What is the hivemind take on Buckethead?

He obviously is very talented, but other than the GnR stint (which I had no clue he was in that band), never saw anything about him other than on youtube.

hes crazy and badass.

He is one hell of a guitar player. I like the song "We Are One" that he recorded with Serj Tankian.

I'm more partial to his softer/bluesy stuff however. My favorite song by Buckehead is "Whitewash" on the Colma album.

He's not too bad, very talented but lacks musical writing ability.

Quoted: He's not too bad, very talented but lacks musical writing ability.

Once again, I agree.

It seems that when guitarists reach a certain point (balls-to-the-wall), many of them just go fucking nuts and stop writing songs. They start experimenting, and all their shit from there on out sounds weird and unlistenable.

That said, Buckethead is amazingly talented.

Been listening to him for 8 years. Absolutely amazing. He has always been 'off' in his music style, but you have to remember the music is coming from someone who has never done an interview, photo op, jam session or concert without a bucket on his head and a mask on his face. Hes one of the fastest guitar players in the world and has some extremely unique techniques - check out his 'nubbing' videos (thats just the word he uses for 10-finger tapping)