Review Summary: A good volume, although not the best.
Dismantling 'In Search Of The...'
Volume VII
'In Search Of The' is a 13-CD boxset, released by Buckethead in 2007. It contains all-new music, none of which has ever been previously released. This is Volume VI, and is one of the weaker volumes from the set. While it contains a couple of fantastic songs, there seems to be a lot of weird filler here. Aside from a fairly pointless interlude, there is a weird experimental jam that nearly reaches the seventeen-minute mark, a downbeat funk song, and many more.
First up is
Grease on My New Shoes. This is one of the stronger songs on this set, featuring a solid bass and drum line over some distorted and slightly-wah-ish guitar playing bu Buckethead. The guitar solo on this song is cool- not shred, but it fits the song perfectly. The funk rock riffs present toward the end of this song are great. Then comes the almost 17-minute
Solitary Psychosis. It starts out with some weird noises which continue in the background over a drum beat, with Buckethead improvising overtop in a jarring guitar tone. Great playing, as always. Then there is a great breakdown with a bunch of weird instruments, while Buckethead comes in every now and then with his guitar playing some weird noises. The drums stop toward the end of the song, and instead comes a slow part with some very cool guitar effects and a great melody in the background by what sounds like an organ. Then the drums come back in, and at the end of this track there is some insane shredding. A highlight of this volume for sure.
Flaming Pinãtas/Burnt Candy is an experimental funk jam, with some weird noises coming in after a cool jam. A lot of this song is dedicated to the weird noises made by Buckethead. The end of this song continues with the strange noises that sound like a dog barking, but distorted.
Tower of Insanity features a weird drum beat that sounds like what someone just learning how to play drums would do. The crash cymbal and snare drum are hit repeatedly in an odd rhythm, with Buckethead strumming some chords overtop.There are some good fills, however. This one seems to be more about the drums then the guitar, and is a nice change of pace, but feels somewhat like filler (although I don't like using that word).
Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys (some of you may recognize that as a line from
'The Simpsons') is up next. It is an interlude, featuring guitar playing. There is some great shredding in the background, along with Buckethead seemingly improvising overtop. It ends with 17 seconds of silence and feels rather pointless. Luckily, the album's last song,
Easter in the Batcave is much better. It starts with a xylophone overtop the noises of what sound like a storm. Then come some guitar notes. This track changes a lot- at 2:12, some weird noises (presumably from a guitar) come in on top of the ambiance in the background. There is also some good playing from around 7:30 onwards, including some great slap guitar. There is also a great ending to this track from 9:10 onwards. The riff he plays is great at 9:43, and the almost cartoon-ish noises are very cool.
Overall, this is a good album of 'In Search Of The...' Not great, but good. It features some good songs (
Grease on my New Shoes,
Solitary Psychosis,
Easter in the Batcave), and also some weird 'filler'. An enjoyable volume, but not the best.
