Customer Reviews

The Big Eyeball in the Sky

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For a while now, I have been immersing myself in as much as I possibly can of some of (I believe to be) the best music produced. Among the really cool, artistically weird (or is it weirdly artistic?) bands I have grown to know and love are Primus, Praxis, and Parliament. Thus, needless to say when I heard that the once-impromptu Bonnaroo band was making an album, I jumped at the possibility. Fortunately, this album met my expectations and exceeded them. Let's take a look, shall we?

Buckethead: What could be a more wonderful way to start an album than with Bernie Worrell's happy circus organ music? Other than that this track has some great lyrics delving into the mysterious being that is Buckethead. His solo at the end of the track is just beautiful.

Thai Noodles: Great bass line, and the lyrics are really catchy.

Tyranny of the Hunt: Aside from Buckethead's awesome guitar line in this song, this is probably my least favorite song on the album if only for the fact that I don't really understand much of the story line (as I have been accustomed to do by listening to Les).

Elephant Ghost: Killer jam, especially on the part of Brain. I just wish it a) had a central melody and b) were a lot longer.

Hip Shot from the Slab: Hehe, I love this song so much, if only for Gabby La La's great backup vocals and the return (ala My Name is Mud) of Les's redneck insanity.

Junior: Groovy anti-Bush song. Will get stuck in your head for days and days.

Scott Taylor: This track tires me out near the end, but Bernie's keys are on target and sounding great the whole way through, so it's okay.

The Big Eyeball in the Sky: The best lyrics of any song on the album, with Les satirizing the corporations and media that control so much of our lives.

Jackalope: This song makes me laugh so much everytime I hear it. It is obviously the work of a few mad geniuses, and that's what makes it so cool, especially Buckethead's atonal guitar licks.

48 Hours To Go: Nice pre-apocalyptic vocals by Les, with a funky Parliament-esque groove.

Ignorance is Bliss: The jam this song gets into is so cool that it outweighs any boredom induced by the slow tempo at the beginning of the song. Cool way to end an album.

All in all, if you have a passion for things a little off-center or just want to hear what all the hype about these guys is about, check this album out because, if nothing more, it's a change from the everyday music you hear on the radio. However, there's one thing better than this album: see this band live!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how cool their live show is. The musicality of this band is beyond measure, but this album does a great job of showcasing them. Can't wait to see what they do next.

All of the members of this band are really good. The level of musicianship on this album is really high. I just recently saw them live and it was really refreshing to see a group of really talented people playing together. Anyone who doesn't like this album probably bought it because they are a Primus fan, and were dissappointed because it isn't quite as hard as Primus usually is, but it's still quirky. C2B3 is NOT Primus, if Les Claypool wanted it to be Primusesque then he would have made another Primus album. Even though I think it's plenty Primusesque. Les Claypool's side projects are jam bands, and if you don't like jam bands then you shouldn't invest in any of them. I would recommend this album to anyone who really appreciates Claypool's skill (as well as everyone else in the band's skill), even if they don't necessarily enjoy Primus too much.

The first time I heard this band was at their show in S.L.C. All I could do was stand there the entire time with my mouth agap. This is Les Claypool at his finest. I own all of his Primus albums along with most of his side projects (missing only his frog brigade sets 1 and 2)and this is my favorite album that he has put out. Buckethead is a brilliant addition being as how he is probably one of the only guitar players that can hold his own with Les. Some describe Bernies addition as funny yet enjoyable. How insulting. Bernie is what sets this album apart from all of Claypools other projects. Bernie adds the funk that is so prominent in this CD. Brain... well, hes a pimp. He plays a double bass petal in the album which he never did with primus and he is at the top of his game through the whole thing. Very few drummers can hang with Les and Brain dose so with very little apparent effort. This album isnt about showcasing one musician, its about them all together as a whole. You may hear better bass on a primus album and buckethead may solo more on other albums of his but this disc in its entirety is possibly the greatest musical accomplishment Les has come up with yet. I can only hope they put out another C2B3 album. If you like Primus but dont like albums such as this and Purple Onion (his oddest in my book but still brilliant) then youre missing the point of Les Claypool. He is here to push the musical envelope whether or not you as an audience can keep up. If only more musicians had the integrity to be so bold. In Les Claypool we trust.

Follow this math:

75% of this group is 60% of the Praxis lineup that probably made one of the most amazing albums of ALL TIME--_Transmutation_. Combine this with 1/3 of Primus, and you get Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains.

Just listing the RELEVANT resumes of the lineup of this group would take up far more space and time than I'm inclined to write right now. Fair to say that the names connect to such bands as Primus, Funkadelic, Guns 'n' Roses, and all of these guys have hooked up with Bill Laswell at one point or another, but one thing that is clear is that you have a LOT of groundbreakers. Aside from the way Les Claypool reinvented the whole fretboard and possibilities of bass, and how Bernie Worrell brought keyboards into the space age, and the fact that anthropologists will still be studying the Buckethead phenomena for centuries, these four (including Brain) sound like a dream combination. And for songs like the phenomenal instrumental "Elephant Ghost" and "Tyranny of the Hunt" and the incredibly redneck "Hip Shot from the Slab," they all come together for unbelivable sounds.

But sometimes the personalities step in the way of the playing. Claypool, bless his heart, has an affinity for promoting the myth of Bucketheadland, but it lets the KFCed one setp out a little too much from the group, and the song becomes disjointed. In the Praxis days, Worrell, Buckethead and Brain fused into and amazing sound that used the best of everyone while letting no one take away from the essence of the song, but Bernie Brains can't quite retain the same magic.

I bought this album after it got excellent reviews in Relix, and it did live up to the reviews. Right when you put the cd in youll be blown away with "Buckethead" which i think is maybe the best song on the album, not to put the other ones down because there all great. "Buckethead" starts out with a awsome keyboard intro succesfully pinned down by Bernnie, then somes the soft singing and getting through the course until BAM the music really kicks in, The amazing bass riffs and screaming guitar tie it all together perfectly.

If you read any reviews about this being a bad cd, its because these people are purely primus fans, I dont listen to primus, but this isnt primus, so dont compare them. This is a Jam-Band along with Oysterhead and Frog Brigade. If you dont like jam bands then maybe this isnt for you, but if you like listening to awsome music and not having a song end right when the lyrics are done then this is perfect for you. The music is amazing and different with each song, nothing sounding to alike.

Normally Les's idiosyncratic'ness controls the bands his in (i.e. Primus) and the other members cnat keep up, but this is were that stops, Bernnie steals much of the show with his awsome keyboards and so does Buckethead with his crazy riffs. If your a fan of Les or Buckethead and you dont mind some pure music. Then (i cant stress this enough) this is the cd for you. I love it and it convinced me to go buy the Oysterhead cd which is just as satisfying.

This cd is one of the best albums Les has put out so far.Me being a bass player and les being my favorite bassist/musician i wanted to check it out.i loved it ever since i first heard it,the bass lines are catchy and funky,buckethead's wailing guitar solos are definately a treat for the ears,bernie's keyboard playing is funny yet enjoyable and brain just holds down the groove with les the entire album.I have to admit i didnt like les's music at first but listening to it constantly has made it turn out to be some of the most talented music ive ever heard.People have wrote bad things about this album,probably because they are mostly primus fans.Well this music,along with the frog brigade,in my opinion,is better than primus.I give this album a 5.If your into great intrument playability these are one of the albums for you.If you love jam bands as well as i,then go right ahead and snatch this album right up.

I have been kind of out of the loop with Mr. Claypool lately (my main interest in this band, although I am interested in learning more about Buckethead). This is my assessment: there are two types of people--those who will love this album and think it genius and those who will be taken aback by the musicianship-over-song approach found on this album. Sure, there is unbelievable playing to be found here. But those of us who are drawn in by the lure of more output from Mr. Primus will find this to be no Brown Album, no Punchbowl, not even Antipop. Why? Because the focus is on technique and jam rather than driving, insanity-fuled bass/thrash manifesto SONGS. That is not to say it is a bad album, you just must know what you are getting into and what your tastes are. If you like jam bands, you are likely to have a delightful seizure with this album. If you like classic Primus, you should buy one of their albums instead.

get it straight primus fans;this is not a primus album,so wait for their new offering later this year.this is a great jam band that decided to do a studio album,and with the constrictions of a recording studio and having to come up with lyrics,a very small bit of the mamoth bonnaroo sound may have been compromised,but this disc is still true to all the artist's styles.you can't deny how great buckethead's solo at the end of "buckethead" is!check out the projects of the individual artists as well,though:buckethead,bernie worrell(parliament,talking heads),les claypool,brain(praxis,el stew,primus,etc)all have outstanding work out there!

I was disappointed in this album at first as well, but I caught up to it (as we often do with albums we "hate" at first). I love all these guys, so this is a dream-or just Praxis circa "Transmutation" minus 2, plus 1? I just don't see the need for the vocals-they do NOTHING for the album, except drag the project down a notch...I mean, with lines like "he loves his Thai noodles", and yet another song about Buckethead? (some of you will recall Les on Buckets' "Monsters and Robots"). Asides from these minor issues, when the band smokes, they SMOKE (specifically on some of the longer tracks). Unfortunately when I saw them live I wasn't in the proper frame, got sick of the bs noodling (Bernie is a MAJOR offender in this area-always has been), and left. Kinda regret it, but I couldn't see anything anyhow. So yeah, let this record grow-Les and co. are a very special bunch indeed, with all the virtuosity and none of the pretentiousness...maybe that's why they sing about Thai noodles then? Not perfect, but full of perfect moments.

Upon my first skimming of the album, I felt I was left a bit unsatisfied. It's only until I sat down with a pair of good headphones that I really enjoyed the album. I was pleasantly suprised with Buckethead and Worrell. The guitar is mellow when it needs to be and at other times buckethead's skill really shines through beyond Les. I wasn't too sure how keyboards would blend in there with the others, but it's really subtle when it should be.
Basically, if you go in expecting crazy basslines to be the focus of this group, youll be disappointed. As a group, however, they play really well, and you still get Les' funky fretless bass grooves. A definite buy for any Primus or Les Claypool fan.