Buckethead: Electric Tears : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On his eighth solo release, the enigmatic Guns n' Roses shredder Buckethead has gone quietly introspective, which is no huge surprise -- he does, after all, wear a bucket on his head. But those looking for clues regarding the new G n' R sound will be in for a rude awakening: Electric Tears is a meditative mix of flamenco, New Age and gentle psychedelia.

To his detriment, Buckethead allows his contemplative guitar to do all the talking, sans accompaniment. Electric Tears is just layers of noodling -- all solo, with no personality. There are a few pleasant diversions: The spacey bleeps and funky wah-wah sounds in "Mustang" would make for a nice Sunday-morning chill-out soundtrack; and six minutes into the plodding "Padmasana," there's a piercing ax wail that recalls early David Gilmour. Otherwise, it's seventy long minutes of wondering what Slash is doing right now.

KIRK MILLER
(RS 908 - October 31, 2002)

(Posted: Oct 8, 2002)

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Review 1 of 2

5of 5 Stars

This album is Buckethead's finest. He strays from his usual shredding and speed (Nottingham Lace, Soothsayer) and creates a mellow and emotional masterpiece. Many of the songs in this album have a similar sound but a message within that requires deep thought and an open mind to appreciate. An example would be the song Spell of the Gypsies. The song starts with a traditional classical theme with a lot of emotion and then changes into a spanish theme with flare and effortless transition. Buckethead has always had "sparks" in his playing. Meaning always was able to change his style or sound within a song or album effortlessly and with emotional flare but Electric Tears takes this to a whole new level. The song Electric Tears is one of the most emotional, interesting, and calming songs ever written. Harmonics used to represent tears and ending with a solo that concludes a brilliant instrumental. The album is done without any singing but really can this album work with any lyrics; i personally think that lyrics would take away from the playing and the emotion. Buckethead delivers a masterpiece that should be appreciated by all those music lovers.

Jun 26, 2008 14:04:59

Review 2 of 2

4of 5 Stars

This album is simply a masterpiece. Being a Buckethead fan for so long and knowing the kind of music he usually creates and produces, this album is a huge shock. Far from the shredding, spidercrawl speed and tapping that has become common to bucket, Electric Tears is mellow, drawn out, with more melody than a songbird on a summer morning. The contrast shows big-time maturity and talent to be able to play any style of music and do it so well. It is a superb album from start to finish. I can't wait for the strictly flamenco style album that we all hope he makes soon.

Nov 22, 2007 10:49:36

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