siLLy puPPy For his first act of 2021, the prolific artist known as BUCKETHEAD released not only one but TWO editions of the PIKE series on the 27th of February in the calendar year of 2021. First came “Electrum” and then came PIKE 288 - LIMINAL MONORAIL which seems to suggest that a phase change is taking place in BUCKETHEADLAND, a most welcome changing up of things and mercy me we all love change in these tumultuous times! HA!

PIKE 288 - LIMINAL MONORAIL is one of the shorter PIKEs as of late with a playing time of only 27 minutes and 31 seconds but still within the near 30 minute parameter of all but the earliest known hatchlings in this series. Unlike the previous edition which consisted of a sole track that swallowed up almost the whole album with a couple squeakers at the end, this PIKE features two tracks roughly of the same length.

The opening title track is the lengthiest of the two with a playing time of 16 1/2 minutes and features the already established BH playbook style of alternative heavy rock synthesis of grungy distorted guitar riffs accompanied by bass and drums and an atmospheric backdrop of synth rich mood enhancers. BH seems to have gotten a hold on making these sprawling behemoth tracks a tad more interesting with more dynamic guitar variations, drumming expansionism and nicer production tones which expand into infinity. Chord progression-wise, LIMINAL MONORAIL does evoke a sense of been there done that as there is nothing substantially different from a gazillion other PIKEs of this style. I’m not sure why BH is intent on replicating the same compositional formula ad nauseam but for whatever reason he does just that.

“Hawksglide” provides the perfect soundtrack for a, well you guessed it, gliding through the air as it is totally airy with echoey guitars at a slow tempo and atmospheric embellishments. This one is very much like a gazillion other BH releases of the past and nothing special really. In fact the echoey ambient nature of the track is actually not very pleasing to my ears for whatever reason. It’s OK and nothing overtly horrible but geez, where did the creativity go from this once prolific artist that could totally create a shock and awe at a moment’s notice? Not here in this one. Overall a decent PIKE but not as pleasant as the preceding PIKE.