Jordan (Buckethead composition)

"Jordan" is a song by guitarist Buckethead. A special version of this song was written specifically for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 video game Guitar Hero II, in which it is an unlockable bonus track. It is considered one of the most difficult songs to play in all four Guitar Hero games on Expert difficulty due to the extreme complexity and disorienting feel of its guitar solos. On the Xbox 360 version, an achievement is awarded for passing it on Expert difficulty.

Background

Prior to Guitar Hero II, "Jordan" was played only at live shows and was only the intro and outro to the Guitar Hero II version, and Buckethead would play another song (usually "Post Office Buddy" from Giant Robot) or a short series of songs or a jam in between. With the exception of the Guitar Hero II soundtrack, and appearing on one of the unofficial Buckethead MySpace pages, it has yet to be released on an album.

The main riff of "Jordan" is played using left hand hammer-ons and pull-offs, while Buckethead's right hand uses a kill switch. The main riff also features extensive use of a Digitech Whammy pitch shifter.

The fastest 32nd note tapping portions of the solo reach approximately 14.5 notes per second, while the picked sections reach approximately 14 notes per second.

Marcus Henderson stated that Buckethead feels that Jordan is one of the best things he has ever recorded. It was also stated in an interview with Marcus Henderson that "Jordan" is named after Michael Jordan, of whom Buckethead is a huge fan.

On January 9th, 2008, HellAshes of the scorehero.com community scored 100% notes hit on Jordan. This made news all over the internet, as Jordan was thought to be literally impossible to score 100% on by even the highest skilled players. He accomplished this feat while streaming his attempt live using a webcam. This is thought to be the single greatest achievement by any guitar hero player ever.