Got this one as a Limited Edition back then.
The other tracks are all well done too, only some are a bit too short, IMO. Has a very special feeling to me, almost like Mrs Beasley. The perfect soundtrack for a horror trip! And track #7 is the highlight ( ).
Track #5 is very dark, like DeathCubeK style, but not boring at all. Some track are very reminiscent of a "Real Diamond in the Rough". The rest isn't bad either!Īnother very solid Pikes release. The solo in "Beginning Putrification" is just awesome! That song alone makes the album worthwhile ( ). This Pike is a McLaughlin-style jazz/rock/fusion record. If you don't have any of the Pikes releases yet, get this one first, as it's a must-have!īuckethead Hold Me Forever (In memory of my mom) Maybe it should be mentioned that this time Buckethead also plays the bass and there are more bass-centric tracks than usual.
Overall this is (yet another) very solid work by Buckethead with a lot of diversity. There is more to discover in this 32 minutes work than in most 60+ minutes albums. There is an unexpected turn like every 5 seconds. So far, this is the best disc of the five 'Buckethead Pikes' albums! The compositions are really weird, but in the positive sense. The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium Lili Haydn) included, which did not make it onto the CD for an unknown reason. Most important there is a brilliant version of Maggot Brain (feat. But there exists a *complete* recording of the show (PRAXIS 6/11/04 This Tent, Bonnaroo, TN), which is available form the Bonnaroo Live web-site as MP3 or FLAC download! That one contains a lot of tracks that are missing from the "Tennessee 2004" CD. So if you are looking for a great Praxis Live album, go with "Tennessee 2004" and keep away from "Zurich". The rest of the album mostly consists of jamming, but it simply never gets boring. With "Machine Gun" there also is a Jimi Hendrix cover included. And the "Guitar Virus" track sounds like a fusion of "Big Sur Moon" (Colma) with "Giant Robot". There also is a live version of "Night of the Slunk" (from Buckethead's "Monsters and Robots" album). The show starts with "Vertebrae", a great Praxis/Live adoption of Buckethead's "Jordan". There is no DJ this time (a good decision) and there are absolutely no "fillers" (except for a lengthy drum solo, that could have been a bit shorter in my opinion). Fortunately "Tennessee 2004" (recorded at the Bonnaroo Music Festival) is completely different! Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Brain and especially Buckethead create a great and unique atmosphere here. Don't get me wrong: I don't mind DJ scratching as long as it contributes to the music (as has been the case on the Transmutation album), but on "Zurich" the DJ-only tracks are simply far too many, far too long and far too boring, making the album hard to listen. Unfortunately that album was a disappointment, because (besides a few pretty good Transmutation tracks) it contains a lot of tracks with nothing but endless and uninspired DJ scratching. Therefore I had big expectations when I got the "Zurich" Live album. Praxis (and especially Buckethead) is one of my favorite bands and with "Transmutation" they have created a masterpiece. I hope they will make a re-relase some day. Too bad that this album is so hard to get. I agree that the last track could have been 5 minutes shorter, but it doesn't take away the awesomeness of the album. It is also one of Bucketheads first recordings (and certainly among his most solid ones), which makes it a "must have" for every Buckethead fan. Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Bootsy, Brain, Bernie Worrell and DJ AF Next Man Flip really created something new and unique here. This is pure creativity! It has nothing to do with those so-called "cross-over" bands who just throw together popular styles of music in the hope that this will make it commercially successful. It contains so many different styles of music and still everything fits together perfectly. This album is one of my all time favorites.
And probably first ever "official" recording of 'The Embalmer'. More a re-recording of some Bucket's most famous tracks, probably each done in a single take. This album is pure Buckethead Funk-Metal-Noise "organized chaos" craziness. Last track "Underneath the Arctic" is in a league of its own! The rest is pretty solid too. I'd even say this Pike outclasses "Hold Me Forever". They are both awesome and very well executed. Wow, this is definitely among his best melodic/emotional works ever! It's hard to say which one of the two tracks is my favorite. Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name 5.0 classicīuckethead The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock