Metal, Music

Born In A Coop: The 10 Best Buckethead Songs

Brian Carroll, popularly known as 'Buckethead', is an experimental guitar player from California. He has an extensive solo career and has also played with bands such as Praxis, Cornbugs, Deli Creeps, and Guns N' Roses. He has also performed under the names Cobra Strike, and Death Cube K.

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About Buckethead

Brian Carroll, popularly known as ‘Buckethead‘, is an experimental guitar player from California. He has an extensive solo career and has also played with bands such as Praxis, Cornbugs, Deli Creeps, and Guns N’ Roses. He has also performed under the names Cobra Strike, and Death Cube K.

Buckethead currently has over 300 albums under his belt and continues to be a creative force in guitar playing, heavy metal, and experimental music.

As a character, Buckethead wears a white mask and a KFC bucket on his head. Though the backstory of this character has changed over the years, the basic lore goes like this:

Buckethead is the illegitimate son of a preacher and was disowned due to the shame his father faced by society. A young Buckethead was forced to live in a chicken coop and only had the chickens to keep him company. He does not talk, and instead uses instruments to get his feelings across. He wears a KFC bucket on his head to pay respects to all of his chicken friends that have been slaughtered.

Most of this information comes from the song “The Ballad of Buckethead” created by Buckethead and Les Claypool of the band Primus. This track can be found on Buckethead’s 1999 album Monsters and Robots.

Buckethead also has his own theme park, known as Bucketheadland. The park is filled with morbid and macabre attractions. Many of Bucketheadland’s customers become injured, lost, or killed while navigating the attractions. The park can also fold into itself, creating a giant robot that can fight off any kaiju-style monsters that threaten the area. For more information about the lore of Bucketheadland, check out the album Bucketheadland 2.

The Best Buckethead Songs

It was very difficult to come up with a top 10 songs for Buckethead. There are so many great songs and way too many albums to cover. We came up with this list that combines Buckethead’s most popular songs, along with a few of our personal favorites.

That said, here is our list of the top 10 best Buckethead songs. We hope you enjoy it!

10. Siege Engine

Siege Engine is a popular track off of Buckethead’s 24th album Albino Slug.

9. The 13th Scroll

The 13th Scroll is a song by Buckethead released under the name Cobra Strike. This song is featured on Cobra Strike’s album also called The 13th Scroll.

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8. Frozen Brains Tell No Tales

Frozen Brains Tell No Tales is a track from Buckethead’s album Bucketheadland 2. What makes Bucketheadland 2 a great album is the constant skits that appear throughout the songs. Listeners get to learn a lot about how the theme park of Bucketheadland works.

7. John Merrick – Elephant Man Bone’s Explosion

John Merrick – Elephant Man Bone’s Explosion is another hard-hitting track from Buckethead’s album Bucketheadland 2.

6. The Shape Vs Buckethead

The Shape Vs Buckethead comes from Buckethead’s famous album Monsters and Robots. This track, like many other Buckethead tracks, features a performance from legendary musician Bootsy Collins. This is one of Buckethead’s creepier tracks and definitely takes you on a ride as he attempts to fight The Shape.

5. Welcome To Bucketheadland

Welcome To Bucketheadland is a popular song from Buckethead’s 1994 album Giant Robot. This is one of Buckethead’s catchier tunes and has been a fan-favorite song for the last 20 years.

4. King James

King James, another track off of Crime Slunk Scene, is another popular Buckethead. This song also has Buckethead using his guitar’s infamous kill switch, similar to his popular song Jordan.

3. Nottingham Lace

Nottingham Lace was created for the album Enter The Chicken. This album was released on Serjical Strike, a record label created by System of a Down’s Serj Tankian.

2. Whitewash

Whitewash, off of the album Colma, is another chill Buckethead fan-favorite. Buckethead wrote this song, along with the rest of the Colma album, for is mother to listen to while recovering from colon cancer.

1. Soothsayer

Soothsayer, off of the album Crime Slunk Scene, is Buckethead’s most popular song. Dedicated to his aunt, Soothsayer is a calm and beautiful ballad that ramps up the longer is goes on.