Review Summary: Another very good addition to 'In Search of The', Volume II is another varied disc. While leaning more heavily towards avant-garde than Volume I, it still manages to be a great listen.
Dismantling 'In Search Of The...'
Volume II
If you read my Volume I review, then you know what 'In Search Of The' is. But here's a quick recap just in case you don't know or have short term memory loss: 'In Search Of The' was a 13-CD boxset released by Buckethead in 2007. It features all new music; 13 CDs to be exact. This is the second disc from the set and a cool one at that. There's a nearly 11 minute funk jam here, a couple of ambient tracks, and some other more rock-oriented songs. I think this disc is one of the more underrated of the set.
Volume II features eight songs (including one that's nearly eleven minutes and another that's nearly 16 minutes!) This disc is a strong addition to the set, being more out there and experimental than volume I. So, let's get down to the review.
Alright, up first is
Pullets On Parade (Million Chicken March). It starts out kind of funky with a cool airy guitar solo overtop a keyboard-type thing. Then the song changes radically into a marching beat (which appears later in the set) with some distorted and reverberated guitar overtop making some weird noises. This is an interesting intro but doesn't really amount to much, other than maybe making you say, "Huh, that was pretty cool." Secondly we have
Flying Finger Fury (In the Coop) This is a cool funk jam somewhat reminiscent of
Pollywogs Dancing On A Quilt Of Faces from volume I, albeit shorter and not as good. This sounds more funky than Pollywogs and the backing track is a bit more linear, with the drums not doing as many fills. The bass here is good too though and Buckethead's presumed improvising overtop with the guitar is as strong as ever. It seems to go on for a while and drag slightly toward the end though (keep in mind this song is nearly 11 minutes long).
Hanged Man's Lament starts out with a bell overtop some ambiance, and then in comes a distant-sounding snare drum. The whole song is basically a snare drum doing some rolls and a beat with some noises coming in to accentuate it at the same time every other measure. This sounds like it would be bad but it's actually surprisingly effective- this would be great background music for a horror party or for Hallowe'en when the trick-or-treaters come.
Robot Foot Pursuit is a change of pace, really sounding sounding like a robot foot pursuit at the beginning- whoever made up that title got it spot on. After the first riff in comes a cool-sounding funky riff overtop a drum beat that dead on matches the riff perfectly. It ends with a drum intro after a bit of silence. I like this one a lot; a solid addition to the disc and the set.
Woah, here comes an (almost) 16-minute song!
Blue Marbles Moon is what it's called, and this song is really cool. Buckethead's guitar for the intro and rhythm has a hint of wah on it so it sounds like it has a cold or something. His lead guitar overtop is clean and sounds excellent. More emotional then any song from either disc so far, this one is a highlight of the whole set. Buckethead has a short distorted solo in the middle that doesn't sound obtrusive, but rather fits in perfectly. He also creates some remarkable ambiance. This a great song, you have got to check this one out.
Droid Factory Conveyor Belt Ambush is the next song, and I find this to be one of the most overlooked songs on the whole set. It starts with a cool riff and then goes into some cool dissonance over a drumbeat. This would sound great on a movie or video game soundtrack. Some keyboards come in halfway through and toward the end a cool instrument (a keyboard, maybe) comes in and plays a great overtop. Then an organ finishes the song overtop the drumbeat, which starts and stops.
Alright, we're almost at the end of this disc. The penultimate song,
The Beheaded is highly experimental it features some volume blasting here and there, which, on first listen, freaked me out slightly. It has some funk-playing about halfway through over some cymbals. Before this is mostly weird atmospheric (for lack of a better word) playing. During the funk the volume blasting comes back and assaults you with noise every now and then. The ending of this song is great though- that riff is just plain awesome. The last song is
Memories of Forgotten Dreams. This is a pretty ambient song which creates a dark mood. This is another song that would be great for Hallowe'en night. There is a drum solo after the dash of ambiance. Then in come some weird noises; a drum beat starts playing but stops after two measures. There are occasional breaks featuring a guitar and bass drums playing separately. This song is great at creating an atmosphere.
And that ends off Volume II. This is a solid addition to the set with many overlooked gems and is definitely worth your money. Unlike volume I there is no filler on this disc at all really. Check it out!
