The 10 Best Buckcherry Songs of All-Time

Buckcherry

Buckcherry became a group in 1995 in Anaheim, California. Josh Todd met Keith Nelson through a tattoo artist they both knew. The pair made several demos before rounding out the band with Jonathan “J.B.” Brightman on bass, Devon Glenn on drums, and Yogi Lonich on the second guitar; they signed with Dreamworks Records in 1999 and released their self-titled debut album. The group was initially named Sparrow. However, in an interview with Huff Post, they talked about how they came up with Buckcherry’s name. One of the group members was reading a book about Chuck Berry, who mentioned how the music industry could do anything they want with your name, including mix it around like Buck Cherry. Additionally, the group knew a drag queen from their early touring days named Buck Cherry. It seemed meant to be, so they went with it. The group’s second album fell under the radar. However, AC/DC noticed it and asked the group to open for them.

The group went on hiatus in 2002, after Todd quit. However, he rejoined in 2005, and the group started recording again with a slightly different lineup; guitarist Stevie D, bassist Jimmy Ashhurst, and drummer Xavier Muriel. Together, they recorded album 15 in 2006. After releasing their fourth album, Black Butterfly, the group went on tour with Kiss. In 2010, they released another album, All Night Long, which debuted at number 10 on Billboard’s top album charts. Yet, it didn’t receive much recognition. Afterward, Buckcherry left Atlantic and signed with Century Media, releasing Confessions in 2013. In 2017, Nelson and Muriel left the band and were replaced by Kevin Roentgen and Sean Winchester. In 2019, Buckcherry released Warpaint. However, the lineup didn’t last. Winchester left, followed by Roentgen a year later. They were replaced by Francis Ruiz and Billy Rowe, who appears on the group’s ninth album, aptly titled Hellbound and recorded during the pandemic. These are the top ten Buckcherry songs of all time.

10. Barricade

 

This song starts with a high hat that goes directly into a drum-driven piece. Todd’s voice brings back some of the rockers of the 80s with cigarette smokiness and hollow sound in his voice. The lyrics with the arrangement create a dark tale of constantly fighting against the world and yourself and trying to hold back negative emotions so you can transcend to the other side with people who’ve already accomplished that.

9. Head Like A Hole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIWsWF_maJI

 

Nine Inch Nails first recorded this song on their freshman album, Pretty Hate Machine. Buckcherry’s version has a heavier rock feel and pulls away from Reznor’s Industrial Metal version. Although, Todd’s voice stays true to the primal elements of the song. Unlike many covers of songs, this version gives it a different spin while still maintaining the rage from the initial version.

8. Gun

 

The guitar riffs at the beginning of the song sound similar to AC/DC. However, there’s a heavier punk and grunge influence. The grunge era was fading when Buckcherry hit the music scene; this song has many influences of the genre mixed with later music of the 90s and 00s, even though the group was somewhat of an outlier on the scene. It’s also a tribute to that scene since the song was released almost twenty years after Seattle blew up the music scene.

7. 54321

 

The beginning of this song is a space countdown. However, after the brief calm, it launches into punk guitar riffs. Overall, the music is an upbeat anthem about breaking out your shell and having too much fun even though you understand your actions are getting you into trouble and social anarchy.

6. So Hott

 

This is the first single from the group’s latest album, Hellbound, opening with an eclectic mix of drums and guitars that create lasting energy throughout the song. It’s about a vain woman who is playing with someone’s heart. Even though the lyrics might come across as dark, Buckcherry uses a combination of drums and guitar to make this song about narcissism compulsively singable stylishly.

5. Gluttony

 

A lot of people think if it feels good, it should be done to excess. Throughout this song, Buckcherry relies on guitar riffs that sound equal parts cohesive and improv. Moreover, distinct speed metal elements in the music maintain its energy from start to finish.

4. Hellbound

 

Buckcherry makes music from past decades sound relevant with this song. It’s been several decades since the group first started recording, and their music formula has stayed true to the sound that made them famous. This track is also a great arena rock song since the instrumentation is an infectious combination with a traditional rock beat.

3. Sorry

 

The group strips their sound down for this track. Todd’s voice echoes against light drum licks that add steps to the background music and guitar riffs that thread melancholy into the song. Even when the song opens up in places, it still keeps the feelings we go through during a breakup, a slight fleeting burst of energy.

2. Lit Up

 

In 1999 punk party anthems were standard radio fare. This song has many of the hallmarks of that genre; they add a gritty edginess absent in some of the group’s contemporaries. The lyrics in the song are an overt celebration of the sex, drugs, and roll lifestyle. Throughout the music, the driving guitar riffs and short solos complete the song and make it more than another trite piece about living large.

1. Crazy Bi**ch

 

Todd called Nelson hoping for the answering machine to sing the shocking lyrics. However, Todd sang it to him live. Nelson finished the guitar riffs a day later. Even though the duo wrote the song in 2002, it wasn’t released until four years later. The music sounds like chauvinistic feelings about women. But it’s really about groupies who hook up with rockers for the sole purpose of exploiting them. It was a big issue when Todd first wrote the song.

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