Butch Walker Music Review

Hello everyone, this will be my first music review I have written.I wrote a similiar one on myspace on Easter, but my computer wouldn't allow it to post and kept timing out.It took me a few hours to write, and I was fucking pissed off majorly so.Since Butch Walker hasn't released a new cd since November, I am going to do a career blog on in and then review his cd, dvd, and side project releases.This should be a monsterous blog.In a bit of a side note, writing the Butch blog inspired me to strongly consider doing more review...and hence this blog was created.

Ok, first off, as you may know, I am a HUGE Butch fan, but will try to be objective and give reasonable reviews on his music.I will start this by telling everybody a little bit about him and his career.Butch Walker is a music producer, song-writer, guitarist, bassist, vocalist and pianist.He is primarily known for his producing ability.He has produced albums or songs for many of todays top artists including Sevendust, Avril Lavigne, Pink, Fall Out Boy, Lindsay Lohan, Bowling For Soup, Lit, Default, All-American Rejects, Simple Plan and The Academy Is.He was also a judge on the show Rockstar:Supernova and then produced the album for the band after the show was over.He is widely regarded as one of the top producers and was the Producer of the Year award from Rolling Stone magazine.

Throughout the late 1980's and 1990's he was in many different bands such as SouthGang, Bad Boyz, Floyd Funk Revival and the Marvelous 3.SouthGang is notable for being one of the first bands to tour China in the early 90's and Marvelous 3 are known for their hit Freak of the Week.The Marvelous 3 disbanded in 2001.The band did not disband with ill feelings towards one another or anything, but because of record label problems as stated in his Live at the Budokan dvd.

After the breakup, Butch decided to do start a solo career.He has released 4 solo albums, 2 live dvds, a live cd version of his Leavin the Game on Luckie St, and created a side project called 1969 where he is the bassist, singer and probably the primary song-writer.His first solo album was called Left of Self-Centered and was released in 2002...which he wrote, recorded, performed and produced.He writes all the lyrics and also does guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion and piano for the album as well.The album starts off with some comedy with Rock Vocal Power, in which he makes fun of himself and the lengths people will go to make money.Butch has no problem writing music that has humor in it.He does that quite a bit in this album with songs such as the songs Suburbia and Get Stupid With You.This album features more of a hard rock/punk rock sound compared to some of his future albums.The sound is found in most songs, but especially in My Way, Suburbia, Alicia Amnesia and If(Jeannie's Song).This album is a pretty fun album does feature some more serious songs such as Sober and Take Tomorrow(One Day At A Time).Butch does a good job at blending the different genres into his writing while making this an album that isn't too serious, too humorous, too hard or too soft.Like I stated earlier, this album features more of a upbeat sound, so most rock/punk fans will enjoy, and fans of good lyrics will enjoy the different emotions he incorporates in each song.I rate this album as a 6.5 out of 10 and reccomend it to most people, like I do for all his albums because it has something for everybody, but especially for fans of pop rock music.

Butch Walker's second album was Letters and that was released in 2004.He co-produced the album and all vocals and probably did most most of the same stuff that he did in his debut album(although it doesn't say who does what on the album).This cd is how I first came to know of Butch Walker.Story-time folks.When I was working at FYE we had a bunch of promotional items that we would give away to customers or to anybody who wanted them.I grabbed this one sampler called Back To School and 2 songs really caught my ear.Those two being Cold by Crossfade and Mixtape by Butch Walker.I asked a buddy of mine at work where I could find the Butch Walker album and as it turns out, he is a Butch fan.He ordered the Left of Self-Centered and Letters albums for me and turned me into the Butch fan that I am today.Back to the review now.The Letters album features more of a pop-rock sound, with more acoustic and piano than his first album had.It is the kinda sound you would find from a Kenny Chesney (island/summer sounding) and Gavin DeGraw (pop/acoustic/rock/piano sounding) combination.That is not to say it is all that sound though.In songs such as Race Cars and Goth Rock, Lights Out and Uncomfortably Numb he has a louder/rockier sound.The lyrics are more personal in this album as he sings about an abused woman who eventually snaps in the piano ballad Joan, wanting to see somebody you love happy whether it is with or without you in the song Maybe It's Just Me and Mixtape, and then the very emotional Thank You note song in which he sings about a cancer patient who is dying.This album is probably my second favorite cd by him, and features some of the different sounds Butch can pull off musically.I will rate this album a 9.0 out of 10 and consider it to be a must listen to album...if not a must have album.The album is perfect for many different occasions, such as just lying down on the beach and watching the sunset, driving in a car on a road trip or just relaxing.

In between the release of his second and third albums he released a double concert dvd.The dvd was called Live at the Budokan.It was released in 2006 and features a short rock concert at the famous Nippon Budokan, and then a longer "Butch" concert in Atlanta from 2003.For those that do not know much about the Budokan, it is one of the most famous arenas in Japan.Here are a few tidbits about it.The Beatles made their first ever Japan concert debut there and were the first rock band to ever perform there.It was originally created for martial art tournaments and was the in host for them in the 1964 Summer Olympics.Bob Dylan, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and other very famous people have performed there and some have even created cd/dvd releases of it as well.It is considered a big deal to play there especially for Westerners who don't usually get to play there often.History lesson 101 there folks.Butch Walker was on tour with Avril Lavigne during her Bonez tour (I believe Gavin DeGraw was the second act and Butch was the opener on that tour.)The Budokan performance isn't what I dub a "Butch" concert because a big part of his headlining concerts is his ability to have fun and interact with the fans.When he isn't a headliner, he has time constraints and can't take his time to talk with the fans and fool around on stage and just have fun.That is the best thing about "Butch" concerts because he has a ton of fun interacting with the other bands, fans, his band and his crew members.The Budokan concert isn't great in that sense, but still ok.That portion of the dvd gets a seperate of a rating since it is a 2 concert dvd.I will rate it from 0-5 and then the other concert will get a rating, and then a overall rating will follow.This concert gets a 3.0 because even though he is limited to his playing time, he includes a bonus documentary with him traveling in Japan and he even speaks some Japanese during the show, complete with American subtitles and a bonus Christmas song that is during the documentary part.The second half of the dvd, This Is Me:Justifies And Stripped is a longer show in his home state of Atlanta.He is able to get a lot of interaction with everybody (including saying Hi to his parents) and fooling around with rapping.He does a good job of mixing in new music from his second album Letters which was not completed at the time, Left of Self-Centered material, and stuff from the Marvelous 3...along with some covers thrown in to be a short intro to his Mixtape song.This concert truly showcases his musical talent because he switches instruments up between playing piano, to acoustic, to electric guitar, and then he showcases his vocal talent as well.He puts a ton of effort in his shows and it really shows in this concert.I give this concert portion a perfect 5 out of 5.If anybody ever wants to know just how good Butch is, they must check this concert out.The overall dvd gets a very nice 8 out of 10.

The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites was his third solo album and was released in 2006.He signed with a major label for the release of the album and once again has many differen musical styles throughout the album.The primary sounds is a disco rock/dance kinda sound.He sings about dancing at clubs and disco balls and just has an overall retro feel to it compared to his previous albums.That changes about half-way through the album when the music gets softer and starts sounding more like a folk/country album until the end of it.The Lets-Go-Out-Tonites is the name of his backing band that plays alongside him during concerts.As I have stated, this album is kinda split in half with the retro half in the beginning and the country side ending the album.The songs "Hot Girls In Good Moods, Ladies and Gentlemen...The Lets-Go-Out-Tonites and Too Famous to Get Fully Dressed feature that retro sound and the comedic lyrics that Butch so often adds to his music.Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty) was the lead off single to the album...which is more of a retro meets current sounding upbeat song.The latter half of the album begins with the 6th track on the album with the song We're All Going Down which is more of a softer guitar/drum song and then has a piano song following it up.The album then has a few country/folk sounding songs such as Rich People Die Unhappy, This is the Sweetest Little Song and Song Without a Chorus.I will say this is Butch's most unique album sound and lyric wise.I like this album a lot because of the diversity and will rate it as his 3rd best album with a 7.5 out of 10.This album is recommended primarily for people who want to hear something different than the ordinary music.

Following the release of the album, Butch's life became somewhat turbulant with the California Wildfires burning his house down in 2007 and burning everything he has.He followed up by dedicating his 2008 year as a major year for his fans and himself.He announced that he planned on releasing something every major holiday in '08, including a cd from his new side project.His first releases were the dvd and cd releases of his Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street.They were released seperately on Valentines Day and St. Patricks Day online.The concert is a "Butch" concert and is highly reccomended.He features songs from his first 3 albums and is more hard rock, with less acoustics than his This Is Me...Justified and Stripped concert from the Budokan dvd is.I consider it a very good purchase for the dvd because you get to see a more rocking side to Butch in one of his headlining concerts.The cd version is only available for download(at least it was when I got mine), but it just isn't the same.The sound seems kinda far away compared to the sound quality of the dvd.The rating for this will once again be split up into the three ratings.The dvd gets a nice 4.0 out of 5, whereas the cd version gets a 2.5 out of 5.The overall rating is a nice 6.5 rating.It is very much like Butch is doing a rock concert and you are in the crowd , where the Justified and Stripped seems more like we are in his home.I would suggest checking out his dvd rather than the cd version if you want to get it.

On April Fool's Day of 2008, he released the debut album from his side project 1969.The cd was titled Maya and features Butch doing vocals, bass, co-production, and probably writing.The cd has more of a electronic/piano sound to it, that kinda puts you in a trance.It is very different, even considering that it is a "different" band and Butch changes the sound of every of his albums from one to the other.The band features a member/members from The Academy Is... and/or American Hi-Fi (I forgot what he said in an interview, but am positive that a member of The Academy Is...is in it).If I find out, I will update and correct the blog.The album is nice, not my personal favorite, but that could also be because I am not a big fan of electronic/trance type of music.I will give it a rating of 6.0 out of 10 with some songs that I like on it being Wreck Me, Alex Where Are You and All Talk, No Action.If you like techno/electronic music and/or a Butch Walker fanatic then it makes a nice addition to your music library, if not, then you may just want to sample the album before you make a decision on whether or not to purchase it.

Sycamore Meadows is his most recent release.It was released on Veteran's Day of 2008.It is easily his most personal album that he has written.He starts off with a fun song The Weight of Her that is a great Summer driving song.It is a very upbeat song, complete with some humor and a Bonnie and Clyde feel to it.The video even is similar to Bonnie and Clyde.The second song on the album is called Going Back/Coming Home and is autobiographical and you really get to understand everything that he was going through when the fire took everything from him in 2007.He talks about his childhood, his family, his start in music, his music experiences with tours, sex, and record label issues.Once again he goes where most artists won't go and talks about getting an std and even "raps" in the song.The next song, Here Comes The...is a duet with Pink in which he talks about the end of a relationship and all the things that accompany it.It is a really emotional song that many can relate to if you ever have a on again/off again relationship with all the feelings that are felt by the two.This album features some very emotional and personal stuff on it, like the aforementioned Here Comes The..., Going Back/Going Home, Atlanta, Ships in a Bottle and "Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You".That is not to say the album is all sad and lower tempo, because The Weight of Her, Ponce de Leon Ave, Summer Scarves, 3 Kids in Brooklyn, Closer to the Truth and Further From the Sky and A Song For the Metalheads are more upbeat and happy, with some humor mixed in.This is my favorite album by him and reccomend it to everybody with a perfect 10 out of 10.It is simply amazing.A definite must own.

I hope you all enjoy the monster blog, and hope everybody gives Butch a listen to.I think many people would really enjoy his music.I want to thank everybody who will actually read this blog and hopefully I can get him some more fans.I have gotten a few people into him already, so who knows, maybe more will take my advice.Thanks