It's something I'm interested to know: what do you think about the wonderfully weird guitar player?
I think his music is brilliant, and take pride in owning Colma, Monsters and Robots and Crime Slunk Scene (that was quite hard to track down).
Now I would like to hear what you all think of him, as I have never seen his name mentioned in the forums.

Wow, in all the three days that you've been here you've NEVER seen his name mentioned? Impossible!

I did a fair bit of lurking, so don't be rude.

I was mostly kidding. Relax.

The main reason I reacted this way though was because we just had a discussion about Buckethead in the FFA thread a few days ago, and he generally comes up in conversation fairly often, so I was surprised at your "never seen his name mentioned" comment.

Ah, I see. I don't really check the FFA. I thought you were a troll at first.

well, it doesn't mean drone isn't a troll.....

I always thought he was a pretty talented guy, has a relatively unique take on instrumental guitar rock, but I could never get into him. I guess it's the genre as a whole.

SomeBuckethead material you can get into easily would be Monsters and Robots and Pepper's Ghost, as they are his most 'conventional' albums. Otherwise, it takes a few listens.

I love a lot of his older stuff. But for the past few years he's been pumping out an insane amount of material, and a lot of it sounds like the more straightforward instrumental rock stuff he started with Pepper's Ghost.

I'm really big on his more melodic stuff. Colma, Population Override, Electric Tears. Beautiful albums.

I must agree with you, Electric Tears has made me cry once or twice, but I am more a fan of his abrasive efforts: Inbred Mountain, The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell etc. And, I love his older albums too, though my favourite is Crime Slunk Scene.

I've liked pretty much all of the Buckethead material I've listened to, and seeing him live was really awesome. Since he's started touring again, I'd highly recommend going to one of his shows if he's playing nearby.

Also, this video is really awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86DEKFissl4

You are such a lucky bastard for seeing him live.

And I have a chance to see him again this September
However, I probably won't, because I'm already going to see WitTR and Kyuss Lives in September.

Yeah, Buckethead is pretty cool.

Large understatement there my friend.

I randomly bought Colma for a buck off of some distro and I've fallen in love with it! I need to listen to more of his stuff!

Buckethead is extremely talented, but he's also kind of a weird dude. He only speaks publicly via a hand puppet he calls "Herbie". Here's video proof.

Woah nice necrobump.

Buckethead is a part of the archives now too. No need to talk about him like he's foreign matter!

A friend just recently introduced me to buckethead not that long ago. I was surprised (and a bit embarrassed) that I never heard of him, he kind of reminds me of like a mix between Frank Zappa and Steve Vai.

Massive Buckethead fan here, glad to finally find a topic about him! Does anybody else keep up with at least some of his Pike material? There are some real gems to be found! Also, he is going back on tour for the first time in a couple years!

How did I know you were going to post, stainedclass?

Colma. I know this thread is fucking old, but to anyone reading: Go and get Colma. It is absolutely brilliant, a dreamy acoustic ambient album that is one of the most relaxing things to listen to. Fucking brilliant stuff. And get Electric Sea and Electric Tears while you're at it, those are more of the same and are just as awesome.

More like a necrotopic full of posts from 5 years ago.

Someone needed to sift through this motherfucker since he churns out so much stuff. Listening to this album and the cover art is very offputting, as is most of Buckethead's imagery/shtick. This album though is very comforting. Like a slice-of-life (yuck for the cheesiness of my description) soundtrack.

Well, I've only been on the forums for a little while. I also just figured out how to search for topics


Hey, I've been trying to find a place where I can fit in, what better place than a Buckethead topic? I think you can also say that you've heard a fair share of Big B's stuff.

And yes, Colma. It's not my favorite Buckethead album, but holy fudge it's good. It's so peaceful and inviting. No album moves me emotionally like that one does. Electric Sea is utterly fantastic, I flipped my wig when I first heard it. Electric Tears is also really good, but as you can guess - it's pretty sad.



N_S did you ever get around to taking advantage of that 2$ Pike sale?

buckethead is an interesting one. went through a few years where i was super into his shit and baught everything he did. this was back when i tryed to be a guitarist...that dream died and i just kinda left him once i got into death and black metal. i still respect him as a musician and he's put out some good to great shit but he's just not part of my world any longer..maybe a revisiting is in order

ggallin, you totally should revisit his stuff. I don't know when you stopped listening, but some of the pikes have been downright spectacular.

I find there to be a serious lack of quality control in regard to his recorded output, but that's OK (I'm sure his die hard fans enjoy hearing whatever he's experimenting with each week). I like about 25% of the material I've heard by him and I've found that his downtempo/ambient albums tend to be more consistent. I think he has a brilliant, unique style of playing and has reached a level of technical proficiency few have been able to match and for that I applaud him.

I agree with this. Even being a huge fan of him, he varies so much that it is hard to like every album he puts out. I like probably two thirds of everything I've heard, and I've heard at least 150 of them. But not everything he does is gold, that's for sure. I mean, seriously, go listen to Ydrapoej and you'll have nightmares; arguably the worst pike. But I've also noticed that there is a decently sized crowd that really enjoys his wacky/experimental stuff. I happen to love some of his experimental albums, but there's only so much insanity a listener can take Nevertheless, the sheer amount of variety and talent is off the charts. He can play anything. His calmer albums are shockingly consistent, with the worst that I've heard still being pretty darn good. I agree, the technical ability is unmatched. I happen to be the biggest fan of his heavier, more solo driven pikes. When I first heard this solo, I couldn't believe it. Last week I discovered Wall Slide and it is seriously contending for my favorite Buckethead song.

Ok, I like Buckethead a lot... don't judge me

It's been years since I listened to Buckethead, so I checked out his page and found out he's made over 200 releases since I last checked...how exactly should I tackle the pikes?

Makino, well the Pike series is a long and perilous journey. If you take it head on and with a blind eye, you might get turned off by some of the more experimental endeavors. There are, however, a large amount of absolutely brilliant albums within. The best pikes stand as some of Big B's greatest achievements.

The best way to try to tackle the pikes really depends on you. I have been a fan since before he began the pikes series, so I got to hear a pretty good chunk of them as they were released for quite a while. If you'd like, shoot me a PM and I'll recommend you a bunch of my personal favorites.

EDIT: took down this list because I can put together a way better one now.

That's a pretty in-depth answer, thanks a lot. The "best of the best" route's probably the one for me, considering just how many pikes there are. And if I like what I hear, I'll know there's a whole lot where that came from.

He's one of those guys I've heard of, been intrigued by, but never listened to. Probably because his discography is so huge I had no idea where to start. I'm listening to Backwards Chimney now and am pretty fucking impressed.

Honestly, if I hadn't discovered him before the pikes, I'd have done the same. And here I was thinking discographies like Striborg's and Swans' were intimidating! This is a whole new level.

Awesome! Backwards Chimney is in my top 3 pikes. I adore that album. "West of Arkham" and "Sentinel Hill" are some of my absolute favorite Buckethead songs; simply stunning.



No problem dude. You really can't go wrong with those that I mentioned. Part of the fun of the pike series is just exploring it. There is so much out there to chew on, I'm still discovering hidden gems. If you're ever exploring them, you're bound to run into some that you don't like. If so, just move on. Pike 59 is one of the most nerve-wracking and obnoxious things I've ever heard, right after that comes pike 60, which is one of his most beautiful and relaxing pikes. You just never know sometimes.

I think I'm going to have Backwards Chimney on a loop for the next few days. I'm intrigued with regards to where to go next though. Can anyone lead me in the direction of what are considered his more metal releases?

I hate to be the guy that keeps answering the Buckethead questions, but I just can't help myself.

Of course, with Buckethead, his albums are generally pretty diverse. Oftentimes a super-heavy song will be on a not-so-heavy album. Some of his best metal rooted tracks include:
Dweller By the Dark Stream, Magellan's Maze, Crack the Sky, Baseball Furies, Nest Boxes, The Return of Captain EO, The Closed Triptych, Mind Train, Whirlibird, The Shores of Molokai, Marshmallow, Nottingham Lace, Lebrontron, Binge and Grab, Subterranean, and Poultry Show should be enough to chew on for a while.

Pike 16 - The Boiling Pond is really heavy, being borderline doom metal.
The Pepper's Ghost album is a favorite of mine, it's chock full of awesome metal riffs. Brewer in the Air is my favorite off of Pepper's Ghost, and it is one of his best songs.
One of his notoriously vicious albums is The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell, I am not the biggest fan of it, but it's heavy as all hell.

Hoped to have been of any help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnU9HlELyQI <-- That said, the man really doesn't have good quality control. Good grief. All I'm saying is try before you buy!

I've listened to most pikes during the last few years, and I've got to say I'm still absolutely stunned by the mysterious unnamed Pike 13. The cover shows him as a teenager (without mask) together with his father, and the album has a very solemn and melancholic feeling to it. It's 50% ambient at least, but is has some absolutely amazing moments. Track 4 feels so damn empty and despaired, Track 5 got this one break that sends a shiver down your spine, and Track 6 must be the most heartfelt blues rock guitar playing I've ever heard.

If anyone is in the mood for some feels, go and listen to it. Turn off any other distractions and just listen to the album:

Thank you so much for all of that, I'll take some take to look into it. I take it the best way to get hold of his albums is on Amazon? I can only see the Pikes on Bandcamp.

Talking of which, Lebrontron is beautiful.

Oh you're not kidding hahaha There's worse than that one too, believe me. When I stumble across things like this, I just skip it and remember that there is actually a crowd that digs the super experimental stuff. I dare you to sit through something like Ydrapoej. Either way, Buckethead is one of the most talented musicians I've ever heard. His stuff never gets old.


Glad to see someone else loves that one! It really is a unique album, very emotionally moving. Very good stuff. He's not kidding guys, you should check that one out without any distractions. Let it envelop you, it's a cool experience.


You're welcome, enjoy those. Let me know if any of those blows your mind. You can try to hunt down his stuff on Amazon or Ebay, but his pre-pike material is pretty difficult to find either way. Make sure to frequently check out his pikes website, Buckethead does these 2$ pike sales all the time. 2 bucks a piece for each pike - that's a steal.

doesn't he make like 3000 albums a year or something?

dude's basically the viper of rock music

He's doing one at the moment! I got hold of Backwards Chimney, Claymation Courtyard, Mirror Realms, Sunken Parlor and It's Alive.

I just heard Wall Slide off Sunken Parlor. Now that blew my mind. It's just a shame it had to end at all.