Ah..Buckethead. The guy that pretty much jumped into the news when word got out that he would be the lead-guitarist for the next incarnation of Guns ’n Roses. As you might know, Buckethead is a bit of a weird guy. To quote Ozzy Osbourne:

"I tried out that Buckethead guy. I met with him and asked him to work with me but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing. I said, 'Look, just be yourself!' He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother.' So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!' I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, 'I've been beamed up?' Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker!"

And playing like a motherfucker is what the man in question excels at. BH is clearly a guitarvirtuoso with enough technique under his belt to rival guys like Malmsteen. The weird thing is that great guitarists tend to make records that are meant for (drumroll…) people who like to hear a great guitarist play. Shitloads of melodic scales forced down your ear, pompues classical intros and influences, and ofcourse the requiered "Hey hear me playing this classical Mozart piece on my guitar. With one hand!".

A good thing is that Buckethead was smart enough to not go down that road. I will admit that I’m not familiar with the man’s previous solo outings, but ‘Enter The Chicken’ is a breath of fresh air regarding guitarwankery. The disc is out through Serjikal Strike records, a little label founded by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian. At first I thought that Tankian has had a ‘big’ influence on the whole cd, but after a few listens it became more obvious. Buckethead used various vocalists on this record; each of them being famous in their field of work. For example Tankian has lend his vocals to quite some tracks, but all of them are great pieces of modern rock. "We are One" could easily be a SoaD track with its quircky timing and goofyness; Coma (featuring a duet between Tankian & Azam Ali, known for her own great take on world music) is an ethereal track with eastern influences. It wouldn't suprise me one bit if it gets used for a movie one day.

A track like "Botnus" features the metal-side of Buckethead, showing that he can play tight metalriffs like any other great rhythm guitarist can, before he breaks lose into a bridge that has a guitarsolo that would make any 80s glamrock band cry. The vocalist on this song is Death by Stereo’s Efrem Shulz screaming his lungs out. "Funbus" is basically a death/grind track, while "The Hand" is a thrash-song with Opera vocals by opera singer Ani Maldjian and just goofball vocals by Buckethead’s former bandmate Maximum Bob.

It's not all metal and rock that makes Buckethead’s heart tick. "Three Fingers" is a hiphop-esque track with spokenword "vocals" by Saul Williams, funked up with some great guitarinterludes. "Waiting Here" could be a radiosingle because it's basically a pop-rock duet with Serj (again!) and Shana Halligan, with some oldschool Red Hot Chili Peppers like guitarriffs going on. "Running From The Light" would probably classify as an indie-rock track with Delani’s Maura Davis. The disc finishes with some musical ‘wankery’ in the form of "Nothingham Lace", with Buckethead grooving down to some modern funk-rock, wankery it might be, but the kind of wanking that doesn’t get agitating after a while.

Basically, "Enter the Chicken" is a compilation of modern rock music (with a metal edge), featuring the guitarqualities of Buckethead and the talents of the guest vocalists. Some people will prefer the more "radiofriendly" tracks, and other will like the heavy stuff more. Personally, I would love to hear Buckethead put a cd together with Azam Ali’s Vas but in the end this record should float everyones boat!