Review Summary: Excellent record, worth a listen if you like heart felt electric guitar jams.
In almost a three-piece box set that isn't quite a box set, Buckethead released three records on September 20th: The Silent Picture Book, Racks, and March of The Slunks. Today, I will be reviewing all three, starting with The Silent Picture Book.
Track #1: Dweller By The Dark Stream
The song starts with some enticing speed metal riffs. It evolves from cool, catchy riffs to speed picking, showing Buckethead's ability to employ multiple guitar techniques, all of which are hard to master. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that the drums are very rhythmic and go with Buckethead's guitar parts very well. After about twenty seconds of speed picking, Buckethead feeds us slow riffs and almost builds up anxiety because we can tell it's leading up to something big. He then works backwards, speed picking again and leading up to the heavy, fast riffs that were the tempo of the song to begin with. Absolute mastery.
Track #2: Blind Cyclops
Starting with a sexy wah pedal intro is always an enticing way to start a song. As is almost a contrast to the previous track, Blind Cyclops starts with a slow, melodic intro. It leads to a trippy solo that is infused with a wah pedal and lots of bending. It progresses and the drums take over. This track makes you feel high, even if you aren't. And if you are, what a ***ing bonus. It's very avant-garde and his tone is very off most hypnotizing solos you'll hear from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Cool. Trippy. Floating. Best song on the record.
Track #3: Flea Market
Listen to this song when you're feeling down. Buckethead understands. It starts with a very melancholy, spacy introduction which sounds very sympathetically driven. It's a great track with exceptional note selection. It's very intermittent and the time signatures are very off. It'd be a difficult song to tap your foot to because the notes are spread out so well, but Buckethead creates an almost jazzy ballad with the ability to affect you when you're feeling down.
Track #4: Three Steps
If there is one thing that's known about Buckethead, it's that he is one of the most experimental - if not the most - guitarists out there. It's well known that though most of his songs are listenable, some of his songs take a very patient musical mind. Three Steps is one of them. It sounds nothing like Flea Market, Blind Cyclops or Dweller By The Dark Stream. It sounds more bass-driven than guitar-driven, which could be a bad thing considering Buckethead is a guitar virtuoso. If you let the song grow on you and have some patience, you get to hear Buckethead shred about a minute into the song, followed by some extremely funky bass interludes, thrashy drum sections, and rapid rhythmic changes throughout the middle of the song. Overall, I like the song, but it's very avant-garde and not for everybody.
Track #5: Beam of Omega
Starts with some weird sound effects, and leads to a nice drum beat, Buckethead lures us in. About 45 seconds in, the guitar comes in, and you're almost in a trance for how appealing it sounds. His tone is very avant-garde, rhythmic, he's using a wah pedal, and after listening to this song, you want to listen over and over again. Imagine putting Jimi Hendrix in Pink Floyd. That's what this song sounds like.
Track #6: Whirlirbird
This song sounds more reminiscent of Buckethead's speed metal riffs, and they immediately suck you into the song, a la the opening track, Dweller By The Dark Stream. After some catchy riffs, he uses some trippy electronic effects that lead the song from appealing to a metal head crowd to a Rave crowd, and then immediately progresses to a very slow, beautiful, trippy jazz section. For the next minute, he plays a guitar solo that isn't anything like most solos you've heard. It's not a Kerry King solo. Or a Kirk Hammett. Or a Dave Mustaine. Or even, at times, your average Buckethead solo. He's not shredding. If anything, it's better than that. It's much more musical, melodic, heartfelt, human, and rhythmic. Excellent track.
Track #7: Ropelight
Buckethead is really into slow wah pedal intros on this record, and it's working for him. He starts this track with a very bluesy wah pedal intro - thing B.B. King fused with Jimi Hendrix on steroids. It's almost an intro that never ends. Unlike most of the jams on this record, it's not a real progressive song, it's either a three-minute intro or a three-minute solo, depending on how you view it. But which ever way you see the structure of the song, it's a good track.
Track #8: Flashes
I wish this song was longer than 67 seconds. Reminiscent of the tracks on albums like Colma, Electric Sea, Acoustic Shards and Electric Tears, Buckethead plays a very short acoustic section and for the amount of time that it's being played, it's very moving. Your typical moving Buckethead acoustic cut.
Track #9: Melting Man, Pt. II
This song is probably the one that will become the fan favorite from the album, a la Soothsayer, Jordan, King James, LeBron, etc. It's very relaxing and melodic and like many songs on the record, features Buckethead absolutely putting on a clinic on how to use a wah pedal. It features nice backing rhythmic patterns, enticing wah pedal phases, and what sounds like a drum machine. Much like the rest of the record, worth a listen.
Artist: Buckethead
Album Title: The Silent Picture Book
Release Date: September 20th, 2012
Genre: Experimental
