THE SPIRIT WINDS

PIKE 17 - THE SPIRIT WINDS is the 7th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2013 and the 47th solo studio album overall. Once again BH handles all instruments on board and Dan Monti and Albert play producers. The album has 5 tracks with the title track engulfing 5/6 of the album and it clocks in at 30:51

"The Spirit Winds" (25:03) is the dominant track on this release. It begins slow with two different guitars with different tones weaving around each other to build up the melodic development. As expected because of its long length it's given permission to unfold at its leisure and that's exactly what it does. It only slowly deviates from its established pattern and holds onto the melody like a recalcitrant hen pecking any takers of her eggs. At ten minutes in, it's still the same riff and it's obvious by now that this is one loooooooooooong repetitive track that basically takes on tiny little riff and repeats to infinity. If this repetitive seduction is what you're into then look no further than a ridiculously simple riff with subtle guitar overlays that add a bit of subdued leading licks to the whole thing. This is BH easy listening to the max and the kind of stuff i find rather monotonous and well, boring. I mean let's face it. Any guitarist could learn how to play this all in like 5 minutes. Utterly unchallenging on the fingers as well as on the imagination. The drums are canned and the loop effect is not hypnotizing me at all but making me want to skip it. It's just too repetitive for its own good. It's too upbeat to be ambient and to slow to rock. Yeah there are subtle variations but too little to keep yours truly interested. Yawn

"Petal" (1:43) breaks the monotony with a mid-tempo almost folk track with clean guitar, bass and drums. Melody nice and for me much more interesting than track one. I wish this one was longer and the first was forgotten about period. This one has a more interesting melody IMHO

"Frog Charmer" (1:33) is a really cool Indian sounding track with tribal drumming and a nice acoustic guitar accompaniment with a totally exotic flair that makes this my favorite track of the PIKE. Another that should have had more space to breathe and evolve

"The Pier" (0:55) is a quicky in the form of an acoustic guitar and drum. It's rather slow-tempoed and has the same sort of melody as the title track. I'm not very fond of it

"Cab Window" (1:37) is yet another mellow track that has a mid-tempo riff, bass and drums. The melody is only ok. Exceeding the title track but not as cool as "Petal" and "Frog Charmer." It is the most rocking track as it actually has a break of electric guitar and slow lead guitar accompaniment.

This PIKE is quite boring. The last short tracks save it from being a total train wreck but because i totally hate the title track which swallows up all chronological real estate, i have to say this is a fairly uninspiring PIKE. 1.5 rounded up