PEARSONS SQUARE

PIKE 31 - PEARSON'S SQUARE is the 21st album released in the PIKE series by BUCKETHEAD in 2013 and the 61st overall solo studio album. This is yet another eclectic instrumental album that BH graces us with his instrumental prowess and production handled by Dan Monti and Albert once again. This one only has FOUR tracks and clocks in at at 33:40 and all tracks are clearly separated. The true mystery remains as to what the title means, but in the end all these PIKES are relatively surreal and it really doesn't matter

"Pearson's Square" (5:50) starts off with a clean guitar and subdued percussion and then breaks into a clean guitar riff slowed down and a lazy drumbeat. This one pretty much stays mellow and slow and is one of those downbeat clean guitar types of tracks from albums like "Colma" and "Electric Sea." OK, but i think all these types of tracks sound the same, so i'm quite bored by it

"Eagle's Nest" (6:29) is another slow clean guitar track. It's pretty much like track one. At this point i can tell that this album is one of those uniformly mellow albums where all the tracks sound alike. It will attract all the BH fans who like this mellow stuff but don't get his heavier and avant-garde albums. As a musician myself i'm all for the adventurous ride. While i do not dislike this type of music, BH offers nothing new to the ideas presented in all the other albums that sound like this that came before. Boring

"Eagle's Flight" (11:42) Well, with a title like this for the track do you expect a punk rock version of Disney On Ice? Of course not. You expect a nice fluffy track that rides on the wind like parasails hovering over an acoustic guitar landscape. This one pretty much continues the rhythm, beat and melody of "Eagle's Nest" which SOOOOO did not need to be extended. This goes on with a repetitive chord structure for nearly 12 minutes with nothing interesting in the songwriting department. In fact it's a total waste of time and a punishment for my sins

"Hearts Delight" (9:39) is yet another slow, mellow, clean guitar track that pretty much sounds like the rest. The tone is the same. The tempo is the same. The arrangement is the same. The length is nauseatingly the same. Yawn!

This album was a totally waste of my time. No variety, no creativity only repetitive chord structures ad infinitum that take the "Electric Sea" mellowness approach to a nauseating monotony that was a chore to sit through. I totally like good acoustic / mellow music but this is super ridiculously boring and i'm being kind by not degrading it further

1/2 star