Buckethead to Turn Your Head by Josh Chan

Here’s one for all you metal fans out there. As many may already know, Buckethead will be playing on Friday in Houston at the Meridian. So drop everything and go, and if you are not a Buckethead fanatic, here’s what you are missing.
Back in 1996, every guitar magazine was buzzing with Buckethead’s name as his album, “Day of the Robot,” took the progressive metal world by storm. Consistently, his collaborations have been with avant-garde artists. DJ Ninj’s break-beat drum tracks and re-trigged snare charges Buckethead’s psychotic metal. And, even with a complete album of nothing but blatant, seemingly nonsensical dissonance and chops like a machine gun to unload notes like a cat purring, this does not begin to define him.
Buckethead’s next album, “Colma,” would still fit with the progressive sound, but in a completely different direction. Relying on more ambient grooves, Buckethead enlists Brain, probably better known as the drummer from Primus, and a cellist to structure an eerily mellow work. “Big Sur Moon” is one of the most notable tracks, containing a single guitar implementing a “delay” to layer the same track multiple times like an echo. “The Wishing Well,” is a modal tune holding a static level of intensity until the ending vamp, where a well-placed solo throttles the pent up energy.
In 1999, “Monsters & Robots” was released, returning Buckethead to more aggressive forms with tight, in-your-face beats and an even larger name brand cast. Even the product as a whole is much more refined. The songs have more definition, holding to a traditional verse-chorus form with the possible bridge. Here he exploits more unorthodox techniques, such as his ability to use all four fingers on his picking hand to hammer on notes by tapping on the fret board.
Fast-forwarding a few albums, “Population Override” was funkier than ever. In the past, he has worked with the legendary funk artist Bootsy Collins of Parliament Funkadelic, but this time he calls upon Travis Dickerson to apply metal guitar to totally fuzzed out funk keys with some parts resembling Marvin Gaye on steroids, like the track “Super Human,” and others emit a more bluesy sound such as “Unrestrained Growth.”
Last year, his album “Enter the Chicken,” was largely collaborated with Serj Tankian, System of a Down’s vocalist. It is obviously the most mainstream work to date, as it is the only album where the majority of the tracks include singing. Nevertheless, it still fits Buckethead’s sound and is every bit as enjoyable.
FYI: Buckethead’s persona is concealed in a Michael Myer’s mask, KFC bucket for a hat and a yellow jumpsuit. He is obsessed with the bizarre, sci-fi and kung-fu. This should intrigue the curious audiophile, as Buckethead includes a high level of performance and a very unique sound, and the concert alone raises the question, “What kind of people go to this show?” Again, drop everything for Oct. 13, with Buckethead.