Vol. 5: A
No. Title Length
1. "Track 1" 10:35
2. "Track 2" 1:14
3. "Track 3" 4:48
4. "Track 4" 10:11
5. "Track 5" 5:00
6. "Track 6" 1:40
7. "Track 7" 1:58
8. "Track 8" 2:54
9. "Track 9" 4:03
Total length:
42:27
This volume starts off with "Fractal Shadows", a brilliantly serene track that balances passive guitar and rocking drums evenly to create a very progressive, upbeat, and motivational soundtrack to anything from driving/running to smoking a bowl. At 1:45 Buckethead's signature lick of the song rears its head and he really carries the tune as Brain (or I'm a monkey's uncle) really keeps the track grooving hard. Buckethead softly solos for the rest of the song. It is up there as one of my favorite tracks he's released. He's got a penchant for serene + rockin' and that's all that track is.
Then ****ing "Red Eye Spider Cloud" has to snap you out of your happy zone. I don't know why. Sounds like a bunch of chickens being raped and slaughtered in a newsroom. Basically, drum machine + Buckethead warbles for a little over a minute. It's just the lead up to the equally eerie "Liquid Tungsten Robot Factory", track 3. This is as if Buckethead walked in to some factory, noodling on his guitar, and found some sort of muse in the randomness of the factory work. Not to say that you can't tell it's just a ridiculous drum machine beat.
When track 4 bursts onto the scene randomly, a high feeling of relief should envelop you. "Bucketbot's Bass Binge Buddy" is a hot, mellow, funky track in a return to the vibe from track 1. This time around, it's a kickin' bass/drums combo that gets you bouncin' your head. Expect some fantastic bass shredding. Those thicker strings hardly slow Buckethead down at all. It just makes for a much deeper sound, which is highly enjoyable! This track breaks ten minutes, which is not a bad thing. It flys by faster than I care for. I would like this to carry on for another 20 minutes in this fashion
But alas, it's time for another change-up.
Track 5, "Atomic Butterfly", is a fun, wacky track that, if properly done, could be made into a rap song. It is off the wall, but not in the pain in the ass warbling way of tracks 2 and 3. The drum track here keeps a sense of normality while Buckethead switches between quiet and in your face with a strong synth(?) riff and a slappy bassline.
"Sander's Retort", as in Colonel Sander's, as in KFC... his retort to all the chicken saving efforts. Yeah. His retort is lacking... it's more like nothing. This track, I'll just say ruthlessly, is useless. Even is there is an avant story-arc going on. It's a good quiet space marker. Glad to say it's only a minute and forty...
Track 7, "Percolates Jazz... The Last Drop"... has interesting guitar work over an originally annoying, bouncing rabbit with a trash can lid tied to his feet and a neat, fast-paced drum machine track. Well... the bouncing stops about 1/3 of the way through, making it listenable. The track ends with some eerie notes on Buckethead's behalf, cutting his noodling short to produce some unsettling outro notes.
"A Moment I Can Give". Beautiful. Just under three minutes, I would say it's a shame it's so short but in this case it seems right. It's nice to have a few 5 star songs that are less than 8+ minutes long. The quiet rim shots on the snare for the first half and hitting in the center for the second really do the trick of building the track without adding too much complexity. This is Brain again, on drums, I'm sure or I'm a monkey's uncle. Don't miss this sweet tune.
And this volume winds down with "Funeral Parlour"... a strong echo effect and a couple of varied hits make for an eerie sound. An unexciting outro, but more is right around the corner... here come's volume 6: R!
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