The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
| type = studio
| artist = Buckethead
| cover = CuckoClockPic2.jpg
| alt =
| released = April 20, 2004
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Experimental metal
| length = 52:16
| label = Disembodied
| producer = Dan Monti
| prev_title = Population Override
| prev_year = 2004
| next_title = Enter the Chicken
| next_year = 2005
| misc = {{Extra album cover
| header = Alternative Cover
| type = studio
| cover = Cuckooclocksofhell.jpg
| border =
| alt =
| caption = Alternative front cover, used on some editions of the album.
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}} {{cite web|last=Westergaard |first=Sean |url={{AllMusic|class=album |id=r683764 |pure_url=yes}} |title=The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell – Buckethead |publisher=AllMusic |date=2004-04-20 |accessdate=2011-11-11}}
}}
The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell is the thirteenth studio album by American guitarist Buckethead. It was released on April 20, 2004, via Disembodied Records.
Track listing
{{track listing
| total_length = 52:16
| title1 = Descent of the Damned
| length1 = 3:07
| title2 = Spokes for the Wheel of Torment
| length2 = 2:17
| title3 = Arc of the Pendulum
| length3 = 2:32
| title4 = Fountains of the Forgotten
| length4 = 3:22
| title5 = The Treeman
| length5 = 3:40
| title6 = Pylegathon
| length6 = 2:35
| title7 = Traveling Morgue
| length7 = 3:18
| title8 = One Tooth of the Time Train
| length8 = 3:27
| title9 = Bedlam's Bluff
| length9 = 3:15
| title10 = Beaten with Sledges
| length10 = 2:52
| title11 = Woods of Suicides
| length11 = 3:28
| title12 = Yellowed Hide
| length12 = 3:37
| title13 = Moths to Flame
| length13 = 3:13
| title14 = The Ravines of Falsehood
| length14 = 3:11
| title15 = The Black Forest
| length15 = 2:12
| title16 = Haven of Black Tar Pitch
| length16 = 3:19
| title17 = The Escape Wheel
| length17 = 2:52
}}
Spokes for the Wheel of Torment
{{Infobox song
| name = Spokes for the Wheel of Torment
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Buckethead
| album = The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
| released = April 20, 2004
| format =
| recorded = John Merrick Recorder
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{flat list|
}}
| length = 2:17
| label = Disembodied
| writer = {{flat list|
- Buckethead
- Dan Monti
}}
| producer = Dan Monti
}}
"Spokes for the Wheel of Torment" is the second song from the album and one of a few that have a music video (the others are "The Ballad of Buckethead" from the album Monsters and Robots, "We Are One" from Buckethead's 2005 album Enter the Chicken, "Pyrrhic Victory" by Thanatopsis, and "Viva Voltron", for the animated series Voltron).
=Music video=
File:Screenshot Spokes for the Wheel of Torment.png
The music video was directed by Syd Garon and Eric Henry featuring additional artwork by longtime Buckethead collaborator Bryan "Frankenseuss" Theiss. The video is based on the famous triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Last Judgement, the Paradise and Hell, and The Temptation of St. Anthony.
The music video starts showing a place that looks like hell where Buckethead has a lute and is carried by a flying beast which releases him. Buckethead ends in the hands of the "Prince of Hell" from The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych.
Buckethead gets eaten by the creature and his head, the lute and the two arms fall, getting themselves stuck on a tree where Buckethead starts to play a part of the song. While he plays, a lot of people are shown being tortured in several ways, Then the "Tree Man" from the same triptych is shown and the camera changes to the upper part of the triptych where a city is on fire, showing small details of people being whipped or beaten.
Buckethead keeps playing and when the song finishes the screen goes black and the credits appear showing The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. After the credits the camera pulls to show the credits were on a circular shape. During this time, parts of the song "Traveling Morgue" from the same album are played. The screen goes black again and the words "Beware, Beware, God Sees" appear.
The clip was shown at some film festivals around the world, such as the Sydney Film Festival,[http://2005.sydneyfilmfestival.org/plugins/events.cgi/events/view?event=13583&eventdate=16863 52nd Sydney Film Festival] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723154237/http://2005.sydneyfilmfestival.org/plugins/events.cgi/events/view?event=13583&eventdate=16863 |date=July 23, 2008 }} amongst others.[http://www2005.bitfilm-festival.org/odz_wave.shtml 2005 bitfilm festival] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510185230/http://www2005.bitfilm-festival.org/odz_wave.shtml |date=May 10, 2007 }}
The music video has been officially made available in 2006, as part of the Anxious Animation DVD release{{cite web|last=Murray |first=Noel |url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/49499 |title=Anxious Animation | DVD | DVD |publisher=The A.V. Club |date=2006-06-13 |accessdate=2011-11-11}} as well as Buckethead's own video compilation Secret Recipe.
Personnel
=Performers=
=Production=
- Dan Monti — producer, engineer, mixing, programming
- Robert Hadley — mastering
- Bryan Theiss — artwork
- P-Sticks — artwork (back cover, inside portrait of library)
- Steven Morrison — title inspiration{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1811875 |title=Images for Buckethead – The Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell |publisher=Discogs.com |date= |accessdate=2011-11-11}}
References
{{Buckethead}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuckoo Clocks of Hell, The}}