MR. BUNGLE — Mr. Bungle (review)

MR. BUNGLE — Mr. Bungle album cover Album · 1991 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Negoba
Squeeze Me Macaroni....

1991, Faith No More are MTVs favorites thanks to Epic and then Falling to Pieces, the Real Thing is the hottest album of the land prior to truly meteoric destruction that was Nevermind. Mike Patton, who is a new addition to the established band, is outperforming Chris Cornell live, and then.....

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Words cannot describe what this album was for those of us who could actually understand it. The graphic lyrics, the wild juxtaposition of style, the complete disregard for commercial appeal, it was shock and a exhilirating breath of, well certainly not fresh air, but a funk we hand't smelled ever before.

The band I was in tried to attempt some of these songs and we simply weren't up to the task at the time. There was one other band on the scene that could pull them off and believe me those were some memorable parties. No one incorporated metal into music this complex at that time. No one incorporated circus music quite like this...well maybe ever. Patton gets to really begin showing his true breadth that he continued to expand to the point that he is...well we know where he stands among the art rock community now. That position was probably cemented by the sophomore, perhaps even more audatious and artistically adventurous Disco Volante. But that album would never had been allowed to be made without this album.

Though these lyrics include some of the worst pottymouth in the history of recorded music, there is some real humor here. Squeeze Me Macoroni with it's descriptions of previous undescribable acts with Betty Crocker is a personal fave, and there are many other gems.

The ease with which this band makes it's transitions is phenomenal, and as I go back now a listen to this after experiencing Unexpect and the many Bungle offspring such as Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, the changes here seem natural and perfect. I have to get my mind into a certain set before being able to listen to this, but when I'm there, wow.

Like many masterpieces, others have imitated this and perhaps improved on the ideas. I read reviews of this album ranging from too much to too pasted together to simply saying that their later work is more artistically important. But in the context of those who were immersed in music in 1991, this is a masterpiece. And it remains so when I listen to it now.
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