Review Summary: A good, but inconsistent, volume.
Dismantling 'In Search Of The...'
Volume IX
This is the 9th disc in Buckethead's infamous 13 CD 'In Search of The...' set.
Bullfrog is the first track on this volume, and it is a cool funk jam with wickedly fast guitar shredding over-top. By this point in the set you should be pretty familiar with this kind of song, as there have been many of them-
Bullfrog manages to be above average though, mainly because the backing track is slightly more varied than most. The shredding is also great, but that's nothing new for
Buckethead.
Escher Relativity comes up second: it begins with some muted chords and a drumbeat that sounds as though it's being played in a far away field. This same effect continues on the drums as a very nice slow, clean guitar riff appears and stays, albeit with some minor variations, for the rest of the song. While a nice break from the straightforwardness of
Bullfrog,
Escher Relativity falls a little short in terms of maintaining interest. It's too repetitive and feels more like an overlong filler track than one which really demands a place on the disc.
Track three,
The Poison Hand, is an odd one. Beginning with a choir and a stuttery, electronic drumbeat, it abruptly shifts around the one minute mark into an atonal, video game-esque groove, and then another minute later into an industrial section with a clean guitar slowly soloing. Then comes an upbeat funk guitar jam, a bizarre effect-heavy section bordering on noise, and a second funk jam... and the track ends in the middle of this section.
The Poison Hand is certainly one of the more interesting listens on the set, and though not the most cohesive, it really isn't trying to be. A great track. Next is
Robot Chicken, and it begins with a short drum fill and an aggressive guitar effect. Similarly to
Bullfrog, and many other songs on 'In Search of The...', this is a long jam track, though not as good as most, mainly because the abrasive guitar effects grate on the ears after a while, and the guitar playing isn't particularly interesting. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the song is almost 17 minutes long.
Volume IX ends with
Tunnel to the Light, yet another jam track. This one is heavier than most though, with the backing track consisting of crunchy distorted guitar chords and simplistic, forceful drumming. Around the halfway mark this backing track changes slightly into something more minimalistic and Buckethead lets out a bizarre, effect-laden solo. The song slows down for the final two-or-so minutes into a very nice, calming groove.
Overall, this is a pretty good, if somewhat inconsistent, volume of 'In Search of The...' Tracks 1 and 3 are certainly worth your time, and 5 is pretty cool too (especially the last two minutes). The overlong jam
Robot Chicken brings this one down though, as does the throwaway
Escher Relativity.
