Enter the Chicken

According to Buckethead, Serj Tankian came up with the concept of an album comprising contributions from different guest vocalists and friends, hence the title.

The artwork for the album was done by long-time Buckethead collaborator Bryan "Frankenseuss" Theiss. The cover of the reissue is identical to the original, save for some colour changes.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Jive	[6]
PopMatters	[7]
411mania	[8]

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.[9][10]

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."[11]

The Washington Post wrote about "street poet" Saul Williams: "[He] confidently counterbalances Hendrixian distortion on [the song]."[11] Jive named "We Are One" and "Three Fingers" as being highlights of the album.[6]

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."[12]

• Tracks #1–7, 9–11 Recorded at John Merrick Recorder
• Track #8 Recorded at the Serjical Strike Dungeons
• Vocals for Tracks #1–4, 6–10 Recorded at the Serjical Strike Dungeons
• Produced by Serj Tankian
• Engineered, Mixed and Co-Produced by Dan Monti
• Mixed at the Binge Factory
• Vocal Engineering on Track #5 by Bill Laswell, Cam Dinunzio
• Additional Programming by Dan Monti
• Mastered by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios
• A&R Coordinating by Serj Tankian and George Tonikian
• Art Direction by Bryan Theiss @ Frankenseuss Laboratories
• Buckethead's Legal Representation: Stan Diamond Esq., Diamond and Wilson

"We Are One" was chosen to promote Enter the Chicken and thus was released as a video single.[13]

The song features vocals by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian who also produced the album.[14]

Music video

The "creature" performing taxidermy on Buckethead in the song's promotional video clip.

The music video, directed by Syd Garon and Rodney Ascher,[15] tells the story of Buckethead paying a man called "Marquis" (played by Serj Tankian) to bring him killed animals.[16] Buckethead uses the animals to perform taxidermy on them (a real life hobby of the guitarist).[17] 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.

"Botnus" was inspired by the evil character Dr. Botanus on Giant Robot, a Japanese television show that heavily influenced Buckethead's work.[21]

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

"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.[9] The song was also included on the soundtrack of the horror film Saw II.[24]

When asked about the song, Buckethead responded: "Every day is like a strange movie for me."[25]

"Nottingham Lace" is the last track on the album and one of Buckethead's most popular songs. It is very frequently played live at Buckethead's concerts. The song's name is derived from one of the most high quality types of lace in the world.

• Serjical Strike Records