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BUCKETHEAD - PIKE 53 - CITY OF FERRIS WHEELS

12th album out of 60 in 2014 and 83rd overall

All sounds brought to you by Buckethead and all instrumental

This one has 3 tracks that clock in at 31:30

“City Of Ferris Wheels” (13:29) begins with a funky bass line and bluesy guitar and actually stays that way for a while however it subtly changes it up in tempo, timbre and eventually picks up steam and morphs into a heavier rocker with the same melody and even includes a very strangely electronically embellished guitar solo that goes from fast to slow. Electronic effects also interpolate themselves into the mix. While this music evolves into different dynamics, it remains bluesy rock for the entire run and only changes things up in the guitar solo department really. The bass line stays pretty much the same although there are some moments of grungy guitar chords as well. This one is decently done for a ver long progressive blues track. Usually i lose interest fast on any sort of repetition for long tracks but somehow BH has mesmerized me. It ends with electronic weirdness

“Lost Toys” (10:42) starts out with mellow, clean guitars and then jumps into a semi-funky rocker that sorta picks things up from time to time. It basically alternates from a very subdued slow funky rocker to a more energetic one but never jumps into something unrelated. This one isn’t grabbing me so much. It seems too steady, too calculated, too calm and relaxing without any surprises. The melody is simple, the riffs are uninspired. It’s ok as background music but as active music listening, nah, not working

“The Cape Of Good Hope” (7:19) has gone down the even mellower path. Not quite total non-rock but mid-tempo that incorporates distorted guitar some of the time but not always. The melody pretty much stays the same throughout but the dynamics change up quite a bit as does the tempo. It basically shifts from mellow to just above mellow and then back again. Mmmm, not really that exciting but not bad either.

Overall the album is decent but not overly exciting either. A 3 star rating would suffice as this is very borderline for me. There are times it works and times it doesn’t. I can’t say it’s great but it’s just good enough that i can’t say it’s bad either. It’s mediocre with moments of above so. I’m so confused that i’ll just give it 3 stars and be done with it. I don’t think it has quite enough for me to revisit again but then again maybe i will but just not soon.