Search - The Buzzhorn :: Disconnected

5 stars are WAY too many

Greg Brady | Capital City | 05/05/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Buzzhorn is a largely unknown Milwaukee band that got some exposure by landing the song "Ordinary" on the "Need for Speed" PS2 game. The group has a muscular rock sound with dabs of grunge that occasionally sounds like Alice in Chains, Nickelback or Creed. The vocals of Ryan Mueller have somewhat of a keening whine to them at times..this may have been what kept them from breaking bigger than they did. The tendency's most noticeable on ballad "Pinned to the Ground".



Claiming this is the "rock album of the decade" though...puh-leeze. I'm not ready to go around showering accolades of "decades best" when we're only halfway through the decade as it is. This probably deserves a bit more attention than it got, but hardly a spot among the best music made so far in the 2000s.



HIGHLIGHTS:

Anti-yuppie screed "Ordinary" was well-chosen to appear in the PS2 game. It's punchy rock with a good hook. ("Life and death, the money that's left/And the vultures dive to intercept/And the friendship rolls onto its side/And you wait for it to die") "Satisfied" is probably an attack on unkind music critics ("Look around, nobody's laughing but you/Smile it off, ducking and keeping your cool") "Isn't this Great" is the sarcastic portrait of a crumbing friendship. The title track's probably the most interesting one lyrically, an attack on society as viewed through the eyes of a homeless person ("I don't believe this/My life's in a paper bag/Never trust no one")



LOWS:

The Alice in Chains resemblances might go beyond music stylings.."Come See Me" appears to be a junkie singing about heroin. ("And when I see you/I'll be sleeping on the needles/And I won't ever be the same...you decorate my soul/You set it all on fire") It's a fairly boring slow song. "Rhino" COULD be a pretty veiled metaphor about political privelege, but I suspect it's probably just intended to be an animal rights ditty ("It's a shame they can't do what other animals can do/There's animals where humans belong" seems to be a diatribe about cages/zoo animals) "Holy Man" is a self-important anthem but with nothing to say. ("Holy man, so lucky/Yet you holy man have nothing/Help them holy man/to break the locks of all their heads/Holy man, just like me")



BOTTOM LINE:

If you're an AIC or Nickelback fan, listen to the samples. If the vocals don't turn you off, You'll probably like it. At under a buck, it's a steal."

Hard Driving Harmonic Guitar Sound!

Terry Dunn | Griffin, Georgia | 02/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Very simply one of the best rock CD's of the decade. These guys from Milwaukee kick ass with their hard driving harmonic guitar sound. Every song on the disc are good. Best songs include Ordinary, Waste Of A Man and Machine. If you don't like rock music, don't buy this CD."