siLLy puPPy
PIKE 41 - WISHES is the 31st and final release by BUCKETHEAD in 2013 and the 71st solo album overall. Once again is under the BUCKETHEADLAND moniker with all musical duties performed by the chicken lover himself while production is handled by Dan Monti and Albert. This one clocks in at 33:05 and has only four tracks.
“Ascending Soul” (2:55) and welcome to the echoplex! Echo guitars! Clean of course. Bass, drums. A mid-tempo daydream come true. Well, it picks up speed a little bit but continues to live up to its title. It feels as if some selected soul has ascended towards great spiritual heights and allowed into pearly gates where only BUCKETHEAD tunes ring for eternity? Hmmmm….
“Sharing Space” (8:44) isn’t referring to a new startup in tech industry rich San Francisco. No way, this has something to do with, well, space, the final frontier. However this final frontier is a type of music that brings sedate and mellow passages through the course of a near nine minute experience. The echoplex remains but has been robbed of its powers and it only faintly shines like a distant star in the night sky. It beckons the listener to be hypnotized into a trance of surrender and then it unleashes a calm, placid effect with a slow meandering march through the chill zone. The only problem is, i don’t wanna chill like this. It is too repetitive and doesn’t perform enough acrobatics for my tastes. Meh meh meh
“The Sky Is Heavy” (15:06) well personally i don’t know how one would weight the sky. I mean do you have to use some Einstein induced equation for such things? Well, guess what. Another spacey slow mellow ballad! OMG, how does he come up with these? Nothing thrills me less than 15 minute chill sessions with repetitive chord progressions that have been done to death. This is only fit as fodder to fatten up livestock for the slaughter! So sorry for those who love BUCKETHEAD’s warm and fuzzy side but i just find this been-there-done-that easy listening crap to be the epitome of the anti-creativity. Boring beyond belief. Yes, i listen to music to listen to music attentively and actively but even as background music this is just, well, BOOORing like a drill in the ear ready to suck the petroleum veins of the Gaia goddess dry
“Wishes” (6:20) well i wish there was some interesting music on this album but this appears to be a total waste of time. I should vehemently state that i totally love ambient and chill music if it’s interesting. Just because it’s Rancho Relaxo time doesn’t mean we turn our brains off. I’ve heard yoga trance music better than this. In short, it’s too rock structured to work as true trancy chill music and it’s too boring to serve as anything else. As far as i’m concerned this is pretty much a wasted album except for the first track which i actually think is a great echo guitar track