siLLy puPPy PIKE 218 - OLD TOYS is the 117th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2015 and one step closer to rounding out the prolific year. Of course this is another all instrumental album and of course every sound is brought to you by the BUCKETHEAD show. Once again the timing is very close to a half hour in length at 29:47 and this one has six tracks that have totally different names. Tracks are separate and actually fade out before the next begins.

“Old Toys” (5:53) begins things and it sounds like a faster more rockin’ version of the previous PIKE “Pike Doors.” It has retained a bit of the space rock vibe and taken it into alternative metal riffing, soloing and a more metal feel while having a nonchalant kind of feel to it. I can’t say it’s substantially different than earlier PIKEs but there are invisible lines that can be crossed and sometimes the same idea can be pleasant performed subtly different. That seems to be the case with this one. In other words, i like this one.

“Zone Ahead” (4:32) has a funky bass that starts things off joined in by a bluesy guitar lick in the treble range. Not highly distorted guitars but semi-clean. Actually it’s an interesting mix of funk and blues. This one seems to be working for me as well. Dual melodic attack on guitars kicks in and creates a most pleasant harmonic experience. Reverts back to single guitar mostly but BH has gotten his melody making mojo back. Diggin’ it.

“Mount Shasta” (6:49) is a slower ambient number that has clean jangly echoed guitars and background synth. Slight cymbal action accompanies. After a bit the pace picks up, guitar turns into lead, drums speed up a bit and all becomes mid-tempo. This is an overlong ballad that doesn’t really thrill me. Not bad, but not great.

“Oak Island” (3:42) takes a total 180 and sounds like a late 70s bluesy hard boogie rocker. Kinda reminds me of AC/DC with a “Black In Black” type of chord progression but not exactly. Once the lead guitar starts it steers it away from that connection but still in the same ballpark. Mmmm. Not sure i’m liking this one. It’s a bit generic and not my favorite style either.

“Exit 46” (2:41) changes it up again with an echoed mute palming type of bass riff. This is actually a bit strange sounding as the processed guitar plays over it. All has a clean freaky feel. It’s kinda bluesy but has a different flavor. Accessible and avant-garde at the same time. Just slightly off enough to feel slightly weird but pretty good.

“Valley Of The Fog” (6:10) starts out very mellow with heavenly strummed guitar accompanied by trebly guitar riff. After it plays out a while it develops a nice melody with the strummed guitar accompanying it. There is no bass or percussion, just the two guitars and an ambient background. Actually pretty good for one of the slow mellow albums.

Another decent PIKE but not quite as good as “Pike Doors.” Still lots of good stuff on here.