Former BUCKCHERRY front man Josh Todd and guitarist Stevie Dacanay burst back into the scene after two years in a big way with their new band, JOSH TODD AND THE CONFLICT, and their high-octane debut album "The Year of the Tiger." A mixture of hard rock and full on ill reverence, The 10 track release, which officially dropped September 15^th on Century Media, is an adrenaline charged array of sonic dynamics and a "wake up and smell the music" vibrancy. The album's title track, "Year of the Tiger," kicks things off coming in super soaked with attitude and brooding distain, but it is track two, "Inside," that takes the limelight and sets the world on fire by blazing on all cylinders... having this BLACK LABLE SOCIETY, Stevie Ray Vaughan presentation to it and coming in as the best track on the album.

"Rain," track 4, comes across as a promotional song for a beer or pickup truck commercial... basic, built tough and catchy, in a QUEEN "We Will, We Will Rock You" kind of way. Todd delivers some real emotionally charged vocals, served up gritty and full of salt. Track 6, carrying the band's name sake, "The Conflict," is a straight up, in your face, anti-authoritative ditty that just blisters over with fury, male posturing and coolness. Grab your sword and get ready to slay the dragon with this one. Tracks 8 and 9,"Erotic City" and "Push It," are two super groovy, modern space age truckin' tracks with a lot of cool guitar that drive home the underlying message of "The Year of the Tiger," coming across as hard wired, edgy rock n roll... they are not just dangerous... they are atomic ongo bongo.

The key element that pulls this album completely together for me is, without a doubt, the drums.  Nothing fancy or over the top, they are solid, heavy and bombastic without fail... the backbone of a well-oiled rock n roll machine, which without, would not be able to holds its ground very long... and that's what this album does overall, it holds it ground, giving enough balance musically for the listener so that there is a little something for everyone. The range of somewhat recognizable musical approaches makes this album very digestible for many different tastes.  "The Year of the Tiger" has a good assortment of hard, heavy and commercial material allowing itself to cross several genre lines and end up in a multitude of listeners' collections.