OrbDragon
01-26-2004, 05:14 PM
Mr Bungle - California
This is one of my favorite cd's of all-time. The brilliance of this record is that despite the countless musical styles that are covered, the songs actually don't sound as erratic as on the previous two cd's. DESPITE the fact that the band is still evading traditional song structures. In Disco Volante
( http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143660 ) and self titled...the songs are brilliantly composed, but alot of stuff sounds out of place. On California there are also lots of genre hopping and twists...but these are still pop songs that are very listenable to the ear.
01 Sweet Charity
This song has this Hawa?-vibe, with a little bossa nova thrown-in at times. The timpanies and give the song a certain depth you'd expect in wide orchestrated classical music. Despite the fact that the song sounds minimalistic, there are tons of complementary melodies you won't notice right away. 4/5
02 None Of Them Knew They Were Robots
This song is amazing...it has everything. Rock'n roll, rhythm&blues, classical, cartoon music, jazz, basically anything. Trey Spruance's guitar work is amazing, especially that cool rockabilly guitar solo near the beginning. Everything flows well despite the countless melodies and genre switching. Everytime you hear this song, you hear new things. 5/5
03 Retrovertigo
This is a really soothing, simplistic mellow song. The vocals are great...Patton provides background, falsetto and normal vocals. He also beat-boxes in the first chorus. There is a nice music box sequence that builds up to a great, almost over-orchestrated climax. 4/5
04 The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
The intro is great, with Patton doing Brian Wilson-ish vocal harmonies, with latin percussion. The surfish guitar work in the chorus is carried by nifty tom based drum work. The song moves into a tranquil part and kicks in the chorus...that the slow part kicks in again, with nice jungle percussion. 4/4
05 Ars Moriendi
Another great track...it's a mixture of metal, polka, dance music, middle eastern music and classical music. It starts with middle eastern melodies and frequent distorted guitar hits. The beats and melodies in the intro are very abrupt and linear. There is a cool violin part, and the accordion solo builds up, as the 'intro' officially ends. I love part with the distorted guitars and the accordions go simultaneously. At one point this song becomes uptempo polka, classical music and death metal in a matter of instants. A great listen. 4.5/5
06 Pink Cigarette
A very relaxing Burt Baracharach-influenced track. Pattons overdramatic vocals and cheesey lyrics are hilarious. It's a great listen, with nice piano licks. Great climax too...with the annoying beeping signifying the lyrics well. 4/5
07 Golem II: The Bionic Vapor Boy
This track starts with the sound of a music box winding up. After the tiptoe-ing melody the song moves into this awkward electronica driven track. It sounds like nothing I have ever heard. There is even some bits of disco music and jazz heard in this. 4/5
08 The Holy Filament
This is a very melodic pseudo-classical/new age track driven by a spiralling piano melody. It sounds almost like Sigur Rós. Actually, there is no strong basic melody, just lots of secondary melodies complemnting each other well. Pattons vocals are once again great. Gorgeous track...Mr Bungle are foing things in this album that are unheard of in the first two cd's. 4/5
09 Vanity Fair
A nice upbeat track where Patton shows off his singing ability a bit. His vocals are all over the place, rhythmic doo-wop vocals, harmonic background vox and of course lead vocals. It's definately Burt Barachach influenced. 4/5
10 Goodbye Sober Day
This is another amazing track, that's almost impossible to describe. It's got a playful intro carried by guero percussion. I love that little latin sequence right after the cartoon-ish intro. It's followed by a creepy slow part with falsetto vocals singing "Goodbye Sover Day"...then a carnaval part comes that sounds as if it copied from the self titled disc. I love the part where it sounds as if a hundred Pattons sing at once. Then Patton does this strange voice that sounds like an Eastern Monk. Then it goes into a guitar driven thrash assault. It's another great listen. 5/5
This is one of those records you rediscover with each listen. Everytime you hear it, you pick up new things. It's a shame that there will prolly never be another Mr Bungle record. Every record they have released, they sounded like a completely different band. This is prolly the best record to buy first if you want to get into Bungle, because is way more accessible than Disco Volante or self titled. And it's still interesting enough not to get bored after two or three listens...despite only 10 tracks, it's got good replay value.
rating: 4.5/5
This is one of my favorite cd's of all-time. The brilliance of this record is that despite the countless musical styles that are covered, the songs actually don't sound as erratic as on the previous two cd's. DESPITE the fact that the band is still evading traditional song structures. In Disco Volante
( http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143660 ) and self titled...the songs are brilliantly composed, but alot of stuff sounds out of place. On California there are also lots of genre hopping and twists...but these are still pop songs that are very listenable to the ear.
01 Sweet Charity
This song has this Hawa?-vibe, with a little bossa nova thrown-in at times. The timpanies and give the song a certain depth you'd expect in wide orchestrated classical music. Despite the fact that the song sounds minimalistic, there are tons of complementary melodies you won't notice right away. 4/5
02 None Of Them Knew They Were Robots
This song is amazing...it has everything. Rock'n roll, rhythm&blues, classical, cartoon music, jazz, basically anything. Trey Spruance's guitar work is amazing, especially that cool rockabilly guitar solo near the beginning. Everything flows well despite the countless melodies and genre switching. Everytime you hear this song, you hear new things. 5/5
03 Retrovertigo
This is a really soothing, simplistic mellow song. The vocals are great...Patton provides background, falsetto and normal vocals. He also beat-boxes in the first chorus. There is a nice music box sequence that builds up to a great, almost over-orchestrated climax. 4/5
04 The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
The intro is great, with Patton doing Brian Wilson-ish vocal harmonies, with latin percussion. The surfish guitar work in the chorus is carried by nifty tom based drum work. The song moves into a tranquil part and kicks in the chorus...that the slow part kicks in again, with nice jungle percussion. 4/4
05 Ars Moriendi
Another great track...it's a mixture of metal, polka, dance music, middle eastern music and classical music. It starts with middle eastern melodies and frequent distorted guitar hits. The beats and melodies in the intro are very abrupt and linear. There is a cool violin part, and the accordion solo builds up, as the 'intro' officially ends. I love part with the distorted guitars and the accordions go simultaneously. At one point this song becomes uptempo polka, classical music and death metal in a matter of instants. A great listen. 4.5/5
06 Pink Cigarette
A very relaxing Burt Baracharach-influenced track. Pattons overdramatic vocals and cheesey lyrics are hilarious. It's a great listen, with nice piano licks. Great climax too...with the annoying beeping signifying the lyrics well. 4/5
07 Golem II: The Bionic Vapor Boy
This track starts with the sound of a music box winding up. After the tiptoe-ing melody the song moves into this awkward electronica driven track. It sounds like nothing I have ever heard. There is even some bits of disco music and jazz heard in this. 4/5
08 The Holy Filament
This is a very melodic pseudo-classical/new age track driven by a spiralling piano melody. It sounds almost like Sigur Rós. Actually, there is no strong basic melody, just lots of secondary melodies complemnting each other well. Pattons vocals are once again great. Gorgeous track...Mr Bungle are foing things in this album that are unheard of in the first two cd's. 4/5
09 Vanity Fair
A nice upbeat track where Patton shows off his singing ability a bit. His vocals are all over the place, rhythmic doo-wop vocals, harmonic background vox and of course lead vocals. It's definately Burt Barachach influenced. 4/5
10 Goodbye Sober Day
This is another amazing track, that's almost impossible to describe. It's got a playful intro carried by guero percussion. I love that little latin sequence right after the cartoon-ish intro. It's followed by a creepy slow part with falsetto vocals singing "Goodbye Sover Day"...then a carnaval part comes that sounds as if it copied from the self titled disc. I love the part where it sounds as if a hundred Pattons sing at once. Then Patton does this strange voice that sounds like an Eastern Monk. Then it goes into a guitar driven thrash assault. It's another great listen. 5/5
This is one of those records you rediscover with each listen. Everytime you hear it, you pick up new things. It's a shame that there will prolly never be another Mr Bungle record. Every record they have released, they sounded like a completely different band. This is prolly the best record to buy first if you want to get into Bungle, because is way more accessible than Disco Volante or self titled. And it's still interesting enough not to get bored after two or three listens...despite only 10 tracks, it's got good replay value.
rating: 4.5/5