AgeOfOddz

Ive recently started getting into this eccentric guy and am extremely excited about him. His technique is absolutely fantastic and of those videos i have seen of him he barely ever messes up. Some criticize him for being robotic or emotionless, i completely disagree as his music puts me through so many different moods.
Give him a listen

blastingas10

I just saw him a few months ago, one of the best shows I've ever seen. And I'm going to see him next month. He's really pretty old, 43 to be exact. I think he's certainly one of the greatest of his time and has put out some of the best guitar work of the last 20 years. Him and Derek Trucks are my favorite newer guitarists. As much as I love him, I admit some of his work is too robotic and void of emotion for me. But he's capable of covering all ends of the spectrum. He can do the extremely technical, he can cover so many genres, he can do some very unique experimental stuff, some real heavy stuff and he can play some very beautiful melodic stuff. I can't wait to see him next month.

This off one of my favorite albums,"Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot". I love how he goes from very melodic and pretty to some heaviness and then back to the pretty stuff. Such a bad ass.


Buckethead - Ghost Host (Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot) - YouTube

Mrd00d

I'm on board. I drift towards his melodic and funky half, though I appreciate his shreddy/robotic side.

I own everything he's ever put out solo/side project wise and love the whole spectrum. Blastingas really said all that needed to be said. Nice song choices fellas.

Check my review of the criminally slept on Buckethead box-set "In Search of the..." here: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ye-vision.html

Here's one of my favorite Buckethead tunes, off aforementioned box-set, Blue Marbles Moon

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mr dave

I'd give the nod on 'our' time, he definitely embodies a substantial amount of what it is to be a celebrated musician. I especially like how he's created a recognizable persona independent of his own individuality without needing to resort to gimmicky shocks to maintain public awareness. I'm not a huge / well versed fan but I've enjoyed his work with Praxis as well as any clip I've seen of him performing with Les Claypool.

Though he's not topping Jimi Hendrix in my book for 'all' time yet.

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blastingas10

I'm with you on that. He may be a better shredder than Hendrix but that doesn't make him a better guitarist. I'm sure buckethead would agree with us, he was Influenced by Hendrix. And he does the best Hendrix covers out there. I love his cover of machine gun that he does with praxis.

AgeOfOddz

Well why not? In my opinion Buckethead is a better all around guitarist than Hendrix ever was, yet for some reason people still cling on to the notion that Hendrix was the best there ever was. I think it is partially due to his cult status, it is almost taboo to praise someone as being better than Hendrix.

Im not trying to disrespect Hendrix btw, i like a lot of his stuff.

blastingas10

Because Hendrix inspired Buckethead and nearly everyone else. He's one of the most influential and innovative guitarists ever, if not the most. And that will always trump technical ability alone. "Shredding" has become more popular over time, guitar players have gotten faster. This wasn't the case back then. Hendrix can't be discredited just because he couldn't shred like buckethead

Yield Bitch

While I do think Buckethead is supremely talented...

...I also think that people calling him "The Best Guitarist Ever" really needs to take a step back and leap off a cliff.

People are just getting dragged into him due to his surrounding mysticism.

In terms of versatility; Joe Satriani kills him.

In terms of improvisational skills; Jimmy Page kills him as well.

In terms of innovation; Jimi Hendrix is rotating in his grave whenever anyone mentions Buckethead.

AgeOfOddz

Why should anything trump technical ability when you´re talking about the greatest guitarist of all time? Technique and skill is what i´m interested in when i´m referring to someone as the greatest, influence and popularity is irrelevant. Innovation however is very important and i agree with you that Hendrix did bring a lot of new ideas to the table, however BH took those ideas to a whole other level. Hendrix´s technique was flawed, BH´s is immaculate and you almost never see him make any mistakes. I would say BH is one of the most prolific guitar player ever having released 30+ albums over the last 20 years, on those albums he does a lot more than just shredding. His latest album is acoustic driven for example and its a masterpiece.

BTW sorry for the postponed reply ive been busy and sort of forgot about this thread...

Guybrush

I like Buckethead a lot and think his playing is impressive. I like that he "dares" keep things simple when they sound good that way, yet he has a big bag of tricks that he can draw from. What I don't like about him is some of the music seems overly simplistic and gets old fast. Drum machine and soloing on top of chords. That's okay, but when it seems he commits every musical idea that strikes him to record, it gets a bit predictable and there's a lot of material that I personally am not that interested in. Finding a truly great Buckethead song is like trying to find a diamond in a pile of coal.

Here's one of my favourites which I believe I've yet to see posted in any thread yet.

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