Josh Todd – You Made Me – Review

joshtodd200Josh Todd

You Made Me (XS)
by Martin Popoff

I dig You Made Me more than I ever did Josh Todd‘s hyped and strangely suspicious Buckcherry. There’s an emotional rawness to this thing, Josh putting his considerably poetic yet violently imagistic thoughts to a soundtrack that successfully marries arena rock to modern punk rock, hints of modern alternative, but encapsulating that into big, blasting songs that are just good songs. Fave by far is the two-fer of “Burn” and “Circles,” Josh screaming with connecting power over a band that sounds thrilled to be blasting garage rock at peak performance.

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I listen to this guy and I get visions of that other big mouth and big thinker, Steven Tyler. And then to the band, all I can say is that this always sounds explosive and stomping (check out “Straight Jacket”), the guitars of Mike Hewitt and Jesse Logan set to stun, the two churning out huge power chords in healthy competition with big mouth, big bass, and crashed cymbals. Grade-wise, my heart says 8 outta 10, but I gotta notch back for three or four tracks here that are just too trendy or studied or commercial or second-guessed or something.
(www.xsrecords.com)