siLLy puPPy B U C K E T H E A D PIKE 237 - T H E F I V E B L O C K S 18th album by BUCKETHEAD in 2016 (released on Nov 17) Clocks in at 29:23 ALL instrumental

“0 Block” (4:37) starts out with a thick atmosphere that includes a synth backdrop and clean guitar arpeggios accompanied by an enthusiastic bass and drums that hint of previous PIKE territory but somehow seem a little rejuvenated. The production seems a little different as if there was an upgrade on the server that made everything crisper, cleaner, creativer. This one has a familiar pattern structure but is fairly interesting in how it tweaks the dynamics, the echoes and the production

“1 Block” (4:55) blends in imperceptibly as the melody simply changes it up slightly and becomes the next track. The melodic chord progressions are the exact same. The echoes become more echoey, the grungy guitars become grungier when necessary and all the percussion parts seem more created by a human touch rather than programmed. Maybe that’s why this PIKE sounds different

“2 Block” (5:36) also continues the melody imperceptibly. It does ratchet up the intensity including tempo and distortion value. The bass seems to have taken an independent role as well. It is very independent. This seems like a renaissance of BH PIKE action but the overall song structure is very familiar and won’t be shocking in any way but ends in an ambient swoosh

“3 Block” (5:26) is the first track that sounds different. The ambient swoosh sorta leads into a slightly different type of track but when the guitars kick in is actually just a continuation of the melody that has already been going on since the beginning.

“4 Block” (2:57) continues the same. Melody unchanged but slows down a bit and has some finger sliding action on guitars. It picks up steam and has more energetic takes on the melody with guitars getting more gusto and then…..

“5 Block” (5:52) ….it imperceptibly changes into a supposed new track and well, nothing new really. This PIKE is good and i love the new production change-it-ups but it is really a recycled musical journey that has been overdone in the PIKE series. How many ways can you record the same chord progressions? Decently done but not OMG exciting either