Buckethead

Niall Kielt said:
So the GnR April fools was the first time I saw Buckhead play anything. Not sure Ive even heard him play (unless hes on Chinese Democracy, in which case Better is the only song ive listened to more than once).
Click to expand...
He has quite a few solos on there. See pg. 1 of this thread.
Niall Kielt said:
So I youtubed him, got a live version of Soothsayer. Fuck, the guy can play.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about other out-and-out shredders, but you don't see a lot of people shred-improvise like Buckethead. It's even more mesmerising watching him. That pinkie...
Niall Kielt said:
Listening to Crime Slunk Scene now. Not following the tracks, just listening. Im diggin it so far.
Click to expand...
CSC is pretty accessible Buckethead.
Niall Kielt said:
I avoided him for years cos of the bucket, didnt like it when I first saw it and never gave him a second thought. Silly me.
Click to expand...
Forostar said:
Haha same here. Non serious behaviour tends to "obscure" talent sometimes...
Click to expand...
Niall Kielt said:
Never judge a musician by his bucket. Apparently.
Click to expand...
Man, you guys. It's funny! The chickens; the coup; Giant Robot; sounding like R2D2; robotic dance moves; the bucket; the expressionless mask. He's funny. That's the point. I know serious music & comedy don't normally go hand-in-hand; but Buckethead is the exception. He's endearingly goofy. He's pure American Surrealism.
 
Yeah, I just made a judgement many years ago and never saw reason to re-evaluate it. I saw a bucket, thought 'douche' and that was it, never saw the man again. I never saw enough to go 'oh, hes trying to be funny, I don't like it.' I just saw a pic of a guy with a kfc bucket on his head. And didnt like it.
I wouldn't be into shredders per say but he seems to have a good way of using his speed, not just pure widdly-widdly, there's a bit of soul or some shit in there.

I think you're right, watching him is the way to go.

Give me some 'inaccessible' shit, Ill check it later and see how much I can tolerate!
 
Niall Kielt said:
Yeah, I just made a judgement many years ago and never saw reason to re-evaluate it. I saw a bucket, thought 'douche' and that was it, never saw the man again. I never saw enough to go 'oh, hes trying to be funny, I don't like it.' I just saw a pic of a guy with a kfc bucket on his head. And didnt like it.
Click to expand...
To really get all the nonsense about the bucket/persona you really have to go back to the beginning, for music, to albums like Bucketheadland (1992); & to early videos of him clowning around off-stage when he was a kid.
Niall Kielt said:
I wouldn't be into shredders per say but he seems to have a good way of using his speed, not just pure widdly-widdly, there's a bit of soul or some shit in there.
Click to expand...
I'm not into shedders either, but Buckethead is so much more than that.
Niall Kielt said:
Give me some 'inaccessible' shit, Ill check it later and see how much I can tolerate!
Click to expand...
I'm not really sure what I had in mind. I don't think you're ready for Buckethead inaccessible shit! Unless you want to listen to actual shit. You should probably listen to The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock (2006) if you want to hear more in the Crime Slunk Scene vein...


Or for something shorter Pike #11...

 
Last edited:
Ill check those, cheers. Peppers ghost just came on youtube after another vid i was watchin. I fuckin love it! Carpel Tunnel Slug is a cracker. He could be my new favourite thing.
 
Niall Kielt said:
Ill check those, cheers. Peppers ghost just came on youtube after another vid i was watchin. I fuckin love it! Carpel Tunnel Slug is a cracker.
Click to expand...
Yeh, those three albums (Pepper's Ghost [2007], The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock [2006] & Crime Slunk Scene [2006]) are all very representative of Buckethead's post-GnR mid-2000's work; pretty accessible, fairly conventional song structures, catchy licks, judicious kill-switch use, and decent (for Buckethead) production values. They all came out within one year (~12-13 months) of each other, which is also pretty incredible.
Niall Kielt said:
He could be my new favourite thing.
Click to expand...
He could be?
 
I don't know. I've thrown a few heavier things your way & you've not really liked them that much; so I assumed you were more taken by his atmospheric stuff. Or just not that impressed with his more heavy stuff or his flat-out soloing; in the sense that you can get heavy guitar work anywhere. Why turn to Bucket? Basically, I've thrown you a lot more of the same (stuff that you said you liked) knowing you'd like it. You're clearly now ready for anything Buckethead! :D

There's a run of albums (4 or 5 in a row) from the Pikes in 2013 which are hard to describe. They're ones that didn't click straight away with me but that I now come back to again & again. They're in an odd area with little soloing, not too heavy but just idea after idea, riff after riff. Here's one of them if you get the time...


In fact I'm just listening to some of them again. The guy's crammed in more riffs than most bands have over their entire catalogue. Two & half hours of music released in less than a month; 23 days or something. Totally insane.
 
Well, the song I just lauded is very accessible music! Not heavy at all. I mean it is heavy in a way, but I like heavy Buckethead when there's melody's over the riffs, or "in" the riffs (catchy riffs). And there's this calmer piece as well later on. Riffs can still be heavy riffs, but just more musical than stuff like in Arcade of the Deserted.

Will check the recommendation in the upcoming day(s)!
 
Wait to you hear the whole run then...

Thank You Ohlinger's (Pike #35)
The Pit (Pike #36)
Hollowed Out (Pike #37)
It Smells Like Frogs (Pike #38)
Twisterlend (Pike #39)
Coat of Charms (Pike #40)
 
Yes.I also bought Backwards Chimney and Arcade but they were on sale at the time. I like to own my music instead of hitting YouTube all the time but of course sometimes YouTube will do..;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top