Was GnR material too easy for Buckethead?

[TombRaider]

Am I the only one who gets the impression that GnR material was too easy for Buckethead? When you watch videos from the time he was in the band, you can tell he's not having a hard time playing his parts. I'd go so far as to say he may have thought his skills as a guitarist were being wasted or underused by playing GnR stuff. I mean, he almost made it look too easy, like it wasn't difficult at all. I was watching the It's so easy video form RIR III someone posted and it's as if it were child's play. I have a couple of his albums and he writes stuff that sounds more intricate than what GnR does. I don't know. Just a question for guitar players here.

Edited June 28, 2013 by TombRaider

[BucketNZ]

As a guitarist its not a question of whether its easy or not its more a question of whether you enjoy playing it. Yes a lot of the guns stuff is not the most difficult to play but without being able to see the expression on his face while he's playing its to hard to know whether he got the enjoyment out of it

[TombRaider]

True

[pepsicoca]

he's a great guitarist but i don't like how he played the gnr material. it didn't sound good.

back in 2001 and 2002, axl and his new band should have had the courage to play more of their own new material instead of covering so many old songs.

Edited June 28, 2013 by pepsicoca

[DieselDaisy]

A bigger problem for Buckethead was that he was covering material written by another guitarist. Stylistic, Buckethead appreciates a more bluesy thing - it is not all about shred with his music. He is an ACDC fan afterall. But the big problem concerned the lack of albums and the fact that Axl insisted on playing a greatest hits set.

[drtydane]

Plus they had two leads. Alot of the time he just stood there with his guitar hanging, not even moving. Pays the bills tho I guess.

And he supposedly just wanted to secure a record deal so watever it took to get the dough rolling. But after so long without things moving forward the bad outweighed the good i guess.

[GnR Chris]

Technically, the Gn'R stuff may not be the most difficult stuff in the world, but it beats the shit out of anything Buckethead will ever write. So if he's bored playing superior material, so be it. He can always dream of contributing such iconic songs to the music world.

Edit: That all sounds harsh. I like Bucket. I think he probably left because nothing was getting done by ways of moving the new lineup forward.

Edited June 28, 2013 by GnR Chris

[moreblack]

On the other hand, does anyone think what he signed up for, and what actually happened, were different things and that's what made him leave?

[DieselDaisy]

Yes. I think Buckethead and Finck joined to make new music. But they ended up playing the 'hits' and Democracy was delayed so long it become absurd. Bumblefoot probably joined for the same reasons but he seems to be clinging on longer.

[Gunzen]

Too many people were interested in the music for Buckethead. Any more than 35 drunk Emo's (all guys) smoking cloves and hugging each other and he gets nervous.

[jimb0]

On one level I hated what he did to the solos, on another hand I loved it. It's grown on me the more Ron noodles with them and I now prefer listening to what Bucket did over Ron. Buckethead definitely seemed bored as shit at times. One Word. Nightrain. Loved It.

[Estranged Reality]

Look at Buckethead's discography and you'll see the reason he left GN'R. This guy thrives on constant productivity and creativity. Whether or not GN'R was too 'easy' for him probably didn't matter as much as that he was feeling stuck in a non-creative environment without a light at the end of the tunnel.

Axl put out that press release blaming him for trying to use GN'R to sell his solo records, and while that may have been part of his interest in joining GN'R, can Axl really say anything less of anyone else in his band? I don't think that was Bucket's primary motivation; but I do think, once he was in the position he was in, and the record had been mostly recorded (to that point, in his mind it was probably all ready to go), and he wasn't seeing any sign of a release or new tour, he probably just got frustrated and left.

Someone who knows Bucket personally posted on here a while back that it's a very sensitive part of his life and he won't even speak with friends about it. That, to me, isn't the sign of someone who wanted to capitalize upon his success with the band. To me that's the sign of someone who invested a lot of enthusiasm and interest and passion into the group and was really fucking bummed out when nothing came of it, and then he got blamed for the delays by the guy who, in his view, was probably the one more-so responsible. Bucket was kind of a patsy. And I'm sure that hurt his feelings, he probably felt betrayed by Axl to a certain extent and I doubt he was happy with the way the record was finally released and the manner in which some of his work was kind of 'written over' by other musicians.

Then again I don't think Axl really was trying to blame him with the Rio 4 cancellation press release, and due to Merck's misinformation may have believed a lot of what he accused him of at the time. But that's a whole other tangent. You could even defend Merck and say he was probably just trying to keep Axl happy half the time and tell him what he wanted to hear. It's such a complicated, complex, fragile thing, GN'R, isn't it?

[jimb0]

Great Post ER. I agree with everything you said.

[Bruno P.]

Yes, playing GnR material was as easy as a walk in the park. He was underused in Guns, yes. He had to limit himself, he wasn't able to truly show through his music the awesome artist that he indeed is. Very basic stuff that doesn't really gave him a chance to shine.

without being able to see the expression on his face while he's playing its to hard to know whether he got the enjoyment out of it

His playing is not about funny faces - he's all about the music. That's why he's so awesome - he doesn't need to do funny faces, his music speaks for himself. And while we're at it, it's awesome. Loved the way he played the old songs, gave them a new life, new meaning.

A bigger problem for Buckethead was that he was covering material written by another guitarist.

That's a problem for you, not exactly for him. Why's it so bad that he used to play some of the most iconic rock songs ever? Exactly, It isn't. That's why a lot of people pay tribute to legendary artists & songs. Because they enjoy performing those songs.

Technically, the Gn'R stuff may not be the most difficult stuff in the world, but it beats the shit out of anything Buckethead will ever write.

Not to me. He does some whacky stuff that GnR would never be able to do. If you're talking about classic rock songs, fine. He's an all around artist, not a pure Hard Rock guy. Just because he didn't write a pop song that had mainstream success doesn't mean a thing.

[Stro]

He was definitely bored with the old songs. I'm not sure it was because of the songs not being challenging enough, though. Bucket has plenty of songs that aren't super crazy million notes a second type of songs.

[Ana_1991]

Buckethead is a guitar player that doesn't want to waste his time! Just look at his discography and you will see why he didn't want to waste 10 years on one GN'R record.

[Dazey]

Too many people were interested in the music for Buckethead. Any more than 35 drunk Emo's (all guys) smoking cloves and hugging each other and he gets nervous.

Yet if he was to rejoin tomorrow you'd deny ever having said that and have your tongue shoved so far up his arse you'd be able to tell us all what he'd had for breakfast.

Bucket was the last chance Axl had to really make something of NuGnR and since he left it's all been downhill.

[baggio86]

Look at Buckethead's discography and you'll see the reason he left GN'R. This guy thrives on constant productivity and creativity. Whether or not GN'R was too 'easy' for him probably didn't matter as much as that he was feeling stuck in a non-creative environment without a light at the end of the tunnel.

Axl put out that press release blaming him for trying to use GN'R to sell his solo records, and while that may have been part of his interest in joining GN'R, can Axl really say anything less of anyone else in his band? I don't think that was Bucket's primary motivation; but I do think, once he was in the position he was in, and the record had been mostly recorded (to that point, in his mind it was probably all ready to go), and he wasn't seeing any sign of a release or new tour, he probably just got frustrated and left.

Someone who knows Bucket personally posted on here a while back that it's a very sensitive part of his life and he won't even speak with friends about it. That, to me, isn't the sign of someone who wanted to capitalize upon his success with the band. To me that's the sign of someone who invested a lot of enthusiasm and interest and passion into the group and was really fucking bummed out when nothing came of it, and then he got blamed for the delays by the guy who, in his view, was probably the one more-so responsible. Bucket was kind of a patsy. And I'm sure that hurt his feelings, he probably felt betrayed by Axl to a certain extent and I doubt he was happy with the way the record was finally released and the manner in which some of his work was kind of 'written over' by other musicians.

Then again I don't think Axl really was trying to blame him with the Rio 4 cancellation press release, and due to Merck's misinformation may have believed a lot of what he accused him of at the time. But that's a whole other tangent. You could even defend Merck and say he was probably just trying to keep Axl happy half the time and tell him what he wanted to hear. It's such a complicated, complex, fragile thing, GN'R, isn't it?

Amen. Great post.

[magisme]

Bucket is an artist. Axl was an artist. Bad fit.

[F*ck Fear]

On the other hand, does anyone think what he signed up for, and what actually happened, were different things and that's what made him leave?

I think so.

Had Chinese Democracy been released in 2002 with hope of more material being released shorty after, I doubt he would have left in 2004.

[Nosaj Thing]

Axl didn't deserve someone like Buckethead in his band. He's a professional and a true artist, Axl is just the opposite of that.

I'm glad Buckethead left for good, otherwise he'd be embarrassing himself along with the others.

[Carburetta]

Buckethead's Rocket Queen solo was mind blowing. And no, I don't think that the problem was that the material was too easy, I doubt it was a factor at all (for reasons already mentioned in this thread, amongst others).

[niceguy]

Am I the only one who gets the impression that GnR material was too easy for Buckethead? When you watch videos from the time he was in the band, you can tell he's not having a hard time playing his parts. I'd go so far as to say he may have thought his skills as a guitarist were being wasted or underused by playing GnR stuff. I mean, he almost made it look too easy, like it wasn't difficult at all. I was watching the It's so easy video form RIR III someone posted and it's as if it were child's play. I have a couple of his albums and he writes stuff that sounds more intricate than what GnR does. I don't know. Just a question for guitar players here.

It doesn't matter if it was "too easy" or not for Buckethead or any guitarist.

I'd rather listen to the simple chords of a really great song than, say, the million-notes-per-minute masturbation session of a "difficult" song.

[moreblack]

Am I the only one who gets the impression that GnR material was too easy for Buckethead? When you watch videos from the time he was in the band, you can tell he's not having a hard time playing his parts. I'd go so far as to say he may have thought his skills as a guitarist were being wasted or underused by playing GnR stuff. I mean, he almost made it look too easy, like it wasn't difficult at all. I was watching the It's so easy video form RIR III someone posted and it's as if it were child's play. I have a couple of his albums and he writes stuff that sounds more intricate than what GnR does. I don't know. Just a question for guitar players here.

It doesn't matter if it was "too easy" or not for Buckethead or any guitarist.

I'd rather listen to the simple chords of a really great song than, say, the million-notes-per-minute masturbation session of a "difficult" song.

But for him it mattered. For a player it matters. Especially when you hear his own music, it sounds nothing like GNR. That was definitely a forced fit, and it didn't work for long.

[Rovim]

Am I the only one who gets the impression that GnR material was too easy for Buckethead? When you watch videos from the time he was in the band, you can tell he's not having a hard time playing his parts. I'd go so far as to say he may have thought his skills as a guitarist were being wasted or underused by playing GnR stuff. I mean, he almost made it look too easy, like it wasn't difficult at all. I was watching the It's so easy video form RIR III someone posted and it's as if it were child's play. I have a couple of his albums and he writes stuff that sounds more intricate than what GnR does. I don't know. Just a question for guitar players here.

It doesn't matter if it was "too easy" or not for Buckethead or any guitarist.

I'd rather listen to the simple chords of a really great song than, say, the million-notes-per-minute masturbation session of a "difficult" song.

But for him it mattered. For a player it matters. Especially when you hear his own music, it sounds nothing like GNR. That was definitely a forced fit, and it didn't work for long.

It's not like Bucket didn't get a chance to bring his own thing to the new material. Better is a good example of Bucket not changing much of his style of playing at all in a lot of the guitar parts he came up with for that song.

Also, there are 3 Bucket songs on Chinese, and a song like Shackler's is very close to some of his solo material.

I agree that the Gn'R material could have been not challenging enough for Bucket, but we don't really know what his feelings were about that.

If Axl actually released more then one album in 20 years, maybe Bucket would have stayed and none of those issues would have made Bucket leave.

Edited June 28, 2013 by Rovim