Customer Reviews

Kaleidoscalp

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! Being fairly new to the music of Buckethead I was very impressed by this release. His music reminds me a bit of an updated version of Zappa. Of course his guitar style is his own, but his writing is complex and bizzare. Anyone who wears a white mask and a KFC bucket on his head has really got something challenging and unique going on! There is humor in music! If you like great guitar playing and challenging but enjoyable songs, then you will enjoy Mr. Buckethead.

"Kaleidoscalp" is an album of guitar pyrotechnics. Buckethead is accompanied only by programmed percussion as he races through one piece to another. By and large falling into an oddball adventerous heavy metal sound, opener "Frakenseuss Laboratories" pretty much sets the stage for the album-- driven and explosive.

But the best material on the album is when Buckethead allows his repetoire to expand somewhat, as on "Music Box Innards" where he alternates his metal riffs with oddball electronica guitar sounds or the fantastic "The Slunk, The Cutter and the Candlestick Maker", where banjo leads intertwine with electric guitars and percussion. And closer "She Sells Sea Shells by the Slaughterhouse" is totally unexpected, delicate, lovely and sensitive and just downright fantastic.

All in all, its a pretty mixed album, its all quite listenable, but only a few tracks stand out.

This is not an easy album. It might even be the Future. Innovative. Almost had a heart attack laughing the first time I heard "Music Box Innards"--I'm OK now. We have most of his discontinued-by-manufacturer records. Buy this to get the Classic Rock out of your head and move forward.

with "island of lost minds" bucket took his playing level to new heights in adventurous scope and creative technicality;"kalideoscalp" is on the same line and is a grand showcase of his skills! hell,john zorn invited him to be on his label so that says something right there! the music goes from frantic to mutated static,power metal("the andriod of notre dame" which was actually his tribute to slain guitarist dimebag darrel),funk chicken-pickin interludes,and ambient soundscapes that weave in and out of sanity's reach. if you're a fan,get it,if you're curious check out all of bucket's work and ask questions on his forums so you don't get scared off,heh-huh!

Im a big fan of Bucket's music, but this album doesn't do much for me. I liked Monsters and Robots, his Cobra Strike albums, and Cuckoo Clocks, but kaleidoscalp is too scattered and noise ridden even for Bucket. With the exception of few tracks (Android of Notre Dame for one) the album consists of severely disjointed songs filled with cuts to 'robot' sounds that destroy any chance of my enjoying the music. Too much messing around, Bucket, and not enough actual music. You rock, but not on this album. If you want hard shredding and pyrotechnics get a Cobra Strike album or Cuckoo Clocks. They're much better.

BUT STILL REALLY GOOD. Buckethead strikes again with another heavy album, in the vein of "cuckoo clocks of hell" and "island of lost minds". probably more like "island" because it has more of a schizophrenic feel to it. great riffs and drumming. the only real complaint i have are the little blurbs of "guitar spazzes" that sometimes overpower his riffing. yeah, the guy's a weirdo, so it's sort of appropriate to his image. but on a few songs it gets annoying; he spoils some of his best riffs. at times when i was listening, i thought i heard a really annoying cell phone ringing through the music. nope, that's part of it! ha. it's annoying parts like those that keep this album from being his best... ("cuckoo clocks" in my, opinion, is up there). STILL, this shouldn't keep fans from buying it! buckethead's the greatest guitarist in existence. but first timer's should go for "cuckoo clocks".

Mixing great guitar riffs with dark, electronic embellishments, Buckethead puts forth an album that shows off his virtuosity as well as his ability to create many types of ambiance. Known to be one of his more heavier albums, the album never lets up until the final track "She Sells Sea Shells By The Slaughterhouse", which tends to be more typical of some of his other material. Everything you'd be looking for in a Buckethead album is here, employing a methodical discordance that only he can seem to pull off.

If you're into Buckethead's work and lean more toward heavy metal, this is an album that you should look into purchasing. I took off a star since as another reviewer mentioned, there are a few tracks that are just filler.

The title of this review is not a joke. After listening half way through this album, I literally felt insecure about my organs. I honestly don't know how that is possible, and it is pretty much impossible to explain what that feels like, but that is what it felt like. The music is definitely strange. If you are checking Buckethead out for the first time, this album is definitely not for you. If you are already a Buckethead fan, then I don't know what to tell you, since you already probably know about this album/.

It is electronic, with only percussion and the possible bass with every song, and it is all metallic, sporadic, and somewhat mesmerizing. I really don't know if I should be disgusted or in awe of the final result of this album, so I gave it 3 stars.

This album is a masterpiece, at times it gets real ugly....and that's the point. This innovative mutant metal album by Buckethead is one of his best in my opinion. He does not hold back at all here...and thank him for that. Listening to this makes you realize so much more is possible with music and thanks to Buckethead, he's beginning to crack that nut. Being on John Zorn's Tzadik label here I think allowed him to really let loose with great production and out of this world effects and sounds. Most people will dismiss it as noise, but through careful and open minded listening you will understand what a genius this guitar virtuoso is.

Get this now, if you want to hear one of the oddest and most daring guitar instrumental albums ever made.

Another buckethead album along the lines of cuckoo clocks of hell album. This one is a little more random and creepy, and a little less shreddding, but it is probably in his top five releases. This album has some insane riffs like Frankenseuss laboratories, and the android of notre dame, which has been floating around the net in rough form for a while now under the title "Dimebag Tribute".But it also has very soft moments such as the ender "she sells sea shells by the slaughter house". This CD does have just a little bit of BS like "Sticker on hallucinogens", a track of sputtering, loud, abrasive noise that will probably infuriate you, but it's buckethead so it's ok. Anyway it's great, buy it!