BUCKETHEAD

MONSTERS AND ROBOTS

  1/  Jump Man                                   (Buckethead,Scaturro)         4.42
  2/  Stick Pit                                  (Buckethead,Claypool,Mantia)  3.38
  3/  The Ballad of Buckethead                   (Buckethead,Claypool,Mantia)  3.38
  4/  Sow Thistle                                (Buckethead,Freeman,Collins)  4.28
  5/  Revenge of the Double-Man                  (BK,Disk,Claypool,Mantia)     3.34
  6/  Night of the Slunk                         (Buckethead)                  5.43
  7/  Who Me?                                    (Buckethead)                  2.08
  8/  Jowls                                      (Buckethead,Scaturro,Mantia)  4.25
  9/  The Shape vs. Buckethead                   (Buckethead,Freeman,Collins)  5.40
  10/ Stun Operator                              (Buckethead,Claypool,Mantia)  4.15
  11/ Scapula                                    (Buckethead,Scaturro,Mantia)  4.04
  12/ Nun Chuka Kata                             (BK,Disk,Claypool,Mantia)     4.28
  13/ Remote Viewer                              (Buckethead?)                 ?.??

          Tracks 1,8 and 11 recorded at Horn of Zeus
          Tracks 2,3,5,7,10,12 and 13 recorded at Rancho Relaxo Studios
          Tracks 4 and 9 recorded at the Embalming Plant
          Track 6 recorded at Orange Music, Orange, New Jersey
          Additional recording on tracks 1,4 and 9 done at Bootzilla Re-hab P-form School
          Tracks 2,3,5,7,10,12 and 13 engineered by Oz Fritz
          Track 6 engineered by Robert Musso
          Tracks 1,8 and 11 produced and mixed by Pete Scaturro and Rob Beaton
          Tracks 2,3,5,7,10,12 and 13 produced by Les Claypool
          Tracks 4 and 9 produced by Extrakd
          Track 6 produced by Bill Laswell
          Additional production on tracks 1,4 and 9 by Bootsy Collins
          Mastered by Don. E. Tyler at Precision Mastering

Buckethead : guitar, carpel tunnel, bass (1,8,11); Les Claypool : bass (2,3,5,10,12,13), vocal (3); Brain : drums (2,3,5,8,10,11,12,13); Phonosycographdisk : turntable scrapes, skratches and sounds (3,5,8,10,12,13); Bill Laswell : production (6); Bootsy Collins : vocal (1,4,9); Oui-wey : rap (9); Extrakd : production (4,9); DJ Eddie Def : turntable (4,9); Max Robertson : vocal (11); The Chicken Scratch Choir (Bob Cock, Les, Elee & Herbie) : background vocals (3).

          1999  -  CyberOctave (USA),  COCD  47499  (CD)
          1999  -  CyberOctave (Japan),  Tocp 65194 (CD)

Note : Track 13 only appears on the Japanese version.

REVIEWS :

Mixing metallic guitar heroics with funk, hip-hop, electronica, and a cinematic soundtrack feel, Buckethead's Monsters and Robots is yet another eclectic opus inspired in large part by low-budget monster/horror, martial arts, and science fiction movies, especially those of Japan. Like any Buckethead album, the music does meander in spots, but this outing does improve on its predecessor Colma by employing a variety of guest bassists; Primus' Les Claypool (as well as drummer Brain), Bootsy Collins, and Bill Laswell all enliven the music's rhythmic underpinnings in ways that Buckethead's own bass playing on Colma didn't. Plus, the contributions of guest DJs Phonosycograph Disk, DJ Eddie Def, and Xtrakd are inventive and stimulating, complementing rather than confusing the musical mix. It may not be completely consistent, but Monsters and Robots offers more than enough musical derangement to satisfy.

Steve Huey (courtesy of the All Music Guide by way of the Get Music website)

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Produced by Les Claypool, former bassist/leader of jokey alternative band Primus (which Mantia had joined in the interim). More consistently enjoyable than most of Buckethead's work: the approach is close to Giant Robot, with hyperspeed metal vamps, quick-cut collage, and a variety of genre exercises (the solo acoustic "Who Me?," a rap from Oui-Wey on "The Shape Vs. Buckethead"), but without the stupid voice-overs. Even the metal riff bonanzas are better than usual ("Revenge Of The Double-Man"); the only real disappointment is Laswell's cut-and-paste electronica "Night Of The Slunk." Again, largely instrumental, with some spoken word ("The Ballad Of Buckethead"). There's a fair amount of techno percussion and loops - making comparison to Jeff Beck's Who Else! inevitable, I suppose, but since I haven't listened to that one yet, you'll have to wait. When Mantia's actually drumming, he lays down his usual sound foundation plus unexpected accents. In addition to his usual guitar tricks, Buckethead plays Bootsy-style bass on three tracks ("Jowls"), and Bootsy himself adds vocals and production to three more ("Sow Thistle"). Phonosycographdisk (who may be DJ Disk by another name) adds some turntable scratches. No covers this time: everything's by Buckethead alone, or with bandmates.

4 stars out of 5

David Bertrand Wilson (courtesy of the Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews website)