Assemblage: Buckethead Ranked (2015) - Pikes 102-219

Assemblage 08.31.21	King Bucket makes his return, and 2015 is definitely the thickest year to go through in terms of his discography, that it makes any other year just look like chumps. Here's a link to my 2014 list https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1055694&listid=182583 and my 2013 one as well https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1055694&listid=182439
FabiusPictor202 08.31.21	Ambitious
Bedex 08.31.21	nightmare discog
Assemblage 08.31.21	To be honest, what makes it difficult is the really fair and decent quality of them all on the whole. I'd say 70% of them really fall in the 3.0 to 4 range, which isn't a bad output at all and not all that offensive of a listening experience. There's only a handful a year that seem totally wacked, and when you land on a release that really speaks to you, it feels worth it to have found. Since the albums are generally homogeneous, the good needs to really be good to grant it a high mark, but it will stick out when you hear it. What makes it easier is just personally not minding a few hours of BH a day, cause you can go across about five or six releases, you'll get a good mix of styles between it, and I mean at least 1 out of the five will warrant the time usually. Right now I'm listening to the next one on the list, Tucked Into Dreams, and it's so good I wish I waited because it's gonna be a bitch putting it up near the top.
Assemblage 09.07.21	I did it my dudes, after two additional updates, I got mostly through his behemoth of a year. And a relatively swift pace considering I have been so backlogged on material, but I still gave every Pike it's due to the best of my ability. It does take some sheer force and determination to get through it all absolutely no doubt, even when just running through a playlist of all his stuff, easing back, and trying to let the music take its journey. Now, there are going to be some subtleties missed, and the Pikes are ranked on a single listen for the most part. If anything I would consider this to be a sort of guide. There will be a couple some will find underappreciated on my list, as well as a handful some will think are over appreciated. What's interesting, is that people want and seek different things from Buckethead despite the massive output of style and variation and overwhelming repetition. What is most noticeable, is that throughout his discog everything is covered, albeit to varying degrees of supreme quality. Many fans want and love the funk, quirky bits only, others want the rippers- whether simplistic or chaotic, some are devout to the soft clean escapades, and most either take or leave the ambient. He's actually a fairly talented composer of the latter as well, but how many have the time or patience when sifting through his material to get to the styles they like? Like 2014, I have many of his softer ventures listed toward the top. That doesn't mean those are objectively the best, but I have noticed and been slightly disappointed by the overall sloppiness and dedication toward his ripping metal material in this and the prior year, my peak BH enjoyment and experience going by the wayside as he tends to focus on favoring the various tasty morsels of alt rock, jazzy frivolous escapades, blues technicality and everything else in between, with on and off rhythm and timber. My list is organized essentially, by batches of ratings and ranked among them among with the best of my ability as each was listened, and there falls in groupings, as so to pick out the albums of style particularly easier. In most cases, you can get a feel of the madness or serenity based on the covers and aesthetic of each Pike, but they do need to be listened to, to know for sure.
Assemblage 09.07.21	I do have some remarks per each album, as well as each with their respective ratings. I would like to post my (mostly) short comments for these pikes but as I've seen with some of my last lists, the comments in each of the slots takes away the sleekness of the list, and I like just emphasizing the Pike number. I also seemingly have awarded my first Buckethead five here, with the presence of Pike Doors. See my soundoff for the explanation, but I have additional notes not stated, on that as well. For sake of brevity, the 4's go from Project Little Man to Rotten Candy Cane (2-23). 3.5's go from Giant Claw to Land of Miniatures (24-59), 3.0's go from Half Circle Bridge to Herbie Theatre (60-78), and the 2.5's and lower are everything below. I will perhaps try and do something special in October in regard to the Halloween Pikes not included here, but I am also excited to be free and driven to conquer the last few years of his catalog- from 2016 onward, starting with Mirror Realms. Hope to see you there.
Assemblage 09.07.21	COMPLETED 9/07/2021
Assemblage 04.08.22	I will do 2016 / 2017 eventually lol.
Demon of the Fall 04.08.22	y tho?
Assemblage 04.08.22	I'd like to hear them. The Pikes are good for a certain mood and are easy to jam for a couple of hours in the week (when you're in the mood).