Enter the Chicken

Concept

According to Buckethead, Serj Tankian came up with the concept of different guest vocalists and friends, which is the central theme of the album. Hence the name "Buckethead and Friends"

Artwork and booklet

Artwork for the album was done by long-time Buckethead collaborateur Bryan Theiss (aka Frankenseuss). The cover of the reissue is identical to the original, save for some colour changes. The booklet of the reissue of the album contained several mistakes and errors. In the liner notes for almost all the songs, except the first page, the dash that separated the title of the song from its length is either replaced with a rectangle, a character usually representing a character that could not be recognized by the computer in a document, or is altogether missing. Also, the notes are crooked on its back. Notes for the song "The Hand" reveal Maximum Bob's real name to be "Robert Barnum", making this the only release to date (as of February 2009) that uses his real name.

Reception

The participation of Serj Tankian as well as many other high profile musicians caused a bigger media echo than usual Buckethead solo releases would do.

The Washington Post called the album "an entertaining disc that dabbles in genres ranging from romantic pop to extreme metal" and stated, "The shredder/space alien proves there's more behind the mask than just a quick pick and a side of slaw."

The Washington Post wrote about "street poet" Saul Williams: "[He] confidently counterbalances Hendrixian distortion on [the song]." JIVE Magazine named "We Are One" and "Three Fingers" as being highlights of the album.

Michael Melchor of 411mania stated: "The hip-hop comes into play on 'Three Fingers' and what sounds [...] suspiciously like street poetry by Saul Williams before Buckethead turns up the funk and groove."

Personnel

We Are One

"We Are One" was chosen to promote Enter the Chicken and thus was released as a video single.

The song features vocals by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian who also produced the album.

Music video

The music video tells the story of Buckethead paying a man called "Marquis" (played by Serj Tankian) to bring him killed animals. Buckethead uses the animals to perform taxidermy on them (a real life hobby of the guitarist). Several animals appear, with flashbacks showing shortly how they died. Buckethead combines parts of all the animals together to create a new animal, which then immediately attacks Buckethead. The video has comparisons to the Frankenstein tale in that, Buckethead creates a monster, by bringing his creature to life by electrocuting it. The video then focuses on the fight of Buckethead to survive the attacks but the creation manages to kill his creator. The monster then drags Buckethead to the resurrection table, and zaps him back into being, however when he is brought back to life he discovers that his being had performed taxidermy on him, cutting off his arms and legs and replacing them with animal parts, the creature killing the maker and then bringing him back as a monster in its own right, has many layers of meaning and connotation.

Usage in Masters of Horror

The song appeared on the soundtrack of the horror series Masters of Horror and was also used in the episode Dance of the Dead of the award winning series, when main character Peggy arrives at the town of Muskeet with his friends.

Reception

The Washington Post described "We Are One" as one of the standout tracks of the album, being "concisely spastic, metallic and reminiscent of Tankian's Armenian-influenced headbanger band, System of a Down." Other reviewers also compared the song to the singer's former work with System Of A Down, namely with songs from Toxicity. JIVE Magazine named "We Are One" and "Three Fingers" as being highlights of the album.

The clip gained airplay on several music related television stations.

Personnel

Botnus

"Botnus" was inspired by the evil character Dr. Botanus on Giant Robot, a Japanese television show that heavily influenced Buckethead's work.

The original name for the song was "Dungeon Stilt". A demo version of this song appears on the DVD Secret Recipe.

Reception

The song has been described as "storm[ing] out of the gates with hellish fury letting up for only a few bars to allow the listener a quick breath" and being about "a creature that features the voice of Death By Stereo participant Efrem Schulz. Botnus may scare younger visitors, as it is very aggressive when disturbed."

The Washington Post called Buckethead's guitar work on the song as "lickety-split riffing and soloing," backed up by 411mania, writing that "[t]he metal influences are in full force as Buckethead supplies the blistering rhythm for Shulz [sic] then inserts a grand, soaring solo into the song while he's at it."

Three Fingers

"Three Fingers" features vocals by Saul Williams who was invited to perform on the track by producer Serj Tankian. As with the rest of the album's vocalists, Williams recorded his part separately from Buckethead's work, and the two never met during the process. The song was also included on the soundtrack of the horror film Saw II.

When asked about the song, Buckethead responded: "Every day is like a strange movie for me."

Nottingham Lace

"Nottingham Lace" is the last track on the album and one of Buckethead's most popular songs. It is very frequently played live and is usually the last track at Buckethead concerts, as well as on the Secret Recipe DVD's Boston concert.

"Nottingham Lace's" name comes from one of the most high quality laces in the whole world.