Love how he's playing with dynamics here. There's still a lot of shredding, but there's also a lot of interesting riffs and some nice twists and turns. Where that Pike started strong and got weaker, this Pike had a rocky start but gets really good once it picks up steam. Pike 108 - Collect Itself: This one is the opposite of Weird Glows Gleam. I wish he would've developed more on some of the riffs here as there's some really good ones. The final track is a step in the right direction, but still not enough to save the Pike. Again, some cool riffs, but 107 Pikes later I want something a little more musical.
Unfortunately, it quickly devolves into mindless shredding. Pike 107 - Weird Glows Gleam: So I started listening to this for review and was wondering why it wasn't on my recommended list. One of those Pikes where it seems like he made a quick drum track and noodled over it for 30 minutes. Too bad, I actually usually like these, but this song just seems to switch back and forth between noisy noodling and muddy riffing. Pike 106 - Forest of Bamboo: Same problem as the previous Pike, except this time it's in a single song format. Then Woven Wires reverts back to the sound of Moltrail Part 1. Some good licks here and there, but I am already turned off by this Pike. Moltrail Part 2 opens up the frequency spectrum a little bit more but it's mostly just mindless shredding. I also feel like the riffs are a little too repetitive on this one. I praised 100 and 102 which also had that bluesy sound, but they were much more exciting and less monotonous than this. More low frequency generic blues riffing. This is probably the most essential Pike since the 80s. Thorne Room is slightly less energetic but still stacked with awesome riffs.
SOLAR SAILCRAFT BUCKETHEAD TABS HOW TO
I'm not really sure how to describe this musical style, other than heavy riff driven metal, but it has been a staple of Buckethead's repertoire pretty much since the beginning and it never gets old. Pike 104 - Project Little Man: Now this is more like it! Classic Buckethead riffing. Overall, this feels like Sideways Streets' inferior younger brother. Also a lot more moments where it feels like he's just noodling. Musically not too far away from the previous Pike but I find it less exciting. They sound muddy and it feels monotonous when everything is low frequency. Pike 103 - Squid Ink Lodge: Not a big fan of his use of downtuned guitars lately. Also features a nice mellow closer to give the album some variety. It's a fun jam with some great licks and a delicious guitar tone. Pike 102 - Sideways Streets: Another stripped down jam. Overall, one of his more "complete" Pikes. Seas and Stars is a really nice tune with great ambience. Bumper Cars has the genesis of a good idea but it isn't given time to develop. The long psychedelic jam that is Ghosts of Broken Eggs reminds me of something from Miles Davis' fusion period, can't think of a specific tune though. Pike 101 - In the Hollow Hills: A more stripped down album. A nice mellow tune with some really hypnotic leads. The bluesy funk of the opening title track is a little played out by now IMO but this is actually an example of the style being interesting. The second song, Phase Yellow, is a skipper, but the rest of the album is worth hearing. I like the 3 song format when the three songs are all different.