Buckethead Pike Reviews
A Review of Pike 24 'Slug Cartilage' by Buckethead, released Spetember 4th 2013.
Good evening everybody, today we're back for another trip to Bucketheadland as we look at Pike 24, the gloriously grossly named 'Slug Cartilage'. So, let's begin. Woo!!
Released September 4th 2013, Pike 24 was the 3rd of 7 albums to be released that month and the 2nd Buckethead album to have a slug on the cover. Nice.
The album kicks off with the comically titled '4 ton chandelier'. 2.5 minutes of heavy riffage. It's not one of the more stronger opening tracks like previous Pikes and isn't particularly memorable, but it does set the heavy tone of the album.
Track 2 'Scowl Owl' again brings the heavy, really kicking off around the 40 second mark. It's filled with multiple riffs and an excellent outro. Definitely a more enjoyable track than the first, and one that would be well suited for heavy metal vocals. Or not.
Track 3 'Previous Plate' is the albums longest track at just over 5 minutes and really locks on to several excellent grooves throughout. A guitar bass trade-off, this song will really get your foot stomping and head banging. Easily the best track so far. And for my money, spoiler alert, the albums best song.
Track 4 'Chip of Red' brings more of the same, with nasty riffage, especially towards the latter part of the track around the 2 minute mark, which will make you wish the song was longer than its 2.5 minute duration. Solid track and the albums 2nd best song.
Track 5 'Pine Sap' is the shortest track on the album at just under 2 minutes, kicking off with signature Buckethead hand slapping before reverting back to the heavy.
Track 6 'Smudge Mad' brings more of the bass, the slapping and the heavy. I don't feel it flows as well as some of the previous tracks but is a suitable enough addition to the album.
Track 7 'Zebra Stripe' is the 2nd longest track on the album at just under 4 minutes. Like track 6 I don't feel it flows as well as previous tracks and doesn't quite lock on to the heavier riffs as good as the first 5 songs.
It also has these really high pitch noises around 3.5 minutes in, that I find quite painful on the ears, Have a listen.
The title track 'Slug Cartilage' comes next. A stop-start track, that at times, really gets in the way of itself. At 2.5 minutes it doesn't reach the heights of previous tracks and is definitely one of the albums weakest songs.
The 9 track album ends with 'I, Wasnail'. At almost 4 minutes its one of the albums longer tracks and for me, easily its weakest. At 1.5 minutes in an unremarkable riff is played over and over and over again for almost 2 minutes and becomes hard to listen to. A very disappointing end to the album.
Overall Pike 24 starts off pretty decent with its first 4 tracks but fades towards the latter part of the album. There's far from any 4 or 5 star songs and there's no guitar solo's at all, not that every album needs them, but this one definitely did.
As a heavy metal Pike, Buckethead has done far better. As background music whilst working out, it works. As a metal album to sit down and enjoy, not so much.
After adding up the rating I gave for each track, It came to an underwhelming 51.5%, which I'd categorize as 'Average' and you can find my individual song ratings and break down on our website natternet.com
So, what's your rating for Pike 24?
To work out what percentage you'd give the album, rate each song out of 5 stars, add up your total and divide it by the total score possible, which for Pike 24 is 45. Then times it by 100.
Pike 24 'Slug Cartilage'' RATINGS (out of 5)
1. Four ton chandelier **¾ (2.75)
2. Scowl Owl *** (3)
3. Previous Plate ***½ (3.5)
4. Chip of Red ***¼ (3.25)
5. Pine Sap **¾ (2.75)
6. Smudge Mad **½ (2.5)
7. Zebra Stripe **½ (2.5)
8. Slug Cartilage ** (2)
9. I, Wasnail * (1)
Album length: 30:30
Total = 23.25 out of 45 (Album = 51.5%, Average)
1-20 % = Poor
20- 40 % = Below Average
40-60 % = Average
60-80 % = Good
80-100 % = Awesome!
Buy the album HERE