Hold Me Forever (In Memory Of My Mom Nancy York Carroll) (studio album)
by Bucketheadland

From II 01/31/2025 07:41 | #307334

As written in the album's title, Buckethead whose real name is "Brian Patrick Carroll" honors his mother "Nancy York Carroll" by composing an epic 28-minute long track. And just like his most popular track "Soothsayer (Dedicated to Aunt Suzie", when Buckethead dedicates an instrumental piece to one of his family members, you know he's gonna give it all for them.

II've become quite weary of one-song albums and very long songs, not necessarily because of their length, but what to me makes them feel lengthy: their slow build-up, repetitive extended in length sections and/or unnatural-feeling-like changes of musical ideas (like movements of very long Classical Music pieces) which if don't flow well enough for me, break the balance of a traditional consistency of the key, tempo and melody like in most musical pieces.

That's why "Pike 65: Hold Me Forever" is undoubtedly my favorite one-song album, as it's faster-paced and while impressively keeps playing in the same tempo and in the captivating C Minor key the whole piece, the many consonant melody variations played by a guitar's good-sounding reverb and distortion followed by semi-simple, but creatively many rhythm variations of the drum machine, make the song's listening experience more easygoing, especially considering the album's runtime is 28 minutes, although i.m.o. II think the last several minutes can possibly wear you out, since the drum machine beats do not feel varied enough and the fast-paced shreds keep repeating themselves feel to me as close as listening to a long continuous note, despite their impressive sound and technicality, however, these sequences might seem to become more interesting the more you listen to them.

Nevertheless, this album is currently among my favorites, since instrumental guitar is a big component in many of my favorite music, and II can guarantee you this magnum of an opus album is a once in a lifetime experience, as II've listened to it a LOT in short periods of time, thus, II want to listening to more of Buckethead's huge discography of quite technical and melody-driven music in the future!

Rest in peace, Nancy York Carroll & Tom Carroll, who had believed and supported their son in pursuing his dreams, and Suzanne "Aunt Suzie" Carroll, who gave her nephew his first guitar when he was 12 years old.