Buckethead Pike Album Reviews
A Review of Pike 264 – 'Poseidon' by Buckethead, released digitally May 6th 2017
Good evening everybody, today we're back with another slice of guitar hero Buckethead's Pike album series, with Pike 264 'Poseidon'. So, let's begin. Woo!!
Released May 6th 2017, Pike 264 was the only Pike release that month and is one of only a handful of Pike albums to be released on Vinyl, dropping in early 2018. Glorious.
The albums title name 'Poseidon' comes from the Greek god 'Poseidon' known as the god of the sea. Though more than likely Buckethead's title inspiration comes from the many Poseidon disaster movies.
The 30 minute, 6 part Poseidon suite kicks off with 'Poseidon Part 1'. At just over 6 minutes it's the album 2nd longest track and wastes no time in getting to work. There's some nice riffage and a short solo early on, before a subtle but excellent solo kicks in around the 2.5 minute mark, building and building for 3.5 minutes to the songs conclusion, ending with some outstanding finger work. Great start.
Poseidon part 2 is the shortest track of the suite at just over 3 minutes with the drums really coming into play effectively throughout, and there's some nice subtle ambient swells toward the latter part of the track. Certainly not as strong as the opener but it keeps the suite moving along nicely.
For Poseidon Part 3 the soloing returns, again with a short solo early on and a 1.5 minute solo to take the song home. Unlike Part 1, there's nothing subtle here, it's in your face and flashy. Great stuff.
Poseidon Part 4 leads with heavy riffage keeping the pace and flow of the album moving along before slowing things down and getting chill around the 2.5 minute mark, with the subtle swells from track 1 returning. The ending is a nice shift and a well needed breather from the heavier riffage so far.
Poseidon Part 5 is the albums longest track at just over 6.5 minutes picking back up with the heavyness. The song doesn't quite get out of the blocks until around the 3 minute mark with an excellent, though short riff, followed by an outstanding 3 minute solo with some mind blowing shred guitar. Nice.
The album and suite conclude with Poseidon Part 6. The riffage is far better flowing than Part 5, building nicely to the 3 minute mark when the solo kicks in again with more crazy shredding. A solid end to the album, the soloing definitely should've gone a bit longer. But there's been enough throughout to enjoy.
Overall, Poseidon is one of the many solid multiple part suites that Buckethead does so well. And unlike some of the other suites, such as Pike 89's 'Time Travelers Dream', the songs can be broken up and listened to individually without feeling out of place. The album flows nicely and the solo's are outstanding. The riffs on display might not be ones you'll immediately be able to recall, but they're still effective enough overall.
After adding up the rating I gave for each track, It came to exactly 72.5%, which I'd categorize as Very Good. And although this is meant as one song, one suite, the rating of 72.5% and 4.5 stars feels bang on.
You can find my individual song ratings & breakdown on our website natternet.com
So, what's your rating for Pike 264?
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 264 is 30. Then times it by 100.
Pike 264 'Poseidon' RATINGS (out of 5)
1. Poseidon Part 1 **** (4)
2. Poseidon Part 2 ***¼ (3.25)
3. Poseidon Part 3 ***¾ (3.75)
4. Poseidon Part 4 ***½ (3.5)
5. Poseidon Part 5 ***½ (3.5)
6. Poseidon Part 6 ***¾ (3.75)
Album length: 30:20
Total = 21.75 out of 30 (Album = 72.5%, Very Good!)
1-20 % = Poor
20- 40 % = Below Average
40-60 % = Average
60-80 % = Good
80-100 % = Awesome
Buy the album HERE