Best/Worst Music of 2013
- Thread starter Mosh
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Forostar
Ancient Mariner
And I still don't get why don't post Buckethead from 2013.Nice one. I was just checking!
Will you do that in 2014?
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Because Bucket has released 30 albums this year!! --& I ain't really listened to any of them, as I'm still working my way through his 2011/12 output & whatever earlier albums I can get my hands on. (I'm still a CD buyer, not a great online listener.) I purchased the first 10 albums from his Buckethead Pike Series (of albums) which I'm currently listening to...
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Yip, 30! I'm not a total pedant to chronology (I don't think I can afford to be with Buckethead, since he has about 70 studio albums & countless other side-projects), but yes, like you, I do like to listen to material in context (i.e. when it came out) before passing judgement on an artist overall; & I like listening to albums from start to finish. I'm no shuffle or playlist fan. I think I commented somewhere else that they're not really album length (the Pike series that is); they all run to about 30-35 minutes, so are somewhere between an EP an perhaps an older album. Still, it's an incredible amount of material.
Mosh said (when I mentioned Buckethead in the random song/artist thread) that Buckethead can start to sound kind of samey. I too, sort of, agree with him. But his best stuff is excellent. And there is quite a lot of variety once you dig around his albums. The guy just plays & plays & riffs & improvises and records so much. It's a joy to wade through it all & listen to what he's all about as a guitarist. There's much to criticise & not like, but it's all (to me anyway) part of what kind of artist he is (something a Iron Maiden, to take just one example, certainly are not): loads of experimenting (much that works, much that doesn't); loads of collaborating; loads of ideas (many not very well developed); a (often) catastrophic lack of judgement in the song structure department (i.e. just too, too much going on); certainly an unwillingness to select (i.e. not record & not release stuff that doesn't quite work); and just a general does-what-he-wants approach to music making. It's all out there: some of it quite poor, I suppose; some of it surprisingly commercial; some it heavy, Heavy Metal; some of it Death Metal; some of it Thrash; lots of it acoustic; some of it Bluegrass; some of it Funk; some of it Avant-garde; lots of it Rock & Blues. All of it just Bucket. His approach is just really refreshing. Perhaps a bit of guitarist's guitarist. Lots of playfulness, but at the same time his music can be deeply moving, mature, & well constructed.
Have a glance at his discography to the foot of the Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckethead
It's truly ridiculous how much he's releasing. Multiple albums at the same time, etc.
Mosh said (when I mentioned Buckethead in the random song/artist thread) that Buckethead can start to sound kind of samey. I too, sort of, agree with him. But his best stuff is excellent. And there is quite a lot of variety once you dig around his albums. The guy just plays & plays & riffs & improvises and records so much. It's a joy to wade through it all & listen to what he's all about as a guitarist. There's much to criticise & not like, but it's all (to me anyway) part of what kind of artist he is (something a Iron Maiden, to take just one example, certainly are not): loads of experimenting (much that works, much that doesn't); loads of collaborating; loads of ideas (many not very well developed); a (often) catastrophic lack of judgement in the song structure department (i.e. just too, too much going on); certainly an unwillingness to select (i.e. not record & not release stuff that doesn't quite work); and just a general does-what-he-wants approach to music making. It's all out there: some of it quite poor, I suppose; some of it surprisingly commercial; some it heavy, Heavy Metal; some of it Death Metal; some of it Thrash; lots of it acoustic; some of it Bluegrass; some of it Funk; some of it Avant-garde; lots of it Rock & Blues. All of it just Bucket. His approach is just really refreshing. Perhaps a bit of guitarist's guitarist. Lots of playfulness, but at the same time his music can be deeply moving, mature, & well constructed.
Have a glance at his discography to the foot of the Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckethead
It's truly ridiculous how much he's releasing. Multiple albums at the same time, etc.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Seriously? I think they're surprisingly good, compared to some of his other stuff. They're certainly better mixed that they used to be; drumming & bass is better, etc. I see in quite a lot of the newer releases he does quite a lot of the bass playing as well. Man, how can you not like some of his lead/solo work? Yeh, the mindless shred lick catalogue is a bit repetitive, but some of his lead work is lovely, lovely stuff. And his rhythm work is so one-guitarist boyishly metal. There's nothing complicated about it I don't suppose. Would you just prefer him to nail down less albums, that are better?
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Maturin
Sköldpadda
I think that is the problem with Buckethead. Such a ridiculous amount of material released. It's the same thing with series of books and other things - if there are like 20 books in a series - how could any one of them be really good? Just by the sheer amount of it, the series will be average by default (when compared to the best parts of it). The good stuff is just drowned.
I'd rather have an album from an artist every second year, so that I really have time go get familiar with it. With Buckethead I think "Soothsayer" is one of the best instrumentals I have heard, and I don't generally tend to like instrumentals, but where can I get the CD? It isn't even on Spotify. Why would anyone care to reissue one CD among hundreds? And so on.
I'd rather have an album from an artist every second year, so that I really have time go get familiar with it. With Buckethead I think "Soothsayer" is one of the best instrumentals I have heard, and I don't generally tend to like instrumentals, but where can I get the CD? It isn't even on Spotify. Why would anyone care to reissue one CD among hundreds? And so on.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
I think it's easy to come that conclusion if you've only heard some of his stuff; but he certainly has some far superior tracks to Soothsayer. I think the problem is he tries different stuff on different albums & this isn't (i.e. every single album release) to everyone's liking/taste. It doesn't necessarily figure that those albums, that you don't like, aren't decent albums, from a purely musical perspective. You don't have to like everything he releases. In my opinion, the "good" stuff is more than good; it's excellent. The guy is an exceptional guitar player. And you don't need to plough through stuff you don't like to find it. There are plenty of reasonably useful reviews up on place like Amazon helping you steer away from stuff you perhaps won't like e.g. the more experimental stuff. So, if you don't really like funk guitar, don't buy his more funky influenced albums. He has excellent stuff on most of his releases though. Granted there is some difficulty in acquiring CDs of Buckethead. However, you can buy Soothsayer as a MP3 Download for £0.89 on Amazon, if you really want to.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Buckethead should just make himself and us listeners a favor an actually work on his songs. The whole improvize, record and put it out thing got old very quickly. It starts to sound like some very talented guy noodling on his guitar. That's not what I want to hear.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
His earlier albums through the 90's (& onwards) are in no way "improvize, record and put it out". If that did represent what he was/is doing --then yeh, you could say that "got old very quickly" with some credibility. However, this doesn't describe his output at all. But anyway, this is a huge "Music of 2013" digression & I'm not on here to convince you to listen &/or like Buckethead. Clearly, most of you guys have had a listen & don't like his stuff. Fair enough. Most of his stuff I do want to hear though.
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The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
He didn't just start the "improvize, record and put it out" thing this year, though. His earlier work sounded more focused, he took breaks in his studio albums. He's been doing this "shitloads of albums" thing for a while now. He released 4 albums in 2009, 4 albums in 2010, 4 albums in 2011, 6 albums in 2012 and 30 albums in 2013.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Your use of the word "improvise", though, suggests you're referring to the non-rhythm elements of his playing i.e. his "soloing". Quite a lot of his albums have very little improvisation on them. You seem to be equating album releases (yes, he's released a lot recently, as you state) with noodling/improvising. I'm just saying, I see no evidence of this having bought & listened to 20+ of his albums. I mean, to take an example, for people who listen to him shredding on Youtube & think "hell, I want to buy some of this guys albums & listen to his awesome shredding" --they're going to be disappointed, as half his albums have little or no soloing on them.
There's also no "improvised" rhythm work on his albums (--& I'm struggling to think what this would be in any context.) And, to be frank, the idea that his rock/metal rhythm work is poor, or poorly executed, is just not something I can agree with (--if this is what you're saying). I agree, sometimes, the rhythm part is perfunctory & merely a vehicle for improvisation; but these tracks are fairly obvious. If anything his song structure & composition has become more focused as time goes on, rather than less. His earlier albums are (in terms of structure) all over the place; & I would have thought far easier to tire of, what with being in a kind of mash-up style. His songs are far more conventional (& therefore palatable to most) now that they were in the past. I just don't understand what "earlier work" you're referring to. I mean, a lot of people site Colma (1998) as a great album & example of his mellow/chilled, acoustic side. He released A Real Diamond in the Rough in 2009 with another three albums, as you mentioned --& this is an even better acoustic/mellow/chilled album than Colma.
I totally agree that he has released some truly bizarre &, frankly, mediocre albums; purely from a listening stand point. But often albums which people don't like seem to be the ones that explore some other style of playing or genre which I sense they just don't like & don't want to listen to. I mean, the guy's released a banjo album. If you don't have any appreciation for bluegrass & banjo playing, then you ain't going to like it. But, since I play bluegrass banjo (badly), it'll certainly be an album I'll pick up. What albums, from the past, is it that you think are decent (--& are clearly referring to)? And what, recently, is poor?
There's also no "improvised" rhythm work on his albums (--& I'm struggling to think what this would be in any context.) And, to be frank, the idea that his rock/metal rhythm work is poor, or poorly executed, is just not something I can agree with (--if this is what you're saying). I agree, sometimes, the rhythm part is perfunctory & merely a vehicle for improvisation; but these tracks are fairly obvious. If anything his song structure & composition has become more focused as time goes on, rather than less. His earlier albums are (in terms of structure) all over the place; & I would have thought far easier to tire of, what with being in a kind of mash-up style. His songs are far more conventional (& therefore palatable to most) now that they were in the past. I just don't understand what "earlier work" you're referring to. I mean, a lot of people site Colma (1998) as a great album & example of his mellow/chilled, acoustic side. He released A Real Diamond in the Rough in 2009 with another three albums, as you mentioned --& this is an even better acoustic/mellow/chilled album than Colma.
I totally agree that he has released some truly bizarre &, frankly, mediocre albums; purely from a listening stand point. But often albums which people don't like seem to be the ones that explore some other style of playing or genre which I sense they just don't like & don't want to listen to. I mean, the guy's released a banjo album. If you don't have any appreciation for bluegrass & banjo playing, then you ain't going to like it. But, since I play bluegrass banjo (badly), it'll certainly be an album I'll pick up. What albums, from the past, is it that you think are decent (--& are clearly referring to)? And what, recently, is poor?
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
I don't like his style altogether. Old or new. There are very few shredder albums that I can listen all the way through without cringing. I'm not saying his earlier works were better than his latest. But at least him not putting everything out there made me intrigued into listening his stuff. Nowadays I can't even force myself to listen to his works. There's no time to digest anything. His songs are long and he releases new stuff constantly. I'm not going to spend my time letting his songs grow on me. If there were breaks, it could've been a possibility. I'm pretty sure many people feel the same way, whether they like his style or not.
It's not a matter of quality, it's a matter of keeping people excited I'm talking about.
It's not a matter of quality, it's a matter of keeping people excited I'm talking about.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Fair enough; if you don't like it, you don't like it.
I evidently have more tolerance to this than you; but as I've said, I don't think the majority of his albums are "shredder albums".
This has nothing to do with the quality or listen-ability of his music. This is just the way you're approaching his music.
Again, this is just the way you're choosing to approach his music. Who's forcing you to buy &/or listen to all his work? It might be frustrating that he's releasing too much for you to take in at a practical level (i.e. letting it grow on you), but why not just buy one or two of his albums every year or so? I hear where you're coming from, I just don't accept this as a reason not to listen to his releases or not rate him.
I don't see why this is particularly important.
However, as I said, if you don't like his style, you don't like his style. That's reason enough not to listen to him!
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
You never know. You might be getting an album that you're gonna hate while there's another album you might love. It's not something that applies to me because I check out stuff on YouTube first, but still, I'm not talking about myself here.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about our way of looking at the approach to the works that are being put out.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about our way of looking at the approach to the works that are being put out.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
OK, I've been obsessing over this album for over a week now. It's all I'm listening to.
First, it's got some kick-ass Runaways-style punk/hard rock:
It's also got the catchiest song I've heard all year (this version live on Letterman show):
And, a little Berlin/Blondie new wave action thrown in for good measure:
This album is really, really good. And, for you fellows who were hoping her jacket would move in just the right way during the Letterman performance, Google the uncensored album cover.
I'm working my way through the albums from this thread. I'm planning to post a detailed writeup in the end, but we'll see if that really happens. A preliminary verdict of the first four I've listened to:
Alter Bridge - Fortress: Very good
Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods: Mediocre at best
Ashes of Ares - Ashes of Ares: Pretty good.
Dark Tranquility - Construct: Not bad, but I had difficulty staying interested.
Alter Bridge - Fortress: Very good
Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods: Mediocre at best
Ashes of Ares - Ashes of Ares: Pretty good.
Dark Tranquility - Construct: Not bad, but I had difficulty staying interested.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
I haven't listened to many new albums this year, but these are the ones I have listened to:
Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Helloween - Straight out of Hell
Killswitch Engage - Disarm the Descent
Megadeth - Super Collider
Sepultura - The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must be the Heart
My favourite of this lot is 'The Mystery of Time' by Avantasia which doesn't do anything new but it's fun and epic at the same time and the atmosphere is more or less perfect throughout. The best songs from 'The Mystery of Time are probably 'Black Orchid' and 'Saviour in the Clockwork' but I would recommend that you avoid 'Sleepwalking' which is pretty lame. Of the rest of this year's new albums that I've listened to none of them stand out to me as being great. Dream Theater's self-titled album grew on me after a few listens and while it's far from being their weakest album none of the songs on it have managed to properly grab my attention yet and I think that 'A Dramatic Turn of Events' is much better. The new Killswitch Engage album (with their original vocalist back in the band) is pretty mediocre and I don't think I'll bother following this band's progress any longer. The new album from Sepultura is decent but I've yet to get to grips with it properly so hopefully it'll grow on me. 'Straight out of Hell' by Helloween is also mediocre and contains one of the worst songs I've ever heard in 'Asshole' but there are a couple of highlights in there. Of the albums that I've listened to 'Super Collider' by Megadeth is the most dissapointing. There are a few good songs there but overall the album is a mess.
Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Helloween - Straight out of Hell
Killswitch Engage - Disarm the Descent
Megadeth - Super Collider
Sepultura - The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must be the Heart
My favourite of this lot is 'The Mystery of Time' by Avantasia which doesn't do anything new but it's fun and epic at the same time and the atmosphere is more or less perfect throughout. The best songs from 'The Mystery of Time are probably 'Black Orchid' and 'Saviour in the Clockwork' but I would recommend that you avoid 'Sleepwalking' which is pretty lame. Of the rest of this year's new albums that I've listened to none of them stand out to me as being great. Dream Theater's self-titled album grew on me after a few listens and while it's far from being their weakest album none of the songs on it have managed to properly grab my attention yet and I think that 'A Dramatic Turn of Events' is much better. The new Killswitch Engage album (with their original vocalist back in the band) is pretty mediocre and I don't think I'll bother following this band's progress any longer. The new album from Sepultura is decent but I've yet to get to grips with it properly so hopefully it'll grow on me. 'Straight out of Hell' by Helloween is also mediocre and contains one of the worst songs I've ever heard in 'Asshole' but there are a couple of highlights in there. Of the albums that I've listened to 'Super Collider' by Megadeth is the most dissapointing. There are a few good songs there but overall the album is a mess.