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.

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".