BUCKCHERRY's JOSH TODD Says Rock Is No Longer Dangerous

BUCKCHERRY singer Josh Todd has once again described the current rock scene as lacking in "danger" and memorable songs.

The 53-year-old Californian-born musician, who co-founded BUCKCHERRY nearly 30 years ago, addressed the state of rock music in a new interview with "The Logan Show". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Rock is just not dangerous. And when I say 'dangerous', I don't mean using foul language or saying that kind of stuff. There's no one separating the pack.

"Back in the day, there were bands that — every band kind of had personalities and they all were separate from each other because of that even though they were in one genre of music," he explained. "I can give a good example — the last decade where there were rock stars was the '90s. I mean, look how many amazing frontmen you had — you had Layne Staley [ALICE IN CHAINS] and Chris Cornell [SOUNDGARDEN] and Kurt Cobain [NIRVANA] and Eddie Vedder [PEARL JAM] and Zack De La Rocha [RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE] — and all these guys were just all in a league on their own. And every one of those bands was different, so when you heard them, you knew it was them. And I don't know — since, like, 2000, it hasn't been like that on rock radio."

Todd added: "You listen to any kind of new rock radio, and it sounds like — to me; this is just my opinion — it just sounds like one consecutive band for, like, 45 minutes, and you don't know who anyone is and you don't know anybody's name and there's no guitar heroes and there's no frontmen. And the lyrics — I don't know — it's kind of, in my opinion, G rated. I don't feel like anybody's connecting with their audience in an honest way. I don't know. Maybe they are. I think the last band to really do that was RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. I really liked them a lot. I wish they'd put out a lot more records, but they don't."

Josh's latest comments are similar to those he made two years ago in an interview with the "White Line Fever" podcast's YouTube channel. Beck then, he said: "As far as rock is concerned, I think since the 2000s, it's been forgettable. Not that the bands aren't good and that they're not putting out songs. There's definitely been careers started after the 2000s in rock music, but it's just kind of, like, faceless. There's no rock stars, there's no guitar stars, there's no rock singers.

"If you look in the Nineties, look at all the great frontmen," he continued. "You had Chris Cornell and Layne Staley and Eddie Vedder and Zack De La Rocha and Jonathan Davis and so on. And then the 2000s and on? I couldn't even tell you who a singer is. It's so weird.

"I think it's because it became this Active Rock movement, where everything is tuned down and cut to grid and … everybody's playing the samples live, and the singers, they all sing the same. So you listen to Active Rock radio and it sounds like the same band for 45 minutes. There's no dynamics between bands. There's no, 'Oh, that's this band and that's that band,' and they all have their own little flavor. It's just not that way anymore. And I think that's why nobody is talking about rock music in the mainstream.

"There's literally one band that they go to commercially if they wanna fill that rock slot on some awards show or anything, and it's the FOO FIGHTERS," Todd added. "That's it. That's what you get for the entire rock genre. And that's good for them, but if you are a rock musician, it's tough."

BUCKCHERRY's tenth studio album, "Vol. 10", was released on June 2. The 11-song LP features 10 new BUCKCHERRY originals and, as a bonus track, a cover of the Bryan Adams classic "Summer Of 69". The album was produced by Marti Frederiksen and recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville. The album will be released in North America by Round Hill Records, in Japan by Sony Japan, and by Earache Records for the rest of the world.

Frederiksen previously produced 2021's "Hellbound" as well as BUCKCHERRY's fourth album, "Black Butterfly", and co-wrote "Sorry", among other songs, with the band.