Album Review #1 : Enter the Chicken

As I hopefully mentioned in my last entry, I have been listening to a lot of Buckethead lately, mainly his collaboration album Enter the Chicken. I will be breakin this bad mother down track by track and giving you my thoughts on it. Today's rating system will be chickens by the way.

We Are One: This is a pretty heavy song featuring Serj Tankian (of System of a Down fame). Now, I love Serj's voice, he's easily my favourite metal vocalist. However, this song really blows in the vocal department because Serj is known for his poetic lyrics, but this song really doesn't show that. The only lyrics you can easily understand are him saying "Don't you know that we are one". In the guitar department, this track certainly exceeds all expectations. It has an amazing solo, the perfect amount of distortion, and a really good overall sound. All in all, I have to give this song 3 and half chickens out of five

Botnus: This song features vocalist Efrem Schulz who I honestly know nothing about. This song however, has ever greater guitar than We Are One, as well as awesome, grinding, grungy lyrical sound. When you read the lyrics, it's actually a pretty cool song. The solo in this song is absolutely AMAZING in every aspect. This is one of those songs that really shows off Buckethead's metal chops. Four out of five chickens agree this song is amazing!

Three Fingers: This song features my favourite slam poet/musician, Saul Williams, and this song is certainly full of the lyrical rhythm and power I have come to expect from Saul. It has a funky, yet metal sound to it, and unlike We Are One, the masterful lyrics are perfectly comprehensible. This track shows that Buckethead is not only a master of the solo, but also of the ambiance, adding a minimalist, dark, and funky guitar to the background that turns the scene Saul is describing into a real life situation that puts you into the scene. 4 and half chickens!

Running From the Light: This features singers Gigi and Maura Davis and is an unexpected yet beautiful diversion from the metal sound of the first three tracks. It has a wonderful soul guitar in it and Gigi and Maura are beautiful singers with powerful voices. One of the coolest parts of this song is the overlapping vocals from the two. Another amazing part is the heavy guitar that enters when the chorus does. The solo is reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughn's bluesy solos (listen to Texas Flood to hear what I'm talking about)The drums in this track are minimalist, but powerful. I give you three chickens!

Coma: This song features angelic and ethereal lyrics by Azam Ali and Serj Tankian, that truly add more effect to the ambiance of this track. Buckethead takes a back seat with his arpeggiated chords in this song, but still remains powerful overall. The only understandable lyrics are very bleak and nihilistic, which truly encompass the feelings one associates with a coma. Four out of five chickens!

Waiting Hare: Another song featuring Serj Tankian, as well as Shana Halligan. This song has more of an R and B feel than the other songs, and since that's not one of my favourite genres, this song isn't really my favourite on the album. It has a pretty good solo, but the lyrics get pretty repetitive after awhile. Two and a half chickens.

Funbus: All I have to say about this track is that it is pure screaming metal fury. Four and a half chickens out of five

The Hand: This creepy, operatic delve into insanity is made even scarier and crazier thanks to the vocals of Maximum Bob ( of the Deli Creeps, another Buckethead project) as well as the ethereal operatic vocals provided by Ani Maldjian. The guitar is heavy, with some crazy high-pitched fills that appear at random intervals. Another, *ahem* interesting touch is the weird sound that almost sounds like a female, shall we say, climaxing. Three and a half insane, committed chickens out of five.

Nottingham Lace: This ending track needs no vocals to get it's message across. That message is, let rock fill the stage. This song is Buckethead's chance to shine and truly show his chops. With overlaying harmonics, distorted "verse" and that funky, flangey, kill-switchy sound that Buckethead is known for, this is the last bombardment of musical energy this album has to offer, and if you have been listening well enough, it will have won. Five out of five headbangin chickens.