Guitar Noize - guitar news, crazy guitar designs and cool guitar videos

Welcome to Bucketheadland (Buckethead ‘Welcome to Bucketheadland’)

Well, how do you introduce a guy with a KFC bucket on his head?! This guy was fairly underground back then. It was his work with Bill Laswell & Bootsy Collins, like Praxis, where I first heard about him. The Praxis album Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) was absolutely awesome!! There was so much talk about “this guy with a KFC bucket on his head that moves like a robot and plays guitar like he’s from another planet”. And no-one knew a thing about him. “It’s Paul Gilbert isn’t it?” someone would say. Nothing has been quite like it before or after!

5 to 10 (Allan Holdsworth ‘Wardenclyffe Tower’)

The opening notes to this are some of the most beautiful guitar notes I’ve ever heard. Holdsworth’s touch is just amazing. When I setup a lead sound this is what I always think of and aim for. The way the amp cleans up and chimes and yet has so much dark sustain is just gorgeous. Allan himself will admit that this album isn’t so good, the poor chap was always so frustrated by his own output at this time. That said, you seriously have to go hear it as there are some truly wonderful soloing moments. The man’s simply a magician.

Dam That River (Alice in Chains ‘Dirt’)

I had this album on constantly for about 2 years! And I can’t think about it without thinking about Beavis & Butthead!! Brilliant. There’s so many really cool riffs on this album but Dam That River has always been my fave off the record.

Walk (Pantera ‘Vulgar Display of Power’)

This album was awesome. We were saturated with “grunge” and crummy failing falling apart hair metal bands. Pantera slipped right in to the gap with their super aggressive sixth album! Sixth! I can hardly believe it was the sixth! I hadn’t really paid them any attention until Cowboys From Hell. I can remember playing the PC game Doom and hearing the Mouth for War riff all over the MIDI music in 93!! Actually, I think there were some other tracks in there too. Back from the world of gaming, Dimebag’s solos are fabulous throughout the whole album and it’s really cool to hear the whole song break down to just bass and drums for the solo sections. The groove always wins out and it was so nice to hear stuff that had some rhythm to it! Dime was criminally underrated and is sorely missed.

Leviathan (Yngwie Malmsteen ‘Fire and Ice’)

A version of Leviathan was put out on a Guitar for the Practicing Musician CD I think. That’s where I heard it first. And strictly that’s the version I tend to think of most. Yngwie is especially good on that version should you be able to find it. If not the album cut is pretty good too. I love the monstrousness of it all. It’s Yngwie squared! The awesome worming riffs, little classical sequences and screaming solos… everything you want from Yngwie. I really love the tonal change at around 2:30. It was around 1992 that Yngwie suddenly went from being perceived as a guitar genius to someone that everyone should ridicule. You can hear the frustration in every single note. Perpetual, which opens the album, is also a really, really nice instrumental, almost a Black Star Part 2. There’s an absolutely incredible volume swelling lick in there somewhere.

I can imagine one album in particular that Jon will likely suggest for 92!! Rage Against the Machine. I’ve grown to really like Tom Morello’s playing recently, particularly the awesome Street Sweeper Social Club debut album! Fabulous album that is. Also, Dream Theatre released Images and Words. Both Morello and Petrucci are awesome rock players so I’m keen to go find copies of those albums and revisit 92.

Right, I’m off to get some serious practice done! Have a nice weekend!

Paul.

You should follow me on twitter here.