HAPPY BIRTHDAY MJ 23

After a veritable near month break BUCKETHEAD releases the 7th album in 2016. PIKE 226 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MJ 23 is apparently dedicated to someone, somewhere but at least we know why!

The title track at 13:55 is almost half the album and begins like many of these alternative metal jamming PIKES. It starts off very upbeat with distorted guitar riffs that alternate with licks and solos with an energetic accompaniment of guitar and bass. It has a nice bouncy beat and although hardly anything new under the sun, this one does have a nice groove to it where all the instruments work together quite well with some slightly off-timed guitar parts creating an interesting syncopation now and again. Like most of these, this one is repetitive and loops the same riffs with solos ratcheting up intensity. The guitars are the best aspect here. Not bad but recycled sounding and a wee bit too long.

"Groovie Goolies" (1:58) is a short but sweet little bouncy rocker has some interesting twists and turns alternating different types of riffs, licks and rhythms. I like this one but most of all i appreciate that it's short and sweet and to the point! Lots of ideas paraded by quickly instead of dragging them out to infinity.

"Yellow Brick Snail" (10:44) is the second longest track and makes me think of the possibilities of all the Yellow Brick Fauna on that Yellow Brick Road and of course the Elton John song comes to mind, but this has NOTHING to do with any of that! Well, this is another of those slow ballad type instrumentals that starts off very mellow and with a slow tempo. After a couple minutes it picks up a little and adds a beefier bass and slightly faster tempo. It slowly turns into a full-fledged rocker but only lollygags at a leisurely pace. This is a slacker's rocker. Well, duh! Guess the "Snail" in the title shoulda been the clue. Another monotonous and repetitive one. Snoozerama

"Rib Cage Wreath" (2:18) is another short but sweet metal rocker. Instant bite with quirky guitar riffs that alternate with licks. Nice tempo, quirky off-timed staccato and nice alternating solos. All ideas are quick and to the point before moving on. I like these shorter tracks the best when all the meat can be consolidated into a nice digestible carb-rich diet.

I like the two shorter tracks a lot, the title track is OK but average and the "Snail" song is boring. This is an average PIKE overall. 2.5 rounded down