Mr. Bungle [Explicit Lyrics]

For the unitiated, get ready. You've never heard anything in your life like Mr. Bungle. Featuring the powerful pipes of Mike Patton, Bungle was his pre-Faith No More band which he admirably kept going through the 90's before calling it a day. This album, produced by John Zorn and completely different than anything Bungle has done since, is a challenging first listen for the musically tame. However it is also extremely rewarding and can only do good in expanding your musical vocabulary. It also has lots of X-rated, adult only lyrics that will keep you laughing and/or disgusted all the way through. See: "Squeeze Me Macaroni" (a song about having sex with food) or "The Girls of Porn" (subject matter: obvious).

Mr. Bungle squeezes multiple genres into single songs, often switching gears multiple times within a minute. Careening joyfully from breakneck-speed horn-laden funk, to death metal guitar with doo-woop vocals, to circus music and beyond, this is not for the timid. This is only for the open minded. This is for the bored, those who can no longer handle the same damn songs on the radio all the time, the same keys, chords, time changes and instrumentation. And if you're a Mike Patton fan already, but somehow missed this, prepare to have your mind blown.

Production by Zorn is perfect. How he managed to compress all these instruments, samples, and voices together into coherant songs is nothing short of genius. The sound is gloriously crisp. This is Mr. Bungle's magnum opus.

Highlights:
"Quote Unquote" (formerley known as "Travolta" on early pressings)
"Squeeze Me Macaroni"
"The Girls Of Porn"
"My A@@ Is On Fire"
"Stubb (A Dub)"

But really this entire album flows, and cannot really be broken down into songs. It needs to be listened to in its entirety, in sequence. And be careful when turning up the volume in order to hear the voices during quiet moments. That's just when they hit you with more guitar and horns.

If you don't like this on first listen, don't fret. You'll love it by the 21st. Guaranteed.

A must. 5 stars.

Mike Patton is a God, and anyone who disagrees has already been brainwashed by mainstream media. This album is over a decade old and it is still the best damn thing in my collection, with Fantomas a very close runner up. It only gets five stars because I can't give 27. Mr. Bungle forever!!!

I'll add my glowing recommendation to the pile. This album is truly a marvel. When I first heard it in high school, it changed my whole perception of what a record could be. This music is so well conceived and so well realized. The production is an integral part of the compositions. John Zorn produced the album and he definitely deserves a lot of credit for its clarity of vision and cohesion. The whole record hangs together as one piece of art. I understand where the "heavy metal circus music" moniker comes from, I just don't think it quite does the music justice. There is a very prevelant theme of amorality and irreverance - a kind of R. Crumb-like nightmare-of-America kind of thing. Not just in the lyrical content, but in the musical content as well. You can hear the violence along side the flipancy in songs like "Stubb a Dubb" and "Love is a Fist" and "Dead Goon." No subject is sacred.

All of this thematic theorizing is, of course, a bunch of subjective horse feces. This music is incredible. They probably think they have outgrown it and maybe they have, but I sure haven't. In my opinion, Mr. Bungle's three records get successively better, so if you like this one, listen to others as well. Just don't expect to hear more of the same thing. I have made the mistake of trying to describe this music before. I always fail miserably. You will just have to give it a listen.

"Mr. Bungle" came out in 91'. Remember that while you are listening to it. An underground classic.