''Monsters and Robots'' is

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

's fifth studio album, released April 20, 1999, by

Higher Octave Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 199 ...

records. A large part of the album was co-written with

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

, who also plays bass on several tracks and lends his vocals to the track " The Ballad of Buckethead". Buckethead promoted the album by opening for Primus in October and November 1999. ''Monsters and Robots'' is listed in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

's catalog and is Buckethead's best selling solo album to date.

Track listing

Notes

* The songs "Jowls" and "Scapula" are both re-recorded versions of songs of the same names on ''Giant Robot (NTT)''. * The song "Night of the Slunk" has a similar riff as "Jump Man", but longer with less distortion. * An alternate version of the song "Revenge of the Double-Man", named "Torture Tunnel" appears on the album '' The 13th Scroll'' released in 1999 by Buckethead's side project ''Cobra Strike''. * "Revenge of the Double-Man" references the arcade game

Sinistar ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter arcade game developed and manufactured by Williams Electronics. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical, Python Anghelo, and Richard Witt. Players control a spacecraft pi ...

. * "Scapula" uses several samples taken from the movie ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...

''.

Personnel

—

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(all tracks),

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(tracks 1, 8 and 11) *

—

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(track 3), bass (tracks 2, 3, 5, 10, 12 and 13) *

Brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

—

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(tracks 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13) * Phonopsychograph Disk —

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

(tracks 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 13) *

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

— vocals (tracks 1, 4, 7 and 9)
Ouiwey Collins
— vocals (track 9) * DJ Eddie Def — turntables (tracks 4 and 9) * Max Robertson — vocals (track 11) * The Chicken Scratch Choir — background vocals (track 3)

Production

* Tracks 1, 8, 11 recorded at Horn of Zeus. ** Produced & mixed by Pete Scaturro & Rob Beaton. ** "Jowls" originally recorded by Howard Johnson @ Different Fur Recording ** Recording assistance on 8 by Mark Weber, on 11 by Mark Weber & Eric Ware. * Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13 recorded at Rancho Relaxo studios. ** Produced by

. ** Engineered by Oz Fritz. * Tracks 4 & 9 recorded at the Embalming Plant. ** Produced by Extrakd. * Track 6 recorded at Orange Music. ** Produced by

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

. ** Engineered by Robert Musso. * Additional production on tracks 1, 4 & 9 by

at Bootzilla Re-hab P-form School. * Mastered by Don E. Tyler at Precision Mastering. * A&R direction: Warren Schummer. * Design, illustration & photography: Dave McKean @ Hourglass. * Cover illustration for Buckethead No. 2: Bryan Frankenseuss Theiss. * Photographs on pgs. 3, 6, 7 & back inlay: Warren Schummer. * 3-d programming: Max MacMuffin. * Production manager: Gina Grimes. * Product marketing manager: Kenny Nemes.

The Ballad of Buckethead

"The Ballad of Buckethead" was chosen to promote ''Monsters and Robots''. It is one of the few Buckethead songs to prominently feature vocals, which are performed by Primus'

. Drums were performed by long-time Buckethead friend (and then Primus drummer)

. The song is split into three verses, with the chorus following the first and third verse. The song, as its title suggests, tells the (fictional) story of Buckethead's life, particularly his upbringing. According to Buckethead's official biography, he was raised in a chicken coop by chickens, and the lyrics to the narrative continue this theme: A video clip using 3D models and reassembling themes from the lyrics was made by English artist

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

, and gained airplay on several music related television stations. The song was included to Primus' live set in October and November 1999, when Buckethead made stage cameos. "The Ballad of Buckethead" features samples from the 1996 movie ''

Sling Blade A sling blade or kaiser blade is a heavy, hooked, steel blade at the end of a long (around ) handle that is usually made of wood. The blade is double-edged, and both sides are usually kept sharp. It is used to cut brush, briar, and undergrowth. ...

''. The music video was nominated for the "Best New Artist - Modern Rock" on Billboard's Music Video Awards.

Credits

— guitar *

— vocals, bass *

— drums * Phonopsychograph Disk — turntables * The Chicken Scratch Choir — background vocals

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums Buckethead albums Les Claypool albums Albums produced by Bill Laswell Albums with cover art by Dave McKean