CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Lyrics you say? It was originally a Deli Creeps song with Maximum Bob on vocals...
The soloing is absolutely effortless in this clip...
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Buckethead
- Thread starter CriedWhenBrucieLeft
- Start date
The soloing is absolutely effortless in this clip...
Cool. Read about video recordings but wasn't sure how widely available they were. Buckethead's legato is incredible. It's like he isn't picking at all.
Day of the Robot
Since this one is only 5 songs, I'll give some brief comments on each song:
Destroyer: Creepy start to this one. Right off the bat it's obvious that this album is tonally different and Buckethead is already challenging his audience. Production is pretty muddy, but I get the impression that this was intention. Whole thing has a Black Metal vibe. Not too crazy about the noisy intro, but I like when this song gets going. I really dig the creepy clean guitar riff that appears about 4 minutes in (I assume this is the "Inclusion" section). The marching riff that complements it is also cool. Some nice bluesy guitar playing too. Seems like a more restrained approach from Buckethead. I really like the Inclusion section but the other two sections aren't as interesting. I dig the creepy vibe of the whole song though. Buckethead's first real atmospheric piece, very cool.
Flying Guillotine: This one is more on the electronic side. It's a neat beat, if a little repetitive. Nice guitar solo.
Quantum Crash: Pretty similar to the previous song but with less guitar. Some cool beats on here.
Collision: Once again, this one seems to be more of the same. Although I like it more than the previous two songs. Nice slap bass work and there seems to be more interesting stuff happening apart from the electronic beats. Some nice atmospheric moments mixed in too.
Caution Drop: Once again, more of the same. I do like the disjointed guitar solo.
The Verdict
This one had a promising start with the opening track, but is way too same-y. I like the atmosphere of the album and many of the electronic beats, but 4/5 songs are pretty much the same thing. I'd say check out Destroyer and skip the rest.
3/10
Day of the Robot
Since this one is only 5 songs, I'll give some brief comments on each song:
Destroyer: Creepy start to this one. Right off the bat it's obvious that this album is tonally different and Buckethead is already challenging his audience. Production is pretty muddy, but I get the impression that this was intention. Whole thing has a Black Metal vibe. Not too crazy about the noisy intro, but I like when this song gets going. I really dig the creepy clean guitar riff that appears about 4 minutes in (I assume this is the "Inclusion" section). The marching riff that complements it is also cool. Some nice bluesy guitar playing too. Seems like a more restrained approach from Buckethead. I really like the Inclusion section but the other two sections aren't as interesting. I dig the creepy vibe of the whole song though. Buckethead's first real atmospheric piece, very cool.
Flying Guillotine: This one is more on the electronic side. It's a neat beat, if a little repetitive. Nice guitar solo.
Quantum Crash: Pretty similar to the previous song but with less guitar. Some cool beats on here.
Collision: Once again, this one seems to be more of the same. Although I like it more than the previous two songs. Nice slap bass work and there seems to be more interesting stuff happening apart from the electronic beats. Some nice atmospheric moments mixed in too.
Caution Drop: Once again, more of the same. I do like the disjointed guitar solo.
The Verdict
This one had a promising start with the opening track, but is way too same-y. I like the atmosphere of the album and many of the electronic beats, but 4/5 songs are pretty much the same thing. I'd say check out Destroyer and skip the rest.
3/10
Colma
This is another album that I had heard already and enjoyed. I really like the mellower side of Buckethead. He has a knack for creating a vibe and coming up with really calming melodies. I also like his guitar tone on the softer songs. I also like the way he layers guitar parts. On previous albums, there have been two distinct sides to Buckethead: The more riff driven melodic songs and the experimental stuff that was more about creating an atmosphere. The two rarely crossed over previously, but that changes with this album. The studio wizardry is also more refined here. Lots of interesting sounds and techniques but it is more subtle. Also plenty of technically impressive moments that still work with the album's overall vibe. This is perfect background music, but also a rewarding album to give your full attention to. Although I would say it works slightly better as background music. Very reminiscent to Ghost by Devin Townsend in that regard.
I also really like the songs with cello. It meshes very well with the guitar here.
I criticized the previous album for being too same-y. You could argue the same thing with this album, as every song is the same style/mood. But I think it works in the album's favor this time. There is more variety within the songs than on Day Of the Robot and there's a hypnotic quality to listening to the entire album. It's like one long jam session. Very intimate listening experience.
Favorite songs: For Mom, Hills of Eternity, Machete (excellent guitar solo here). Wondering, Watching The Boats With My Dad
I put the whole album on my Buckethead playlist though. It's my favorite so far.
8/10
This is another album that I had heard already and enjoyed. I really like the mellower side of Buckethead. He has a knack for creating a vibe and coming up with really calming melodies. I also like his guitar tone on the softer songs. I also like the way he layers guitar parts. On previous albums, there have been two distinct sides to Buckethead: The more riff driven melodic songs and the experimental stuff that was more about creating an atmosphere. The two rarely crossed over previously, but that changes with this album. The studio wizardry is also more refined here. Lots of interesting sounds and techniques but it is more subtle. Also plenty of technically impressive moments that still work with the album's overall vibe. This is perfect background music, but also a rewarding album to give your full attention to. Although I would say it works slightly better as background music. Very reminiscent to Ghost by Devin Townsend in that regard.
I also really like the songs with cello. It meshes very well with the guitar here.
I criticized the previous album for being too same-y. You could argue the same thing with this album, as every song is the same style/mood. But I think it works in the album's favor this time. There is more variety within the songs than on Day Of the Robot and there's a hypnotic quality to listening to the entire album. It's like one long jam session. Very intimate listening experience.
Favorite songs: For Mom, Hills of Eternity, Machete (excellent guitar solo here). Wondering, Watching The Boats With My Dad
I put the whole album on my Buckethead playlist though. It's my favorite so far.
8/10
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
I heard the pike Coupon the other day. Two tracks. Not a particularly memorable pike compared to some of the others I've heard. First track, Nail in the Clock, was by far my favorite...the title track seemed to drone a little bit too much.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
I think something that should be obvious already is that Buckethead tends to find a tone or a sound & plays around with it for a whole album. And that's basically not going to work for a lot of people.
Agreed. Solid, but nothing really remarkable about either track. As is typical, both are far too long.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Yeh, what I probably meant was --he can sometimes play around with a sound &/or dwell on something that was never that good an idea to begin with. But instead of this being a track that falls flat (as with most artists) with Buckethead it's a whole album (or several) that don't really work. I'm looking at some of your ratings here Mosh & I'm thinking some of these are going to be pretty poor!
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Just out of interest, did you actually buy Sparks in the Dark (at full price)? I've listened to all of Pikes #240-243 (the ones not included in the current sale) a couple of times but haven't purchased any of them yet.
Chart (#240) and Sparks in the Dark (#241) sound really good though. Can't wait to get hold of them.
Yes I'm only expecting a small portion of his discography to appeal to me, but who knows maybe I'll be surprised.Yeh, what I probably meant was --he can sometimes play around with a sound &/or dwell on something that was never that good an idea to begin with. But instead of this being a track that falls flat (as with most artists) with Buckethead it's a whole album (or several) that don't really work. I'm looking at some of your ratings here Mosh & I'm thinking some of these are going to be pretty poor!
Monsters and Robots
Now I'm really in uncharted territory here. I've not even heard of the next four albums, let alone any material on these albums. Oddly enough, this is apparently his highest selling solo album and also features Les Claypool. Very excited to hear Claypool's contributions. First impression is that this is back to the style of Giant Robot and Bucketheadland, but with better production.
Favorite songs
Jump Man - Awesome riffs combined with guitar wizardry. Love how this one takes a total left turn halfway through with a slapped bass driven solo section. Excellent guitar work on this track. This album is off to a really good start.
Stick Pit - Claypool makes his presence known right away on this track. A true collaboration here, you get a significant amount of influence from both members. It's weird and slightly off beat, but still has an infectious groove.
Ballad of Buckethead - Now this sounds more like a Primus song. I dig it though.
Night of the Slunk - Cool jam.
Jowls - Nice balance of awesome riffs, weirdness, and blistering guitar licks. Great slap bass work on this. Oddly I prefer the bass on tracks that Buckethead is doing the bass on, although I really like Claypool's contributions to the songs that he's on as a whole.
Stun Operator - A bit more atmospheric here. More awesome slap bass.
Nun Chuka Kata - Awesome riff and I like the turntable stuff.
The Verdict
Cool album. No filler on this, every track seems well thought out and arranged. Probably the most direct album so far. The turntable stuff is cool and unique. Les Claypool also enhances all the songs he appears on. Definitely going to be revisiting this one in the future.
7/10
Now I'm really in uncharted territory here. I've not even heard of the next four albums, let alone any material on these albums. Oddly enough, this is apparently his highest selling solo album and also features Les Claypool. Very excited to hear Claypool's contributions. First impression is that this is back to the style of Giant Robot and Bucketheadland, but with better production.
Favorite songs
Jump Man - Awesome riffs combined with guitar wizardry. Love how this one takes a total left turn halfway through with a slapped bass driven solo section. Excellent guitar work on this track. This album is off to a really good start.
Stick Pit - Claypool makes his presence known right away on this track. A true collaboration here, you get a significant amount of influence from both members. It's weird and slightly off beat, but still has an infectious groove.
Ballad of Buckethead - Now this sounds more like a Primus song. I dig it though.
Night of the Slunk - Cool jam.
Jowls - Nice balance of awesome riffs, weirdness, and blistering guitar licks. Great slap bass work on this. Oddly I prefer the bass on tracks that Buckethead is doing the bass on, although I really like Claypool's contributions to the songs that he's on as a whole.
Stun Operator - A bit more atmospheric here. More awesome slap bass.
Nun Chuka Kata - Awesome riff and I like the turntable stuff.
The Verdict
Cool album. No filler on this, every track seems well thought out and arranged. Probably the most direct album so far. The turntable stuff is cool and unique. Les Claypool also enhances all the songs he appears on. Definitely going to be revisiting this one in the future.
7/10
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Mosh, you might want to take a slight side-step here & check out Giant Robot NTT (by "Giant Robot", but it's a Buckethead solo album); it came out in 1996 & contains alternative versions of songs like Jowls & Scapula (better versions in my opinion) before they appeared on Monsters and Robots. The production is so raw and captures Buckethead's early phase, in my opinion, at it's absolute best. It shouldn't be missed as it contains, amongst other classics, songs like Scraps...
I'm kind of surprised you didn't know this was his "best-selling" album btw. It had Claypool, he was soon to be announced as GnR's new guitarist, and it was his most "accessible" well-produced effort to date, etc.
I'm kind of surprised you didn't know this was his "best-selling" album btw. It had Claypool, he was soon to be announced as GnR's new guitarist, and it was his most "accessible" well-produced effort to date, etc.
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CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
They made another album together: The Big Eyeball in the Sky
Also...
... this should be interesting!
The next three are hardly stellar. However, after these, you are into a ridiculous amount of music with over twenty albums over what remains of the decade. Then the Pikes onslaught begins...
How far will Mosh make it?
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Giant Robot - Giant Robot (1996)
This one had some of the best guitar playing I've heard so far from Buckethead. The production is raw but it's still better than several earlier albums. It helps that he's playing with a real band. The music has an energy that is lacking on the more solo albums. Very impressed with this one. Would recommend to someone who wanted to hear Buckethead's virtuosity.
I only wish that there was more variety in his albums. More songs like Hog Bitch Stomp and I Love My Parents. But so far it seems that every album is focused on one main sound. That's fine too, especially given the large number of albums.
Favorite songs
Jowls
Giant Robot
Hog Bitch Stomp - Always fun to hear Buckethead do something different and I like the "chicken picking" guitar style a lot. See also Steve Morse and Dixie Dregs.
I Love My Parents - He could put a version of this tune on every album and I still wouldn't tire of it. Every version has its own qualities to appreciate.
Scraps - Some of the tastiest guitar playing on the entire album here.
Mrs. Beasley - This one has a Pink Floyd vibe to it.
Chicken Boy
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Hmm, I wonder if Buckethead gets a Top 10 Bands of 2016 mention..."O they really wear buckets".He likes it a lot! Already before the solo starts. What's happening with his face later on? Is that crying? Woah, he's very impressed. "Is he artificial? Is he from Pluto?" Never seen him like this, I saw some more vids.
Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse
Looks like he's going back to a more electronic vibe. What is his involvement on this electronic stuff exactly? Does he create the beats? Some of these tracks are all electronic so I assume he is doing it all himself.
Favorite Songs
Pin Bones & Poultry - I really like the dissonant melodies here. Some nice synth riffs too and the guitar works as an added texture.
My Sheetz - This is a cool chillout track. Nice moody acoustic guitar work.
Burlap Curtain - The track itself didn't do anything for me, but the shredding was so satisfying that this has to go on the playlist.
You Like This Face - This one has some cool beeps and bloops.
The Verdict
I'm starting to realize that I don't find Buckethead's electronic stuff very interesting. It's not bad, but it's very one-note and repetitive. I get that it's more just creating a vibe, but there are other electronic artists I can listen to that do that better. Although Buckethead's guitar playing does set this stuff apart, it is not enough to carry the music.
5/10
Looks like he's going back to a more electronic vibe. What is his involvement on this electronic stuff exactly? Does he create the beats? Some of these tracks are all electronic so I assume he is doing it all himself.
Favorite Songs
Pin Bones & Poultry - I really like the dissonant melodies here. Some nice synth riffs too and the guitar works as an added texture.
My Sheetz - This is a cool chillout track. Nice moody acoustic guitar work.
Burlap Curtain - The track itself didn't do anything for me, but the shredding was so satisfying that this has to go on the playlist.
You Like This Face - This one has some cool beeps and bloops.
The Verdict
I'm starting to realize that I don't find Buckethead's electronic stuff very interesting. It's not bad, but it's very one-note and repetitive. I get that it's more just creating a vibe, but there are other electronic artists I can listen to that do that better. Although Buckethead's guitar playing does set this stuff apart, it is not enough to carry the music.
5/10
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
To put Buckethead's whole Electonica phase into perspective: Af Next Man Flip (i.e. Afrika Baby Bam from Jungle Brothers) was in Praxis & appears on their first album; Praxis also toured with Mix Master Mike & DJ Disk (who also did they electronic beats on Colma) as their turntablists; Day of the Robot, which you just reviewed, was also essentially a collaboration album with DJ Ninj; Bermuda Triangle (2002), which you're two away from reviewing, is also pretty much another collaboration album, this time with Extrakd (who was also in a side-project with Buckethead called El Stew and is credited as a writer & producer on Monsters and Robots). He also played with DJ Flare & Mike Patton, around 2000, as Moonraker.
So from early on Buckethead played with quite a few DJs & worked with quite a few on various albums; he clearly liked/likes that genre. Brain & Buckethead also seemed to be experimenting in the 90's with drum programming & generally mixing/producing. At this point in his career I think Buckethead was just experimenting with different drums/beats based on the fact that he didn't always have access to a drummer but wanted to record & release material, lots of material. In his very early recordings you can already hear that he was trying out drum loops and beats, rather than going down the band route. He was still doing a lot of work with (drummers) Pinchface & Brain, but I assume they weren't always available for every project Buckethead wanted to do. I think all of this is the reason he was trying collaborations with DJs & using programmed drums & drum loops, etc. In some respects he's never really shaken this off.
He pretty much moved past this phase after Somewhere Over Slaughterhouse (2001), Funnel Weaver (2002), and Bermuda Triangle (2002), the current crop of albums you're reviewing. I don't think it was entirely successful, although I think you'll probably think Bermuda Triangle is his best effort in this direction. Around this time he came into contact with Dan Monti (I assume through GnRs) & from Bucketheadland 2 (2003) onwards Dan Monti seems to be the guy responsible for most of the programmed drumming on all of Buckethead's solo releases. Monti plays bass (& has toured as his bassist) & is assigned dual writing credits on most of Buckethead's solo albums; and Monti is also assumed to still be involved with producing the majority of the Pikes releases. Lots of credits on lots of Buckethead releases are uncredited or involve alternate/obscure names for himself; however Dan Monti's own website confirms that he produced/co-produced, co-wrote, edited, & played bass on most of Buckethead's work post-2003.
You'll be past the beats stuff soon!
A common problem with Buckethead...
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