Thoughts on Buckethead's Recent Output?

I only recently got smacked upside the head during a Wikipedia expedition by how many albums Buckethead has put out since I last paid attention to him around 2012. 260 releases on his Bandcamp alone (for the bargain price of $225 if you buy them all at once).

My interests in his stuff tend to lie more in the Colma and Shadows Between the Skies area than his shred material. Which leads me to my questions:

1.) How much of his recent material falls into that more ambient area?
2.) How much of the rest is really key to listen to and how much comes of more... for lack of a better word, "wanky?"

 

260 albums??? Dang! I call this the Fred Frith Conundrum. Ol' Fred has played on more than 600 releases. That said, I've heard a bunch of fairly recent Buckethead stuff and I have to put most of it in the wanky category. My first thought is usually, "Man, he sure plays a lot of notes!" I can usually take about 10 minutes until I'm a bit overwhelmed.

 

That was my primary issue seeing him live. It was technically amazing, but on a musical level, it left me cold. Knowing what he's capable of when he drops the tempo, it was a real disappointment.

 

I was going to write a review this morning, but then he recorded 3 more albums tonight.

 

If anyone could give me any guidance of some highlights in his career... I'd appreciate it.

To say the discography is intimidating is an understatement. I'm open to all styles...

 

Specific to my favorites, which tend to be his more laid back recordings, you can't go wrong with any of these:

-Colma
-Electric Tears
-A Real Diamond in the Rough
-Shadows Between the Sky
-Electric Sea

If you had to pick just one to dip your toe in, I'd say Colma without reservation. Just a great, vibey record with some tastey, melodic guitar playing. Unfortunately, this is all I have as I don't feel like picking up hundreds of releases to find a few gems (there aren't enough hours in the day) and, apparently, most people here feel the same as I wasn't able to get any solid pointers as to where else to look in his discography for albums like the five I listed. Laziness shared is laziness squared, I guess.

 

Well, I finally took the plunge. The entirety (well, bar three) of Buckethead's Pikes series (all 269 of them) was had for the bargain price of $215. Considering what I've spent on super deluxe boxes with far less musical content, I can't feel too bad about that.

While the artwork is amateurish and the titles may leave you scratching your head, the sampling I've taken across these albums leaves me with the understanding that my previous misgivings were... well, they didn't need to exist.

I've encountered stuff that's more uptempo and in his power metal or shred territory, but there's just as much that's sludge, drone, straight ambient, or gentle "unplugged" to be had in there.

Each release is roughly half an hour long, so I've got quite a bit to go through, but there are plenty of nice bits that I've already found just poking around by title.

 

I would add to that list:

Population Override (one of my favorites)
Slaughterhouse on the Prairie
Acoustic Shards
Electric Sea

I'll admit I haven't purchased a lot of his music, but do stream it frequently. There's some good stuff in there amongst the shred guitar. If a person's only exposure to Buckethead are live youtube clips, I would say they're missing out on some good [guitar] music.

Sadly, I came across this article recently.

Buckethead Diagnosed with Chronic Heart Problem, Says "I Could Be Gone Tomorrow"

In the article there's a audio interview. My first time hearing his voice.

 

Sad to hear he's having health problems, but glad to read the article and realize it's not as bad as the headline implies.

 

I've only got Colma and Electric Tears on CD, but today I got the Look Over There EP from Bandcamp for $2. The second track is basically 20 minute guitar solo over the All Along The Watchtower riff



Dunno if I want to drop $200+ on the whole discography yet ... so any other recommendations from the 260+ releases there?

--Geoff

 

With Buckethead it's really a crap shoot. He'll put out some total face-melting shred, then a week later do a quiet, soft ambient piece, then get all spastic and electronic on the next one.

 

From the Pikes series, I like the Shores of Molokai, It's Alive, In the Hollow Hills (LOVE this one), Claymation Courtyard, and Project Little Man.

 

I went through most of his Pikes, and recommend the following as they melodically pleasing to my ears:

It’s Alive (obviously)
Buildor
Florrmat
Invisible Forrest
Wheels of Ferris

But, funny enough, my favorite is Blank Bot because although all of the tracks leading up to the final track are the opposites of melodic, they build up to the greatest final track ever. Listen to it all the way through, focus on the music, rhythms and patterns, and you’ll understand.

 

I'm still working through the set myself and only have preliminary impressions, so I can't recommend much. Looks like a few other folks have chimed in though, so you'll have some starting points. For my part, the best I can suggest is to avoid my mistake of picking randomly through Pikes and failing to note when you've found an interesting track or full album. Seriously, I had a few that I absolutely loved hearing when I was organizing my downloads from Bandcamp and I couldn't tell you what the titles were or what Pike entry they were from. I guess I'll experience the joy of rediscovery when I find them in sequence again!

 

I have two of his on vinyl - Shadows Between the Sky and Crime Slunk Scene (with Soothsayer on it). Both are absolutely fantastic to listen to on that medium - very dynamic and his other musicians really hold up well on those recordings too. I tend to favor Crime Slunk Scene more - in fact I was shocked at how much I liked every OTHER song besides Soothsayer, as well. But Shadows is a whole different world and just incredible to ease into and enjoy. CSS is a little bit of him just trying things out and it's disjointed. Not Shadows, though.

Sorry I can't help more, but that's my $.02

 

Well, I dug into The Shores of Molokai (Pike 7 for those counting). This one gets two thumbs up from me. Great melodic sensibility, up-tempo without being a full-on shred-fest, and its rhythms tend to be more synthetic and intentionally "electronic" than most of Buckethead's drum programming. This has more in common with Jeff Beck's Jeff than anything else I can think of.

 

Thanks for the recommends. Although I just bought Poseidon and Hold Me Forever from Bandcamp. Both are basically 30 minute shred-fests

--Geoff

 

Glad to see Buckethead getting some love on here. Been a huge fan since Monsters and Robots. Have nearly everything he's ever been on on. Best album, imo, is Giant Robot (the Sony Japan/CyberOctave album).

 

As I pick semi-randomly through the Pikes as a whole, something I can't stop laughing about is how inappropriate some of the titles are for the type of music contained within. I expect something very contemplative and melodic and I get my eyebrows singed off. I expect a shred-fest, I'm lulled into the middle distance. There's something to love about a guy who manages that kind of surprise so consistently.

 

The Pikes have been pretty hit or miss for me. As far as Pikes I like:
Clayward Courtyard
Pike 13 (the one with him and his dad on the cover)
Herbie is Climbs a Tree
Heaven Is Your Home(In Memory of Thomas Manley Carroll)
It's Alive!
Rain Drops On Christmas
Splatters
Some of Pumpkin
The Time Traveller's Dreams
Sideway Streets
Squid Ink Lodge

 

That was really cool, I enjoyed it. I think Jimmy would of liked it too.

 

Thanks. Purchased.

Still sorting through the other titles recommend ...

--Geoff

 

My recommendation is to buy all the pre-pikes stuff first. The pikes are all "good" in my opinion (depending on your sensibility and what you are wanting), but only a few are "great". Of course with 250+, with a lot of them being released within days of each other, I can't keep them all straight.
Non pike recommendations are:
Giant Robot
Colma
Monsters and Robots
Praxis - Transmutation
Zillatron - Lord of the Harvest
Bucketheadland
CobraStrike (both of them)

Those are great "starting" places. I am not a huge fan of the slower, more acoustic, or just plain "nicer" stuff, though which is what a lot of people go for. Shred for me!

 

My thoughts are that he could probably put out some really good stuff if he'd spend time developing anything. Cut it down to 2-3 albums per year. Take the best material and develop it.

 

Curious to know, if you do - are there two versions of “Welcome to Bucketheadland?”