CAPTAIN EO'S VOYAGE

After a reference to CAPTAIN EO on the album "A Real Diamond In The Rough" titled "The Return Of Captain EO" which refers to the 3D sci-fi film by Michael Jackson, BUCKETHEAD revisited the idea with a whole album, his 29th, titled CAPTAIN EO'S VOYAGE with lots of references to Jackson's life. This album also begins the trend of releasing albums first digitally and then following them up with a physical format at a later date. The album also signified a departure from the TDRS record label and is performed only by BUCKETHEAD on guitars and Dan Monti on bass, drums and production. Yep, that even appears to be Michael Jackson on the album cover. The movie was associated with Disneyland which is another weakness for BUCKETHEAD whose whole idea for BUCKETHEADLAND was constructed. He has been purported to spends lots of time in the Magical Kingdom and on this release he pays tribute to both artists and theme park in one shot.

This one is on the mellower side of things but sustains a fairly strong drumbeat. Overall CAPTAIN EO'S VOYAGE is a rather psychedelic rock type of album with echoey guitars, snail's paced bass lines and intricate compositional developments that go beyond the usual mellow BH album styles of simple repetitive chord progressions that outstay their welcome. This one has more variety between tracks as well as dynamic shifts between the mellower aspects of BH's music and the more rockin' out however nothing on here approaches metal whatsoever. This is strictly a slowed down form of rock with psychedelic and even post-rock elements along with the occasional funk bass line. The tracks are instantly catchy and melodic while the guitar licks and solos are on the bluesy side of things. This one is cool in that the guitar, bass and drums seem to be happy existing in their own world instead of simply following a leader.

This one is pretty cool in the fact that it adds new ways to incorporate the clean echoey guitars and keep the tracks sounding distinct from each other. Whether it has any connection to the actual movie is beyond me since i've never seen it (and most likely never will) however this album has a playful feel to it and somehow it seems to fit with the theme. While this will never go down as my favorite BH album by any means, this one is a pleasant roller coaster ride, albeit a gentle one for those who get motion sickness too easily. Despite these mellower ones not topping my BH faves list, i have to admit that they are a nice recalibrating effect to put the others in perspective therefore even the ones i like lesser seem to have a purpose. This one may not excel beyond the original "Colma" album in performance but it's not a bad try.

3.5 rounded down