Buckethead

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Pike 6/275

Pretty cool album, very experimental. Not too outstanding but it's quite nice overall. Very representative of the cover and the title IMO.

Rating: 7.5/10
 
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Sorry for slight diversion here, but the audio on this bootleg is awesome! :notworthy:


The improv. bit in Toystore is fucking ridiculous. Buckethead was absolutely on fire here.
 
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Pike 7/275
  1. "Intro" - This is nice, but I dunno if this is the kinda thing I'd like to hear from Buckethead. Let's see how the rest of this Pike is... 8/10
  2. "The Shores of Molokai" - Fuck, wasn't expecting the heaviness following right on from the "Intro". This is awesome. Great riffing here. The slower, calmer bit is nice, followed by an awesome solo. I like it a lot. 9.5/10
  3. "The 5 Masters of Decapitation" - The opening feels like "Davy Jones Locker" only with an actual riff. It moves into a cool metallic riff next and it's very good. Interesting use of electronic elements here. Pleasantly surprised by this one. 9/10
  4. "Henry's New Home" - This is a jam of a song. I'm really liking the vibe here. 9/10
  5. "Counter Clockwise" - Nice electronic opening, and then followed-up by a cool electric riff, and then cool, er, beeping guitar. Dunno how else to describe that sound, I guess. Anyway, it's good. Loved it. 9.5/10
  6. "Stumps on Stilts" - Really cool metal riffage here. I like it. 9/10
  7. "Mannequins Are My Friend" - This is some awesome guitar stuff. Oh, and then it turns into a jammy bit. Lots of great elements here. 9.5/10
  8. "Smile Without A Face" - For a moment I thought I was listening to "The Triangle Part II", but then it morphed into a pretty cool piece that still feels reminiscent of the album. Cool stuff. 9/10
  9. "Hatchet" - Ooh, this is even better. The beginning felt like Bucket merging with Metallica, and then there were some change-ups that sounded awesome. I like it. Oh, now it's a Buckethead / Ahab bit? Wow. Watery guitar, I like it. Oh, these blast beats, goddamn! And now a softer bit. And then faster. And then I really like this bit... reminds me of Queensryche or solo Blaze or something. Dunno quite what it is, but I really like it. And finally a soft bit, reminiscent of Death's "Crystal Mountain". Such a lot to this song. Very cool. 9.5/10
  10. "Thermal Exhaust Port" - Nice opening, followed by a cool riff. Very much a standard Buckethead tune but with enough variation to make it feel fresh. I like it. 9.5/10
  11. "Melting Man" - Oh, now this is more what I was expecting from the cover, title, and "Intro". Nice, soft, mellow electric guitar with some electronic bits. I like it. Great stuff. 9.5/10
Yeah, great Pike. Wasn't quite what I expected for the most part but it was nonetheless fairly awesome. A lot of it feels like homage to Bermuda Triangle, but of course I'm the guy who would draw the comparison. The time flew by with this, and while the previous Pike was okay, I still like the separate tracks a lot, too. Great stuff here.

Rating: 9.3/10

Couple of quick things:
(1) Regarding the previous album, I like that it's split into different sections despite being one large piece. Makes it a bit more digestible, IMO.
(2) Was reading some old posts here and saw that there was some confusion as to what the use of the word "jam" means for the listener. Personally, when I say a song is a "jam", it usually means that's the kind of thing you can bop your head and move around to. "Jam" is just the closest word I can find for it.
 
Diesel 11 said:
(2) Was reading some old posts here and saw that there was some confusion as to what the use of the word "jam" means for the listener. Personally, when I say a song is a "jam", it usually means that's the kind of thing you can bop your head and move around to. "Jam" is just the closest word I can find for it.
Click to expand...
That might get pretty confusing...
 
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Pike 8/275
  1. "The Snow Rabit" - Really cool first song. Love the effects here, the wonkiness, the feel, the vibe... very cool. Really feels like a rabbit running through the snow. 9.5/10
  2. "Telekinite" - Heavier stuff now. Standard riff, but then it starts to bubble into a cooler song. But... I think it's escaping from true greatness throughout. Lot of nice elements, though. 7/10
  3. "Asbury Park Boardwalk" - This one's better. Reminds me of the boardwalk am Nordsee in Sankt Peter-Ording I went to earlier this year. Though it was raining then... no, I like this song a lot. The mellowness, the beautiful electric guitar penetrating through as rays of sunshine... yeah, I like this a lot. Beautiful song. 9.5/10
  4. "Castle of Dr. Cadaver" - Ooh, this riff sounds like some taking a diamond saw to a dead body. That or a blow torch. At any rate, I see skin and sparks a-flyin'. Great, huh? 9/10
  5. "Sunbursts" - Oh yeah, this was on NatterNet's Buckethead Top 30 songs. Let's see... calm intro, a bit of build-up... and then it stays on a ready course. It does feel like a close-up look at the sun. Yeah, this wouldn't be amiss in a film about space. A quiet, no drum part builds up into a beautiful bit of screaming electricity backed by calmness. And then it all builds down and closes well. Fantastic, genius of a song. 10/10
  6. "Chamber of Slunks" - Back into a heavier, groovier song now. I like it. A, er, jam. :P A bit of a change-up and... oh, we're done? Was nice while it lasted. 9/10
  7. "Spiderwall" - Yeah I can feel the spider in this. Feels like they're crawling in my ears. Surprisingly, a good feeling. I like it. 9.5/10
  8. "Coffin for a Penny" - Oh, this is nice. Very pretty. Feels like a pop-rock song. This is very, very nice. Lot of sunshine here. 9.5/10
  9. "Fomahaut" - This one is just zaniness, but I like it. Works very well where it's been place on the album. 9/10
  10. "The Patrolman" - Alright, last song, and the title looks very interesting. Opening is quite nice, very moody. It's building up now. The fog, the darkness, the lantern, it's all easily visualized here. I'm really liking it so far. Fantastic sound here. It's mixed very well. Yeah, wow, this is very nice. You can just let yourself go, and the song will take you away to the seedy streets of London, or to a warehouse, or to the harbor, or wherever... there stands The Patrolman, with lantern in hand, bravery unbeatable, every night, there he stands, always on the lookout for those who would make his job difficult. God bless him. 10/10
This was awesome. A lot of variety helped it keep its head up, and utilizing heaviness in some songs and mellowness in others was a good move. I really liked just about everything, with only "Telekinite" losing itself because it was a bit too standard of a song with little new. But everything else was great to fucking amazing, with "Sunbursts" and above all "The Patrolman" nailing the latter. Excellent Pike, I liked it quite a lot!

Rating: 9.5/10
 
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Pike 9/275
  1. "Magellan's Maze" - Pretty awesome. Nice riffings here. Very fun. I like it a lot. 9.5/10
  2. "Burying Toys" - Cool opening, and the softer section with the soaring guitars is really neat. Pretty great. 9/10
  3. "Malbert's Strut" - Boppy kinda beat here. Peaceful stuff, interestingly enough. Cool background song. 8/10
  4. "Happy Landing" - Pretty cool stuff but nothing really outstanding. 7/10
  5. "The Robot Who Lost Its Head" - Oh this one is much better. Creamy electric guitar sounds so beautiful. Lovely song. 9.5/10
  6. "Thud" - Heavier song now. Nice riff here. It's actually pretty cool. Love the slow pace, gives it a bigger crunch and effect. 9/10
  7. "Satellite Invaders" - Quite representative of its name. The creamy guitar shines again. 9/10
  8. "The Other Side of the Island" - Heavy riff but enough change-ups make it shine. I like it. 9/10
  9. "Ghost Coop" - Quite nice. Very moody, very good. 9/10
  10. "The Raid" - Now I've got marshmallow bubbles in my ears. Awesome. 9/10
  11. "Vault" - Works as an ending but not the finest song in the discography. I do like it though. 8/10
This was a bit of a step-down from the previous two but still remained a fairly good Pike as a whole. Lot of nice bits but there were not as many true stand-outs this time around. I liked the feel of it, though. Very purple-y. Looking forward to the next album; I hear it's a Cried favorite...

Rating: 8.8/10
 
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Pike 10/275
  1. "Dweller By The Dark Stream" - Wasn't quite expecting the speed or intensity of this song. It's awesome. 9.5/10
  2. "Blind Cyclops" - This one is more melodic and more what I was expecting. Nice usage of the guitars. 9/10
  3. "Flea Market" - Nice, peaceful kind of song. This is even closer to what I envisioned this Pike to be. Really nice. 9.5/10
  4. "Three Steps" - I enjoy it, but it's not outstanding. 7/10
  5. "Beam of Omega" - This was pretty cool. Very interesting feel and vibe. 9/10
  6. "Whirlibird" - Finally a return to heaviness. This is a riff I think would have worked well in a Maiden song or something. Oh, but then it gets softer and quieter. This is nice. Some great guitar happening. Feels similar to "The Redeem Team". Return to heaviness and the song ends. Very nice. 9.5/10
  7. "Ropelight" - Pretty cool song. Very huge guitar sound. 9/10
  8. "Flashes" - Short but sweet. Very pretty track. 9/10
  9. "Melting Man Part 2" - This one didn't quite do it for me. It's nice, but almost too mellow, so I think it deserves a few points taken off. Still pretty good and I hope it grows on me. 8/10
This one is a little better than the previous Pike, but not as good as 7 and 8, IMO. There are a lot of nice elements and as a whole, the songs are all good, but I think it's not quite what I was hoping for. Let's see how things go from here....

Rating: 8.8/10
 
So, in the course of one day, I've completed 5 Pikes, bringing the total up to 10 Pikes and 40 albums (42 when including iSoT and Acoustic Pieces). That means I've got 265 Pikes and 266 albums to go. It's getting more and more interesting as it goes along, and it'll be interesting to see how the quality either is kept or goes down as he gets more prolific. So far, I've got them ranked as follows:

9.5 - Racks (8)
9.5 - It's Alive (1)
9.3 - The Shores of Molokai (7)
9.0 - Look Up There (5)
8.9 - 3 Foot Clearance (3)
8.8 - The Silent Picture Book (10)
8.8 - March of the Slunks (9)
8.5 - Empty Space (2)
8.0 - Underground Chamber (4)
7.5 - Balloon Cement (6)

I'll be adding the list to future posts for comparison as to where the album lands for me. I've got plans after I finish the Pikes to not only go through every Buckethead song again (or at least, the non-Pike songs) and rank them, and I'd also like to go through his collaborations and such as well... if I'm not burnt out by then. Maybe to keep things flowing I'll listen to Death Cube K after the first 50 Pikes or so. We'll see. I doubt I'll keep on a straight path throughout it all, and I doubt I'll be as prolific a listener as I have been this week, but we'll see how it all goes.

Fun times ahead.
 
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Pike 11/275
  1. "Disintegration" - Very nice acoustic beginning. I like this. Hold on, now we're over the waterfall in a barrel with that riff. After trailblazing the curve we're thrown into a softer bit, which is nice. The riff returns, then the softness returns, which goes on for a bit until heaviness again comes and takes over. Oh shit, that riff returned and it's very familiar... sounds like "Phantom of the Opera" from Iron Maiden, but Bucket-ized. Very cool song. 9.5/10
  2. "Corpse Be Animated" - Awesome riff begins this song, before we barrel into a very thrash metal bit, like it could've been a part of a Testament song or something. Then a very soft piece comes in. Heaviness returns with a cool solo-y section. The beginning riff returns, and at this point I'm definitely into it. A soft part pops up unexpectedly and closes the track quite well. 9.5/10
  3. "Faded From View" - Love the opening heavy / soft / heavy / soft thing. The riff is very King Diamond-esque. A quiet bit comes in before we return to heaviness - nope, it's quiet again. Then a heavier but groovier part comes in. Then a very bluesy bit of soloing takes centerstage, and this is where it starts to lose its way. It's good, but would have been better on its own. The opening was so fantastic that ultimately this is a weak part that should have just been used in a different track. I'll give it a 7.5/10 because the beginning was great, but otherwise... eh.
  4. "Yellowed Pages" - I mean, this isn't really a song, so... it's okay, but not outstanding. Definitely doesn't help that it follows the previous song, which disgruntled me already. 5/10
  5. "Beginning Putrefaction" - Okay, this is a much better riff. Oooohhh, this feels like Chemical Wedding levels of heaviness. A quiet bit, and then a solo-y section. Another quiet bit, and then a very soulful solo comes in. I like this so much better than the two previous songs. It's set up in the same way that "Faded From View" is, but it's actually successful. When the heavy riff comes back in, it sounds incredible. This song is fantastic. 10/10
  6. "Decay" - Boppy stuff now. It's mainly mindless soloing, but it's very enjoyable. I like it overall; just not the most outstanding thing. 8/10
  7. "Forgotten Library" - Very nice acoustic stuff. You can actually hear Brian breathing in the background, which is interesting. It's very nice, very great way to close out the album. 9.5/10
This was surprisingly hit-or-miss for me. Some of the stuff is awesome, other stuff is meh. Certainly an interesting album as a whole, with a nice mix of soft and heavy, but a bit of it needs a little more ironing out. When it's good though, it's fucking awesome.

Rating: 8.4/10

9.5 - Racks (8)
9.5 - It's Alive (1)
9.3 - The Shores of Molokai (7)
9.0 - Look Up There (5)
8.9 - 3 Foot Clearance (3)
8.8 - The Silent Picture Book (10)
8.8 - March of the Slunks (9)
8.5 - Empty Space (2)
8.4 - Forgotten Library (11)
8.0 - Underground Chamber (4)
7.5 - Balloon Cement (6)
 
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