siLLy puPPy PIKE 7 - THE SHORES OF MOLOKAI is the third album released in 2012 by BUCKETHEAD and his 37th solo release overall. Another all instrumental album with BUCKETHEAD handling all musical duties but sees production in the hands of Dan Monti and Albert. Monti handles the mixing and programming as well. This one clocks in at 31:34 and has eleven tracks with none topping over the five minute mark. Tracks are clearly separated on this one.

"Intro" (0:48) fades in with sounds of the ocean hitting the shore and a melody on a synthesizer insinuating that a nice mellow beach lounging album is in the works, but no so

"The Shores of Molokai" (4:18) instantly shatters all chill out expectations when a heavy distorted metal guitar riff shows no mercy accompanied by pummeling drums and bass. This one is more of a traditional metal type of track but half way through slows down and is led by a clean guitar for a while before getting hard and heavy again with a bluesy guitar solo

"The 5 Masters of Decapitation" (3:57) has a frenetic electronic drum beat with a heavy guitar riff that changes the riff and beat around a bit for variation but stays heavily distorted. At the end there are some electronic effects that freak out over the guitars

"Henry's New Home" (2:15) starts with a funky bass line and what sounds like ping pong balls hitting a table percussion effect. It’s joined in by a subdued Herbie Hancock “Headhunters” era keyboard sound but after a bit an electronic freak out joins in and drowns everything out until a sizzling solo erupts through the din. It all stops and one sustained keyboard note ends it all

"Counter Clockwise" (2:22) is another funky number but has more hard rock guitar from the start. The percussion is electronic and the riff is pretty repetitive. Finally a strangely timed guitar lick joins in and gives the track some character. The solo is pretty weird. I’m not sure if it’s a guitar or keyboard at first but ultimately reveals that it’s a synthesized guitar lick. All the patterns repeat and change only changing things up a little

"Stumps on Stilts" (2:57) starts out with jangly guitar chords and then breaks into a riff with drums and bass. More of an alternative metal sounding track. Kinda goes through the motions without anything surprising but has a cool weirdly timed solo

"Mannequins Are My Friend" (2:12) sounds very echoey almost like a Pink Floyd album in the early 70s, but then turns into a classic heavy metal riff and heavy drums and bass. There is a weird electronic embellishment as well. The real sounding drums start sounding electronic and the weird bloops and bleeps come and go. The solo enters and everything else drops for a while and then all joins in and it rips. The rhythms change it up a bit as does the percussion.

"Smile Without a Face" (2:54) is a slow mellow ballad with clean echoed guitars and a slow drum beat but then the guitar turns into a wah-wah gone wild which is then accompanied by a screaming guitar note. All ends and a guitar riff changes it up and then the rhythm changes and then it changes again! You get the drift

"Hatchet" (4:45) is another alternative metal rocker with a fast and furious riff and drum and bass as well as the longest track on board. It all goes on business as usual then about half way through it slows down and the guitars become freakily distorted for a while and then it picks up the metal distortion again and starts raging more frenetically. It continues to change it up with different timbres and tempos over the same melodic riffing. This one is catchy and one of my faves on this one.

"Thermal Exhaust Port" (2:35) starts out with strange guitar sounds squealing and snorting with a steady slow drum beat but then the guitar turns into a fast and furious metal riff that is heavily distorted. It reverts back to the intro “squeal” riff in the middle and weirds it up and then back to the heavy metal riff

"Melting Man" (2:31) starts out super mellow with a clean guitar, ambient background and slowly creeping synth note that follows. A mellow guitar riff enters along with very slow percussion that drops in and out. The ambient background creates an ethereal feel and the guitar notes slink and slide around to create the melody.

Overall this isn’t a bad PIKE at all, however it’s not one that blows me away. While i can’t say i dislike any of the tracks on board, there seems to be a little feel of reservation on BH’s part especially after some of the wild whacked out PIKES that preceded. This is a nicely played PIKE but seems to be missing enough oomph to make it stand out amongst the massive crowds of PIKES that surround it.