https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNY9aw9iW3s

This album came out 24 years ago today, slightly longer ago than the age Buckethead was when he released it.

I found out about it in the fall/winter later that year, and sent a couple bucks to someone I talked to on the (fledgling) internet to tape it for me (as it had only been released in Japan at that time). I wore that damn tape out, and eventually found a (very expensive) copy on cd at Best Buy (back when they actually had weird import cds).

It is supremely weird, full of shredder guitar over simple drum loops, intermixed with ambient soundscapes, breakdance-influenced electro interludes, loads of very short tracks (sometimes consisting of simply a few second long sample), and Bootsy’s unmistakable voice popping in with some hilarious whatnot. The range of weird things Buckethead does on the guitar here is pretty wide as well — some are just him sort of improvising with weird effects, making the guitar sound like a weird alien conversation, or pop-and-slap bass, or a synth arpeggio.

I didn’t love it as much as I loved (and still do) the Praxis album that had come out the fall prior, “Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis”), but that one is more clearly an ensemble record (as only Laswell could assemble). This is pure Buckethead, front to back.