John Zorn takes nine Morricone tunes (there's one original track here too) and spins them on their heads, displaying a startling level of creativity in the process. The Big Gundown is varietous to the extreme, and features an incredible array of performers: Big John Patton, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith, Diamanda Galas, Vernon Reid (who would later become famous through Living Colour), Melvin Gibbs (Rollins Band), and more. This is at times a challenging listen (the title track, "Metamorfosi (La Classe Operaia Va In Paradiso)"), but it is never pretentious, and there are so many twists and turns that listen after listen proves enjoyable for the new discoveries ensued. The 2000 re-master contains six new tracks, including one with Mike Patton on vocals.
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