"There's a little N.W.A. inspiration there, seriously. Josh [Todd, lead singer-co-songwriter] is a big N.W.A fan, big Snoop Dogg fan. That's definitely an influence, moreso in Josh than anyone else, because he gravitates more toward the gangsta rap kind of stuff. At some point during the day, it's on in the dressing room, or on the bus somewhere. We're kind of getting a little dose of that, we're getting a dose of the blues, a dose of country music, Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. There's a lot of different music flying around on our bus. We're inspired by a lot of different music ..."

Those influences are apparent on the album "Time Bomb," which is due out March 27 on DreamWorks Records. The opening track, "Frontside," weaves screaming guitar solos with Todd's spitfire vocals--delivered in a way similar to Eminem--while the closing to "Place in the Sun" will make fans of Rage guitarist Tom Morello drool. The power ballad "Helpless," with its soaring vocals and hook-laden chorus, seems a sure-fire pop hit. "Underneath" carries an obvious Ramones and Cheap Trick influence.

"I think that we've really managed to all meet in the middle, in terms of our influences, and meet right here where we're making this music," Nelson said. "As a result, there's little elements of all that in it. It ends up being 'rock.' It's just 'rock' because we're five rock guys sitting around."

Copping a British accent, he added, "It's a bit like a stew. [Returning to his voice] It's kind of like a good melting pot of ideas and inspirations."

For "Time Bomb," Buckcherry explored a "no limitation" policy. During the recording process, Buckcherry strayed from its guitar-bass-drums-vocals formula, to dabble in mandolin, piano, mellotron, strings, sitar and six-string bass.

"The first album, we really went for a live vibe," he said of his band's 1999 self-titled debut, which housed the hits "Lit Up" and "For the Movies." "We kind of set up and threw it down and tried to capture that moment in time, and I think we were successful at that.

"I think on this record, we had more of an opportunity to kind of expand the production in that [we could] experiment with ideas and song structures. We had more of an opportunity to craft the songs. I think that's fitting, in that we've grown as a band, as players and as songwriters. The circumstances right there led to a different kind of record, I think."

One thing remains, however, is Todd and Nelson's hedonistic lyrics. Suicide, whiskey, pornography and nightlife are all touched on in "Time Bomb," produced by John Travis (Sugar Ray, Monster Magnet). In the press materials that accompanied "Time Bomb," Todd explained, "'Whiskey in the Morning' is about alcoholism, which I've battled for a long time. I used to have that morning drink every day. The worst, most destructive drug of all is legal. The lyrics are simply about finding stuff that moves me."

Nelson elaborated, "Although I cannot speak for Josh, I think the things that he's referring to in that comment are things that he dealt with prior to being in this band. Across various members of this band, there's been definitely the battles of dealing with the trappings of--I don't know how to say it eloquently--our own individual struggles with various things, whether it be with people, substances, or whatnot. I don't think Josh is any different. He just happens to be the guy who writes the lyrics. So, as a result his personal experiences come out through that."

But, Nelson added, it's not a difficult task to share those struggles with audiences.

"The nice thing about being a songwriter, I think, is you can go into the third person and write from someone else's perspective, or tell a story about someone else and still get your feelings out and still air out your laundry and not have it definitely be 'the guy with his heart on his sleeve.'"