Ah, Mr. Bungle's California! This is a very special album to me, as I consider it one of the key albums that unlocked my brain and ears to open to any kind of music, and I do mean *any* kind of music. In the same song.
Raised up with two older brothers into metal, Mr Bungle was simply a lyrics reference in Sacred Reich's 31 Flavors ("Mr. Bungle is so very cool"), which was a reference to their self-titled debut. I would then be exposed to Mike Patton through Faith No More, as The Real Thing was a favourite in the household, when it came out. However, Mr Bungle remained a simple reference in a weird track on a thrash metal album (fitting, in retrospect) and a side project of Mike Patton.
At one point I did listen to Squeeze Me Macaroni, which I thought was brilliant and catchy, like Red Hot Chili Peppers on drugs jamming with Mike Patton but never came across anything else, until 2001, when a good friend of mine got hooked on California and had to share with me.
The impact upon listening to Ars Moriendi is not easy to describe. I've had heard music like that before, from Zappa or elsewhere, but never so incredibly catchy and fun. It was impossible to fathom that I would listen to something resembling balkan hip-hop meets metal meets gypsy folk meets techno meets whatever else is contained in those 4 minutes of madness, in one song AND with a coherent structure AND by being so damn enjoyful. I was hooked right then and there.
The rest of the album lived up to the expectations. Simply put, I find no fillers on this album, on the contrary I find every song an individual music trip served with class, courtesy of the brilliant musicianship of the entire band and Mike Patton's stellar performance.
Mike Patton... I am a huge fan of the man, not only as an amazing and incredibly diverse singer but also as a musician. The aforementioned Ars Moriendi is a song written by him, as is the majority of the album (he has songwriting credits in 7 out of 10 songs). This album I consider to be his magnum opus as a musician, rating his work here even above Faith No More, of whom I am a huge fan.
However, it would be hugely unfair to the rest of the band to be overlooked because of Patton. Trevor Dunn, an incredible bassist in his own right, is the author of Retrovertigo, which is certainly among the top moments of the album, a beautiful eerie song that climaxes to a huge theatrical ending, greatly supported by the fine work done in the production department. Trey Spruance, also known for his guitar work in Faith No More's King... album, co-writes with Patton another favourite off the album, Pink Cigarette. A really beautiful ballad, with Mike's voice being so smooth and emotional it could crack a diamond, the song incorporates elements from 60s Italian ballads, country music yodeling (just a simple phrase but it works wonders in the end). A definite highlight.
...as is the aptly named Goodbye Sober Day, which closes the album, a song equally crazy with Ars Moriendi, it delivers an adventurous, fun trip to various music styles from the most weird places, mixes them up together and still manages to sound coherent.
I believe this to be Mr Bungle's best album. Of course it cannot hold the innovative weight and impact of the debut, nor can it claim any larger ambition and scope than Disco Volante. However, it manages in my opinion, to gather the elements of both those albums and add catchiness and flow, which is a monumental task considering the sheer amount of musical styles presented in each song.
I've often read that this album is more commercial and accessible than the other two, often with a hint of disappointment, citing a preference for the more experimental side of the first two (especially Disco Volante). While it is certainly true that this albums IS more accessible (commercial would be a stretch imo), this only highlights the feat accomplished by the band. Because the album is equally complex in the making and structure as any of the previous works, yet it still manages to maintain the listener within its grip. Disco Volante is a much more difficult album to follow and to this reviewer, that is not a compliment. Don't get me wrong, I truly love Disco Volante (Desert Search for Techno Allah is among the band's best songs ever) and it is a fine music trip, once you get past the initial difficulties. But it still is an album for certain days and moods, an album that I would more often than not pick only a few songs to listen to at the time.
California is an album that I would listen to in its entirety, starting with the sweet hawaiian ambience of its opener to the madness of its closing track. Always a pleasure.
Masterpiece. It is not a metal album by a longshot of course, metal is only one of the dozens of genres you can hear in it. But for a fan of music and not just one branch of music, this is, as I say, a masterpiece.