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I'll finish my review-of-reviews (the #250's and #260's) at some point over the next few months.
Catch up time!
Pike 250 - 250: Nice new logo. This Pike was kinda disappointing. Lots of noodling. There were some exciting moments mixed in but overall it seemed like a filler Pike. Yet it was his 250th and he felt it was necessary to commemorate that, I’m surprised the music wasn’t that special. Is the number of albums more important than the musical content? Times like these make me wonder.
Yeh, like you I was pretty disappointed by this Pike what with it being #250; although to be fair I probably wouldn't have thought that if he hadn't highlighted it himself in the title. Most of these milestones have come & gone without any tip-of-the-hat what-so-ever from Bucket. First/main track,
Two, has quite a lot going on; I like the big cookie-monster tone again. I think someone suggested it sounded like a bit of a live mix i.e. that the tone/mix sounded very reminiscent of how he'd just sounded on the previous tour. There's some nice little interludes & it's entertaining enough but way too long (4*).
Hundred is pretty bizarre. Starts off Primus-ey then goes pretty off-the-rails. A total style mishmash, but an enjoyable enough listen (4*).
And is probably the poorest track of this Pike; and there already haven't been any real highlights. Tone is pretty rough & heavy to begin with & has this cool fairly unprocessed booming bass bit early on too; but kinda descends into generic Buckethead thrash/shred stuff. Potential, but too much unpolished stuff going on here (3*).
Fifty is slightly better. Again there is quite a prominent bass tone thing going on which is a welcome change. Quite experimental this one; interesting listen with sweeping/shred stuff later in the track which is actually serving a purpose for a change too (4*). Overall a pretty average release.
Pike 251 - Waterfall Cove: And it doesn’t take long for him to redeem himself with this one. Great mellower Pike. It ends with a heavier tune, which usually works in this format, but I found it kinda unnecessary on this Pike. Everything else is great.
Fantastic Pike from start-to-finish.
Waterfall Cove has that dreamy, pensive, urgency that he does so, so well. Nice synth work & just a really natural, flowing track that breezes by as you dream of other place/times. Superb track (5*).
Whispers Way is slower & far more melancholy. Again, amazingly dreamy track; this stuff just seems to flow out of him. Nice mid-section lead work, nothing too flashy. Glorious overall (5*).
The Barren Plains is very short, but very good. Similar in feel to the first track; acoustic with urgency. Two minutes in is just lovely, lovely stuff. Very nice (5*).
9001 is slightly different; starts off in a similar vein to everything else on this release, but then goes all cookie-monster heavy. As you say, feels slightly unnecessary in a way. Jumps about between acoustic & heavy pretty effectively though. Still think it's a great track, although perhaps the weakest of the four (5*). Overall a great Pike.
Pike 252 - Bozo In the Labyrinth: Another group of relatively shorter songs. I feel this is what 250 should’ve been. A nice variety of Buckethead’s different styles with solid songwriting, riffs, and solos. This Pike has a little bit of everything and most of it is high quality. The best stuff is actually toward the end of the album. Love the melodic riffing on The Chambers and the Latin guitar work on the closing title track. Nice Pike.
Mirrors of the Sleeping Mind is a great track. The guitar work is really everything here; from that lovely skipping guitar work at ~02:14 mark, to the screaming lead work a minute later. The soloing dominates the second half of the track & is actually pretty intense; but the tone is light & it keeps it from sounding like mindless shredding. Good stuff (5*).
Cliff Faces starts with that really laid-back but strangely epic feel Buckethead sometimes slides into; heavy but melodic too. That phrasing at ~03:04 is simply awesome. Another really fine track (5*).
Flooded Bathroom is a bit more upbeat with rock riffing; he still has that pretty fuzzy lead tone though. Some nice bluesy elements too. Would be kind of generic if it wasn't for that glorious soloing from midway through (4*). The atmosphere returns with
Branch. Really stripped down acoustic work with brooding synths. Quite like the "beats" instead of programmed drumming too; sometimes this just works better. Short but good (5*).
The Chambers is the real odd chicken here. Unashamedly upbeat & catchy to begin with; hard not to love this! More thoughtful solo mid-section. Pretty damn fine (5*).
Bozo in the Labyrinth starts pretty ferociously with driving riffing & pounding drums; this is juxtaposed with latin guitar interludes, shredding & then some acoustic sections. Sounds bizarre, but it totally works (5*). Love this Pike.
Pike 253 - Coop Erstown: This Pike was a bore. Lots of noodly shreddy tracks and generic bluesy stuff. The last track has some decent stuff but not enough to save this Pike. I dig the artwork though.
Yeh, overall this release was quite disappointing; don't know if it's the tone/mix, but it all sounds kinda the same. Real flat sound to this Pike, which pulls down quite a lot of what he's actually written.
Coop Erstown (the first track) is decent; I can listen to this sort of shredding mixed with that reasonably groovy bass line. Some decent riffs in here & the soloing is pretty melodic too. I like that simple open chord work at ~04:40 (3*).
Tinkertrack starts all muddy sounding. The shredding is actually quite melodic here & there; and that bassline is pretty badass. But overall it's just way too meandering without really going anywhere (3*).
Quadruple Chicken Barn starts off all funky/bluesy. Sometimes I find these tracks quite good, but this lacks the real groove of better tracks & just feels totally generic. Doesn't go anywhere (3*).
Clay Hen is better. In fact if you can get past the tone/mix there's actually quite a lot of decent stuff to like about this track. A step up but still nothing to write home about (3*). Now
Rooms of Brooms is something even better. Some really pretty stuff early on here; with the lead work ghosting in really nicely. Main soloing is a bit long I suppose & we've heard all this before. Still, I think this track is decent (4*). Poor Pike overall.
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