Guardian - "Buzz"

Guardian - Buzz
1995, Myrrh

1. This Old Man
2. Lead the Way
3. State of Mine
4. The Lion's Den
5. Are You Gonna Keep Your Word?
6. One Thing Left To Do
7. Hand of the Father
8. Psychedelic Runaway
9. Even It Out
10. Lift Me Up
11. Shorty
12. Lullaby
13. Them Nails

SELLOUT! Well... I don't know. A lot of people were disappointed by Buzz because of the new alternative sound. When I first got it I wasn't put off a bit. Maybe because Guardian were really commercial and trendy to begin with so it's not really a surprise that they'd move in a more alternative direction. To tell you the truth... I never thought it was that bad and I still don't. There are some great songs on here. Some of my favorites being "Lead the Way," "The Lion's Den," and "One Thing Left To Do." One disappointing thing about Buzz is Jaime's vocals. He sings in a lower register and kind of mostly moans his way through most of the disc. You spend the whole time waiting for Jaime to let it rip but he never does. It should be illegal for awesome vocalists to not use their full potential. Illegal I tell you! Steve Taylor produced the CD and a lot of people think that some of the clever lyrics came from him but I read an interview once with Steve where he said that most of the lyrics were from Jaime Rowe. Whether it was Steve's coaching or not, I do like most of the lyrics here (except "Them Nails"). I can't say I'm an enormous Guardian fan but this is an all right disc to whip out on occasion.

Useless Fact: There are actually four covers of this disc depending on how you fold the CD insert. I've only got the bees up there because, let's be honest here, that is clearly and UNARGUABLY the coolest one.