siLLy puPPy PIKE 127 - PAINT TO THE TILE is the 26th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2015. Yet again another instrumental album with BUCKETHEAD handling all instruments. This one is just shy of the half hour mark at 29:02 and has five tracks.

The title track leads things off and starts with a nice and slow warmly distorted guitar run and slowly ratchets up into a crescendo. It pretty much takes the post-rock approach of bands such as Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky and even has a similar running time of such bands at 7:56, however this one has a lot more hard rock chords and riffs than a typical post-rock / metal band and the tempo becomes faster as well. Not bad but coulda used some more mojo magic at the end. Kinda fizzles out.

Track two “Rattle” is more of a hard rock type riff that reminds me of bands like AC/DC from the late 70s how the drums interact with the guitar and bass but also adds some BUCKETHEAD sounding riff to the mix but then goes back to the basic hard rocker it started out as. Nah, meh.

Track three “Shell” is back to a standard hard rock / metal riff that alternates with a couple of other riffs and lasts 4:44. Does have some interesting slide guitar action going on and a few nice soloing chops but basically kinda meh.

Track four “Faire Realm” starts off with a nice super echoey guitar riff that has a nice vibe that’s spacey, mellow and has a nice feel. The riff continues for a while and then there are a few changes in tempo and a few variations continue on to keep this one somewhat interesting. My favorite of the album.

Track five “Imprint” is the second longest at 7:32 and starts off with a bluesy echo guitar slow lead over a faster bass line and cymbal action. It’s kind of a slow standard blues rocker with a nice warm tone and a kind of ‘clucking’ staccato effect on guitar. Something about the tones and echoes make this one sound interesting. My second favorite of the album.

Only really like the last two tracks. The rest i can totally live without although they are played well as always. Another middle of the road release.