WayTooManyOstriches

I only just found out about this today.

Buckethead is great and if he's having financial troubles I'm sorry to hear that. However, I feel like he's his own worst enemy.

His Pikes website layout is horrible and likely to turn off people that are new to him.

People have complained about how long it takes to receive merchandise they order from his website. Allegedly he or those close to him are doing fulfillment. There's no excuse for orders taking so long when we live in a time of print on demand and numerous order fulfillment companies.

Speaking of merchandise, he's severely lacking merchandise that common sense says should be available. There could be t-shirts with the Buckethead mask on it, shirts with images along the lines of the Monsters And Robots cover, shirts of the Pikes cover art, etc. He could easily do this with print on demand options like Teespring or Amazon, they'd handle fulfillment, and all he'd have to do is sit back and watch Johnny Socko while the money comes in.

He has absolutely no presence on Youtube or Tiktok. Natternet does far more for Buckethead online than Buckethead himself does, Why is that? He could stay in character as Buckethead, have Herbie do the talking for him if he wants, and simply do videos of him playing his or other musicians songs, or just doing funny stuff whether by himself or with others like Brain. People like Frog Leap Studios and The Doo get good views playing guitar online and they don't even have to leave their house. It would get him ad revenue and exposure. People on those platforms would probably get a kick out of him staying in character too. There are numerous demographics that would watch him: obviously fans he has already, GNR fans, people into guitar, people that like horror, and weebs just to name a few.

These are just a few examples of things he could do that would make him money and expose more people to his music. It would cost him no money or at worst very little money which he would easily recoup. He wouldn't have to compromise his artistic integrity or even leave his house. But with his current model of doing things, a person is more likely to find out what Buckethead is up to and where to buy his stuff if they're walking down a random alley and find a flyer lying in a puddle. I hate to say that. He's very talented, very prolific, a very kind person from what others say, and I want nothing but the best for him. But sometimes it seems like he goes out of his way to make life harder for himself.

4 hours ago, Mikey Whipwreck said:

It will be ripped and widely available for free online the moment the vinyls ship, so not releasing it digitally or on streaming means they're forgoing additional money and good publicity for no reason. It would make no sense. 

In other words, it seems there's a decent chance this rumor is true 

I don't know.  The Smashing Pumpkins put out Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 3 aka Zodeon at Crystal Hall exclusively on vinyl in May and I've still seen no digital version of it.  I hate it when my favorite bands make it so hard to listen to their new music.

 

I love your username by the way.  I was recently rewatching some old ECW and  it was hilarious seeing Cactus Jack drag a terrified Mikey Whipwreck out to be his tag team partner against Public Enemy. 

12 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

What did Slash say about it?

Also, does anyone else find it weird that they waited until now, of all times, to scrubs the other village songs from the internet? Maybe I’m getting my hopes up too much, but that makes me think the Perhaps release was delayed for a bigger reason…

I have an interesting anecdote to tell you [about 'Appetite for Reconstruction]: one day, a barman in New-York told me how much he loved Guns N’ Roses and asked a friend to buy Appetite for Destruction for him so I could autograph it. When the friend came back, he handed me this Appetite for Reconstruction that you mentioned. I hallucinated when I took a look at the credits and realised that all the washed-up has-beens of the West Coast, the losers, the ex-somebodys were all gathered on this shitty record ! [laughs] Even Tracii Guns plays on most of the tracks. Fuck, this album is basically the record all these guys dreamed of making one day ! So I didn’t even bother listening to these covers. It can only be crap anyway. It’s really fucked up. I don’t feel honored or flattered whatsoever. It’s all about money [Slash’s Snakepit: For the love of art, Hard Rock Magazine, October 2000]

 

Slash really doesn't seem to like Tracii Guns, but reading this other quote of his you can kind of understand why.

 

L.A. Guns was hired to play the opening slot so long as enough of us showed up to jam with them. Duff, Izzy, Steven, and I showed up reluctantly-at best-to play at least a few songs. We got up there and our crew told me after that L.A: Guns had tried to sabotage our gear; they'd turned down all the amps to make us sound bad. I guess Tracii was worried that I was going to outplay him. Whatever it was, they tried to nip it in the bud, but our people caught it and fixed it. In any case, that show ended any sort of "civil" relationship between Tracii Guns and me [Slash's autobiography, p 228-229]

 

All found on A-4-D.com btw.

9 minutes ago, Its Tino said:

I hate the intro. I hate every intro on CD 😂

When played live the drum intro is good, but I could do without the AHHHHHH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHH!

4 hours ago, LandOla said:

I had a dream where Izzy and Steven came back and the AFD5 kept a press conference where they announced the upcoming album, Appetite for reconstruction 

Sounds more like a nightmare!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Roses-Tribute-Appetite-Reconstruction/dp/B00000K0NB/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

You should read Slash's quote about this album.  It's funny, mean, and true.

Hmm.

Maybe they're waiting for the August 11 show to play the song and then release it? It also wasn't August 11 in all time zones before people started giving up on this being released. I know we were more likely to win that $1 billion lottery than for GNR to competently release new music like most bands do, but there are still enough hours remaining today for them to do it.

And yes, I know that borders on Merck's "Only so many Tuesdays left" comment.

I may be remembering things wrong, but didn't Sebastian Bach once comment about The General and there being plans for three albums? I don't think he would have specifically mentioned the song if there were no vocals.

This was emotionally probably one of the hardest things for Axl to do.  He's obviously upset over having lost a friend.  From what he said in the eulogy he was also surprised that he was asked to speak.  There's likely pressure on a musician any time they're asked to perform, but when it's at a friend's funeral and their family and friends are there it's probably harder than performing in front of a whole stadium of strangers given the circumstances.

They really should have had JJ Abrams just do the whole sequel trilogy and wrap things up with the Skywalkers, and then hand it off to Rian Johnson after that.  Their visions for the series were different, which is fine, but Episode 9 was basically JJ retconning what Rian did in Episode 8 so he could give his preferred follow up.  

Star Wars has really suffered by not planning things out in advance, and that goes back to the original trilogy with Lucas mashing characters together.  Leia for instance wasn't originally going to be Luke's sister, but instead of Luke going to find his sister who was a different character in a sequel to Return Of The Jedi, Lucas decided not to make that movie and wrap things up.

 

And if you haven't already, take a look at Leigh Brackett's original script for The Empire Strikes Back.  I love the movie we got, but it's interesting to see what Lucas decided to change and how different the series could have ended up being.

I recently bought The Roots Of Guns N Roses CD and have been enjoying it. I was wondering though, is this CD all of the pre-GNR material, or is there more, and if so what specifically?

I have no idea if Ashba really was asked to be part of NITL, I don't miss him, and I think things worked out fine the way they did besides no new album.

But the idea that Slash wouldn't allow Ashba in the band is ridiculous. Not that many years ago Slash would have been against GNR just playing the same old songs and not releasing any new music. But when you're offered the shitload of money GNR has made off the nostalgia tour and when you have to pay alimony to Perla, your "It's all about the music and I'm not in it for the money maaaannn!" attitude is likely to change. Axl and Slash together, regardless of who else is on stage, is what brings the money in. And anyone still trying to say Slash is too principled to play with Ashba, I can't hear you over Slash playing with Frank on those songs Slash's beloved Paul Tobias wrote.

I've been working doubles so imagine my tired ass waking up and learning there's actually a new GNR release. I haven't hear it yet but would certainly like to.

I'm going to be very busy with that Pike suggester. Thank you!

Natternet said that Pike 162 Four Forms was a cyberpunk type album. Is there anything else Buckethead has done that is cyberpunkish, whether a Pike or non-pike album? It would be cool to listen to this stuff while playing the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

A few people have mentioned southern rock and I remember Slash one time made a comment about how Axl didn't like some of the songs he offered for the follow up to The Spaghetti Incident, saying they were southern rock.

So what exactly is southern rock? Which artists are the best example of that?

I wish I could hear the album.

2 hours ago, ToonGuns said:

7 as far as I know. Which review mentioned 8?

On the page for Division Is The Devil's Playground they have Bandcamp reviews listed and one of them by the user Dennis Radaelli mentions an eighth track missing.  Maybe they were just thinking of another Pike?  It's easy to get confused when there are over 200 to choose from!

I'm glad I saw Gackt's post about the sale. I bought Pikes 277-279, Pikes 281-283, and A real Diamond In The Rough. Pike 280 still hasn't had its digital release it seems.

About Division Is The Devil's Playground: I'm getting conflicting reports about how many tracks it should have. I only see 7 tracks listed, but one of the people that reviewed it said it's missing track 8. The zip file from Bandcamp only has 7 tracks plus the artwork. Was that reviewer just mistaken?

It really sucks that Axl has worked with two very talented and prolific guitarists like Slash and Buckethead but still hasn't figured out how to release one fucking album in twelve years.

If this was going to be released, the best way they could have done it was having it be a bonus disc when Chinese Democracy first came out via a deluxe edition. Now I think the only other possibility would be in an anniversary set for Chinese Democracy. But with Slash and Duff being back in the band, would they really was a rerecording of an album they made to be released when it has other people playing their parts?

Thank you both! I'm obsessively listening to Buckethead now. My only gripe is I bought Enter The Chicken (loving Nottingham Lace!) from Amazon and only after downloading it of course do I find out there's a bonus track called "Shen Chi" that you can only get by buying the CD from Serj Tankarian's store. Even though I bought the digital I'd buy the CD for that bonus track...except it's sold out! I love you Bucket, but please make it easier for us to buy all of your stuff.

Thanks again for the recommendations. My wallet will hate this, but I'll be back for more!

Last year there was a sale on all of the Pikes available at the time, which I bought. I'll still need to see what has been released since then so I know what else to buy. I'm a little overwhelmed though, in a good way, with all of the material.

Three questions. Which Pikes are:

The most relaxing?
The spookiest besides the "Days Till Halloween" Pikes?
The kind you'd want to drive your car real fast to?

I'll be listening to everything at some point, but I would like to create some playlists.

I've apparently exceeded the amount of likes I can give in a day, so please know if I didn't thank you I'm still thankful.

 

This morning I listened to Hanoi Rocks' first two albums for the first time.  I highly recommend them and don't know why I didn't give them a listen years ago.

With regards to Fernando feeling hated, I hope he doesn't take it personally.  I don't hate the guy, I don't think many if any do.  The problem is Guns N' Roses at this point is the most incompetently run band on the face of the Earth.  There have been numerous times they had momentum and could have gone forth like any band normally would by releasing new music and doing a tour for it, but it's the fifth leg of the greatest hits tour.  GNR is the Walmart, Axl is whichever member of the Walton family that is alive and owns Walmart, and Fernando is the manager on duty that takes all the flack for things at the top being handled so incompetently and trickling down.  GNR public relations at best sucks and at worst is non-existent.  And sorry to be negative, but no matter what Fernando says I don't see much changing.  Doc McGhee has had great success managing all sorts of very successful acts, but what was he able to get out of GNR during his one year with them?  If Doc couldn't, I don't see what would make the difference with Fernando.  And that's not a knock on Fernando, that's a knock on the guy at the top.