Buffalos and Hogs: A musical Menagerie

Invariably banished to the final hour of MTV's Headbanger's Ball and the back pages of Metal Edge, new heavy metal bands such as the Electric Love Hogs tend to display remarkably little originality of sound or sincerity of lyrical sentiment.

With their self-titled debut album comprising eleven standard metal tracks, the Electric Love Hogs at first gain the listener's acceptance with the satisfying familiarity of their music and thought. the Hogs shamelessly thrive on the influences of commercial heavy metal forerunners such as Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and Poison.

John Feldmann's tight and furious vocals are strongly reminiscent of former Crue frontman Vince Neil's vocal stylings on earlier Crue classics. Pompous and energetic attitude bound by limited vocal range created Neil's signature force and inspire Feldmann's own performance, most notably on the opening track, "Tribal Monkey."

The Electric Love Hog's musical ingenuity is surpassed only by the heavy emotional quality and expressiveness of their lyrics. The third track, "I Feel like Steve," features and the following overwrought diatribe: Die! You little motherfuckers die you never will learn/ Fry! With your small brain your freedom will burn/ Lie! like another before you'll never be yourself/ Die! You little motherfuckers die right now."

The best of Electric Love Hogs includes the dark menace of "Tribal Monkey" a forceful opening track which, thought highly derivative, sounds as good as its obvious influences.

Gratefully, The ninth track," Goodbye," with its light guitar-driven groove and funky bass lines is stripped of all metallic pretense and provides an enjoyable respite from the rest of the this unremarkable album.

The Hogs' sole purpose for existence in the heavy metal world is best summed up by the lyrics from the embarrassingly awful song "Pud": "every chick I meet wants to sleep with me/When it comes to making love I'm the best there can be/ Every cool club knows me by name/And if they don't well they're just fucking lame."

Electric Love Hogs seem to have taken the gist of every stupid heavy metal song, absurdly exalted it and called in it their own. Electric Love Hogs never challenges or confuses its listeners with musical or lyrical originality but instead soothes them with the familiar sounds of their favorite commercial metal stars.

From their ridiculously pompous and puerile lyrics to the overly familiar guitar riffs and flourishes, the Electric Love Hogs seem intent on reminding the listener just how unnecessary they are in the metal world. Rita Berardino

Oh, give me a home

Boston-area trio Buffalo Tom shoots and scores with its major-label release Let Me Come Over. From start of finish, the album is an intense musical experience. Through 13 songs, the energy level never lets down once. The group takes its music seriously, but avoids self-indulgence and angst. This is the music that college radio was meant to play, brash and unpretentious.

The first track," Staples," starts with a deep the bass groove and grinding guitars follow. Thin, impassioned vocals spit out impassioned lyrics: "Staple my hands/Staple my hands to my heart/ Staple my hands/Staple my lips shut."

"Mountains of Your Head," features powerful guitar riffs, powerful drumming and searing vocals. The same things can be said about "Velvet Roof" and "Porchlight." Their slow stuff also works well. "Mineral" features longing vocals and an arrangement which deepen the longing considerably.

These three guys are playing their guts out. Rocks need more albums like this one. The songs on Let Me Come Over are truly memorable, and only get better the more you listen to them. Buffalo Tom is putting passion back into an affected and boring alternative music scene.