siLLy puPPy BUCKETHEAD - PIKE 84 - Whirlpool 43rd album out of 60 in 2014 and 113th overall All sounds brought to you by Buckethead and all instrumental This has 10 tracks that clock in at 28:54

“AA” (2:53) starts off fast and heavy with metal guitar and odd electronica. The electronica takes over and sputters along for a while and then is joined by the heavy metal guitars. This is ridiculously progressive as the stroll down time sig alley becomes a full fledged Olympic speed race. This short track jumps all around like a downed live electrical wire with a few moments of straight on metal but always with a strange tension

“CC” (3:29) kinda blends in but becomes electronica and then jumps into super fast metal again only with a guitar solo that gives way to a steady drum with sputtering electronic processed guitar slides and then jumps into bluesy guitar solo but then changes tempo drumbeat and then the bluesy part and the electro parts start battling it out pushing each other off the stage and then returning. Weird. It jumps around electronic turf for a while and then back to super heavy alternative metal riffing

“EE” (3:46) doesn’t miss a beat and creates a steady drumming pattern with a guitar lick that then turns into the processed electronic guitar sound and then jumps into full fledged alternative metal. It continues hard and heavy with electronic sounds in the background and a rather cheesy electronic percussion

“GG” (2:52) picks up imperceptibly with the same guitar riff, screaming guitar solo and sputtering electronica. The bass then dominates for a while and then everything drops and only a slow classical organ lurks about and then back into the noisefest. Basically alternative metal riffing alternating with guitar solos and speedy drum rolls

“II” (3:42) has some cymbal action and heavy metal riffs going bonkers. It sounds like an intro that never ends. The album grows stranger in that the song structure isn’t easy to latch onto. It’s clearly a written formulaic song structure but slightly off in every way as to give a surreal feel. The electronica goes wild again, the guitar riffs get crunchier and more oddly timed and faster and faster until it all slows down and some metal object is being struck and then speedfest again

“KK” (2:10) basically continues the beat with more muddled guitar and bass shrouded with electronica and then a sizzling guitar solo and alternates with strange percussion and electronic and then just gets weird with slowed down time sigs, industrial sounding guitar slides and then water dripping noises. And then it gets weirder :P

“MM” (2:53) sounds like musical fireworks exploding and then becomes a guitar riff that changes it up with demented guitar licks and continues to explore strange ways of using freaky guitar effects. This one is totally unhinged and wacky as hell

“OO” (2:37) takes a 180 and creates a dark dungeon synth type feel with engine racing noises and a heartbeat type percussive beat. It then abruptly bursts into a hard bluesy rock guitar lead that speeds up and slows down while the bass and drums follow suit. Sounds very 70s hard rock even a tad Hendrix but of course becomes highly avant-garde with startling guitar riffs and equally weird percussion followed by a cacophonous raucous

“QQ” (2:20) slows things down with a reverberating noise that is joined by sputtering electronica, a somewhat funky bass line and a steady drumbeat. It changes into more “normal” hard rock sound and then delivers a bluesy high speed guitar solo and then goes ballistic again

“SS” (2:12) jumps back into a normal heavy metal rocker with normal riffing and time sigs. It never really develops into a song but rather creates a repetitive riffing loop for a while and then finally jumps into an unrelated series of guitar solos, electronic weirdness and avant-garde strangeness

This one is fairly wild and unpredictable. It is quite the frenetic, jittery beast for the most part finding it a hard time to stay put in one musical spot for too long. It has bizarre song structures which i’m not sure are even “songs” at all but rather strange conglomerates of riffs, chords, solos and sonic frenzies. Once again BH has created something unique. This one is a hard listen for the unadventurous but utterly thrilling to hear. Not my favorite of the most out there PIKEs but still highly recommended for those who crave musical ideas divorced from conventional offerings