Pike #236

Not gonna lie, this became background music VERY quickly. When I did pay attention to it, it was just decent at best. Just your usual heavy metal album from Buckethead and unfortunately nothing more. Nothing to keep the listener engaged for the full thirty minutes, but nothing so bad that it ends up becoming hard to listen to.

Pike #235

I'm too damn tired of these recycled riffs. Not the worst in Buckethead's discography, and it's mostly inoffensive, but damn man, I could be listening to literally any other album that he has done in the past and it would sound the exact same as this. This is just unoriginality taken to the extreme.

Pike #234

This may be the most weird and somewhat creative Buckethead album in a while, and even this is pretty tame by Buckethead standards. Some interesting riffs here and there, but overall it's pretty dull when you compare this with most other experimental albums Buckethead came out with. In terms of his 2016 releases, this is definitely top tier album, but still not his best.

Pike #233

You ever just run out of ideas for album titles so you just hold down a random button on your keyboard and press upload? I honestly wouldn't even be surprised if that was how the title for this album came about, because the album itself is just as lazy. It's yet another boring and predictable album. Some good riffs here and there, but it's an overall mess that doesn't have nearly enough to even justify its existence.

Pike #232

An unbelievably fun metal album. There's some prog elements in here, as well as some thrash, so basically my two favourite metal genres packed into one album, and it ends up being incredibly entertaining. Like, this is one of my favourite Buckethead albums that I've heard yet. It's surprising that Buckethead managed to turn 2016 from being his most boring year to some of his best work in only a couple of albums, but I doubt that will last long.

Pike #231

A nice little prog metal album, and surprisingly a good outing in 2016? That's definitely a surprise. This isn't exactly the most original Pike out there, and I'm pretty sure it's mostly just recycled riffs for the umpteenth time, but it's at least entertaining. Despite it being yet another incredibly predictable album, it at least never gets boring and always stays fun.

Pike #230

Boring and predictable. These 2016 Pikes are just making me sad with how uncreative Buckethead is being. Where the hell has my weird, wacky, crazy, experimental Buckethead gone? Why is he just releasing generic and unoriginal album after generic and unoriginal album?

Pike #229

Surprise, surprise, another generic metal album. Only this one is actually kinda somewhat enjoyable. It sounds extremely by-the-books, and it also sounds incredibly dated by 2016 standards. Like, it sounds like an album you would expect to hear in the '80s or '90s or something, not in the 2010s. It's an overall cheesy album, but it's also quite entertaining, putting it above most of his other releases from 2016.

Pike #228

Stop. Just stop. Please, we don't need any more basic instrumental metal albums, we have more than enough of those. Please, just go back to making something more experimental and interesting. Hell, go back to your extremely weird dark ambient phase. It may have been complete shit and overdone to the point where I couldn't stand listening to the full albums anymore, but at least I was actually interested in seeing what the next album would sound like. 2016 Buckethead has been the most ... read more

Pike #227

Who would have guessed, ANOTHER generic sounding Buckethead album? This one is just your average distorted metal album. Some impressive moments here and there, some fairly decent tracks, but an overall snoozefest that I would never willingly return to.

Pike #226

Herbie returns once more, but this time 'round he ditches the funk metal aesthetic and instead goes for a bit more straightforward thrash/heavy metal sound. Surprisingly, I actually ended up liking this more than Herbie Theatre, something I wouldn't have expected because that album is so unique when it comes to Buckethead and this one is pretty generic. However, the thing is all of the albums in the Herbie series so far have been home to some of Buckethead's best tracks yet, and this ... read more

Pike #225

Florrmat? More like BORRmat!

Yeah, this is boring. This just generic sounding Buckethead. Six albums into 2016 and Buckethead has not proven that it was a good idea to continue on the series. Hopefully it picks up soon, because if the rest of his 2016 output prove to be just as dull and generic as these first few albums have been, then I'll be in for a really bad ride.

Pike #224

Buildor isn't exactly bad, but it is really predictable and really boring. This is just your average Buckethead album, with average riffs and the usual sound. It serves its purpose as background music, but giving it an actual active listen shows just how dull this album is.

Pike #223

When I got past Buckethead's Halloween Countdown series, I thought I had surpassed the worst that I would ever hear from the guy. How wrong I was...

This album is just Buckethead playing the same ten notes for thirty minutes. Do yourself a favor and just skip over this one, you won't be missing out on much.

Pike #222

Monsters And Robots lite. Seriously, just listen to his album Monsters And Robots. Not only is it infinitely better, but it actually does this sound well and still, over twenty years after its release, still holds up as one of Buckethead's best albums ever. This is just him attempting to relive that glory through an album in a series that most people gave up on once it started to get into the double digits.

Pike #221

Well, that was really tiresome. I can see why some people would like it. It's certainly a more accessible album than usual for Buckethead, but honestly that just holds it back. Buckethead has made some of the craziest, most wild and experimental albums you will ever hear when it comes to instrumental rock, so him making an album like this is just boring.

Pike #220

Buckethead kicks off 2016 with a pretty album, and that's it. It's an album with a pretty sound, can be emotional at times, and is an overall pleasant listen. I can't say that I love this album as much as a lot of his other works or that I would even return to this as much as other albums I've rated this high, but it was still a very nice listen, and honestly one of his better albums with this sound in quite some time.

Pike #219

And so Buckethead's 2015 output comes to an end. This is the 118th album Buckethead released in 2015, and the last album he released in 2015. How did Buckethead leave off his biggest year to date? Pretty good actually.

So, this album is very variable. It starts off with a really emotional slow rocker, which is noted as "dedicated to those that have lost loved ones". So you would think that this whole album would be another mellow Colma rip-off, right? Nope, because by the ... read more

Pike #218

Buckethead shows off his love for classic rock and metal, with some songs sounding inspired from the likes of Randy Rhoades, AC/DC, and even Jimi Hendrix. This results in a very cool sounding metal/hard rock album. However, while this album is not bad and I can definitely understand why many consider this to be his best outing in 2015, I personally think that the track listing is far too mixed in terms of quality for it to top Pike Doors. One track can be amazing and the next could ... read more

Pike #217

I fucking love this. This sounds very Pink Floyd-esque. Like, this sounds like if David Gilmour recorded a random jam session. It's so great. It sounds amazing. By far one of Buckethead's best prog albums, best Pikes, and straight up best albums.