Pike #1: It's Alive

Genre:

• 50% Electric Guitar, 30% Funky Bass, 20% Weird Sounds

Tempo:

• Fast, with some Mid-Tempo in between

Musical Complexity Rating:

• Mostly Enjoyable, Dipping your toes lightly into sound effects weird

Replay Rating:

• Once, but Crack the Sky over and over again, particularly when you're hyping yourself up for a competition

Preference Rating:

• Pretty dynamic album, with most of the songs 

Tracklist & General Thoughts:

1. Lebrontron 

• Lebrontron was a fantastic opener to the album. Structured chord progressions, various guitar solos and it has enough variation within the song to keep things interesting. 4/5 song, definitely worth introducing to your friends, but this belong in the "second list" you introduce to your friends.

2. Tonka

• The definition of "introducing the different rides" you'll see at Bucketheadland. A combination of sound effects and 5/5 metal riffs. The kind of song where you listen once in a while just for the awesome riffs.

3. Peeling Out 

• Filler

4. Barnyard Banties

• Mix of funk and metal riffs. Lots of transitions again between different riffs yet again. If you're going to enjoy this album, you'll have to pay attention to it. 

5. Crack The Sky

• The 5/5 song of the album, and probably the most structured/coherent. Transitions & buildup were the smoothest and the most gradual, with a consistent theme throughout. The slow section after the opening riffs also give a special "ponder at the sky" moment before you wind yourself up and "crack the sky" with the awesome guitar solos at the end.

6. The Hatch

• Sound Effects mixed with Funk & some Metal riffs. More emphasis on the Sound Effects. Another rapid transition song, but the funk bit at the end is worth waiting for.

7. Brooding Peeps

• Medium tempo electric guitar base; one for the listening collection.

8. Picking the Feathers

• A minute and a half into the song, B does a really nice "clean acoustic" 16-time one note with a nice riff in the background. He uses this as a set  up to do a clean-melody-dirty-background setup for the rest of the song. Clever idea, but only for the hardcord fans.

Album Thoughts:

• The album felt like it was set up for highlighting Crack The Sky, and everything else felt like "bonus features". Ends really experimentally

Songs for your Youtube Playlist:

Everyone-Must-Hear-It Tier:

• Crack The Sky

Personal Listening Tier:

• Lebrontron
• Brooding Peeps

Buckethead-Being-Experimental Tier:

• Barnyard Banties
• The Hatch
• Picking the Feathers

Buckethead-Being-Random Tier:

• None