one that was going to take these guys to new heights. I don’t hate it, but it’s just mediocre. I’m sure they’ll hit platinum again because it’s just good enough and people will buy without listening first, but I wish I hadn’t.
Why so many ballads? I dig Fallout, sounds like an outtake from their first two records. I like the record for the most part, but seems to fall in line with 15 as far as layout and song selection. I really like tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, & 9. Rose is a good song, I’ve always liked those mid-tempo songs, sort of like New Orleans from Beautiful Creatures.
I felt the same way. I listened to this disc multiple times, and felt a little let down. It is good, but it isn’t great.
Insert ” a little disappointed”
I got my copy today and have already listened to it front to back several times. I love every song until it gets to the last 3 it took several listens to get me to start liking “All of Me” I am really disappointed with “Imminent Bailout” and “Cream” those were 2 songs that Keith Nelson named specifically with our interview and I’m not impressed at all. I think “Rose” is the best song on the album maybe one of the best in their entire catalog. If you got the fan club edition there is a demo for the song “Stayin’ High” that I like alot. For someone like myself that was looking forward to this album because it is definitely not the monster album I thought it was going to be.