Review Summary: One of the best volumes of the entire 'In Search of The' set, Volume I is extremely varied, with each track providing something new and very little filler.
Dismantling 'In Search Of The...'
Volume I
'In Search Of The' was a 13-CD boxset released by Buckethead in 2007. It features all new music; yes, 13 CDs of all new music, you read it correctly. Not only that, but he hand drew and numbered every cover himself of the first 1,000 copies. This is the first disc from the set and, in my opinion, one of the best. There is a little of everything here, from funk, to shred guitar, to ambiance, to avant-garde. I highly recommend this disc to any fan of Buckethead, or anyone who can appreciate fiendishly original music.
This particular disc features 8 tracks- 2 of which exceed 14 minutes. As I said before, it is one of the strongest discs because it features so much variety that it has a lot of re-playability. This disc doesn't have as much 'filler' compared to some of the other discs on the set either.
The first track is
'Sonic Slaughter'; this sounds like something out of a horror movie. The guitar on this song shrieks and there is a creepy choir noise in the background and howling wind. This song is only 59 seconds long but a fitting introduction to the boxset. Then comes
'Pollywogs Dancing On A Quilt Of Faces' This song is just plain awesome; groovy. At almost 15 minutes long this track is the longest on this CD. The backing bass and drums are just awesome and balance each other perfectly. The guitar line on top is equally awesome, alternating between funky lines and lightning fast shredding. I'm pretty sure the guitar line was a jam by Buckethead and mostly (if not entirely) improvised, but I might be wrong. Anyway, this song is plain amazing and one of the best on the entire set; despite being nearly 15 minutes long it doesn't drag, which is a feat in and of itself.
The third song,
'Jengamoose' starts out with what almost sounds like a lute or acoustic guitar or something and then goes into an electronic riff over a cool drumbeat. Then comes some clean guitar shredding with sounds on top (funny story, these sound like the sounds that come up when an error happens on your computer, so when I was listening to this on my computer for the first time, I thought my computer was getting errors!) Then the track fades and changes into something similar. This is another strong song, with a cool outro. The next track,
'Appenzel Pointed Hood Hen' has an awesome beginning. Whatever instrument that is I love it. This song is pretty weird but a solid addition to the boxset. Everything fades out about halfway through the song and it changes into some weird guitar noodling. Overall, a very interesting song.
Then comes the interlude song
'Trail of Misconception'. I love this one. It sounds like its leading up to something (which I guess it kind of is). This song sounds very good- it could be on a movie soundtrack and it wouldn't sound out of place. A great interlude, but at 45 seconds it feels to short. Up next is
'Sourced Autonomy'. This is basically 15 minutes of all-out shredding by Buckethead. No, I'm not kidding. This is an absolutely epic song. The guitar work on this track is just unbelievable. Buckethead's signature super fast shredding for 15 minutes straight over a great backing riff. I'm pretty sure the drums are programmed but they sound great. If you are a fan of Buckethead's soloing then you have
got to check this one out; you will not be disappointed.
Transmission Miscommunication is some more shredding, but this doesn't last very long. It only lasts about 5 seconds before stopping. The rest of this song is a weird avant-garde interlude featuring weird noises and guitar playing. This is probably the weakest song from this volume, because it doesn't really accomplish much. There is about 10 seconds of silence at the end too. This really feels like the only possible 'filler' song on this volume (I hate to use that word though). The last song on the album is
'Angiobanjiplasti'. The first half of this song is funk- I love that whizzing noise that seems to grind into your skull. The second half of this song is more ambient. A lot of the songs from this set are like this- two completely different ideas thrown together into one track. I think this is an underrated song- I thoroughly enjoy this song.
Overall, this is a superb volume of 'In Search Of The'. It is one of the best in the set, containing several great songs. I highly recommend you check this out.
