Review Summary: Quite possibly the best album on earth.
I was first introduced to Mr. Bungle when my uncle sent me a copy of OU818. I was instantly hooked on them and got Bowel Of Chiley. I then found out they had released a self-titled album through Warner Bros. and I simply had to get it. When I got it, my mind was blown! There were some familiar re-recorded songs from their previous demos on there, and also some new. I loved the entire cd, and it is still my favorite to this day. This is my first review ever, so it probably won't be that great, but I guess it's still worth a shot.
We start off the cd with a song called "Quote Unquote". For about 30-31 seconds, it is nothing but silence and faint snoring. Then, at the 32 second mark, we hear something shatter, and the song is started. The sound is sorta circusy, heavy, and down right creepy. We are brought into the first verse with Patton's vocals, and after that, cut down into an upbeat bass, drums and keyboard part which is then interrupted by what sounds like someone punching the keyboard. The style from the beginning is brought back, and so are Patton's vocals. It all simmers down and becomes mellow after that, and soon comes my favorite part. The mellowness turns into heaviness, along with keyboards with the pitch being brought down slowly which sounds similar to what you would hear in an old horror movie. Everything repeats and the song ends with some random samples. Rating: 4/5
Next, we get "Slowly Growing Deaf". It starts off in the style of '80s pop, and then right into a mellow Sinatra-like verse. The verse turns a corner and goes into an '80s metal-ish style. Right after "as if you are listening out there", we get the '80s pop back, and then to a number of different genres. Patton yells "Beethoven!!", and the '80s pop comes back..again. There is a breakdown of a bunch of video game samples, and then the '80s metal kicks in. The rest of it is metal and the Sinatra-like verses. There's a spazz, re-entry of the verses, and then "ahh I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee". Some samples at the end of this as well. Rating: 4/5
Third, "Squeeze Me Macaroni". This song reminds me of a lot of bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, etc. Patton raps extremely fast about food puns and nursery rhymes. The highlight in this song is definitely Trevor's bass playing. I don't really have much to say about this song because its pretty much the same thing throughout the entire song, except for the mellow "squeeze me macaroni, slop your face with my bologna" part in the near end, the amazing snap-and-pop bass riff right after it, and the "we came to party" part at the end with samples from the movie Blue Velvet in the background. Rating: 5/5
Fourth, "Carousel". This song reminds of Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo. It's a dark ska-type song with twists and turns. Samples like "ride the ferris wheel" and "hurry hurry, step right up" were used in the song to get the carnival type feeling. The song is like taking acid before going to a carnival, it's insanely trippy. My favorite part is when it gets to the darker part of the song and Patton shouts "I think I'm going to be sick!!" and proceeds to make vomiting noises. The end is the main part of the song and tons of maniacal laughter. Rating: 4/5
After "Carousel", we have "Egg", which is also one of the longest songs on the album. There are tons of genres put into this song including ska, polka, etc. This song got me hooked on saying "ay, how'd you know I was lookin' at you if you weren't lookin' at me?" from around the middle of the song. There is a part where the entire first verse is reversed and put into the song, and Mr. Bungle does it so well. The ending is very entertaining with Patton saying "there's no place like home" in various different voices. This was also probably my favorite off the album, if not this, "Girls Of Porn". Rating: 4.5/5
The next song is "Stubb (A Dub)", and that's just what this song is, a dub. I like this one a lot because of how messed up it is, and it's quite a fun song to listen to while under the influence of drugs. The song is basically an ode to a dead dog named Stubb. There is a wide use of instruments put into this song, and I really like Patton's vocals on this song the most. I know it seems like the reviews get shorter and undescriptive with each new song, but I just don't know how to describe them all in detail. Rating: 4.5/5
"My Ass Is On Fire" is the next song. This was probably the heaviest song on the album. This and "Quote Unquote" were the only Bungle songs that got music videos (even though "My Ass Is On Fire"'s music video was never aired). The screams Patton produces in this song are simply amazing, and are a nice touch to the entire album. Bungle played this song differently at Bizarre Festival 2000, and, even though it's a major change, it's not too bad. Just goes to show, Mr. Bungle can make anything good. Rating: 4/5
"Girls Of Porn" serves as the 8th track on the album. It's basically a tribute to porn, masturbating, etc. The style of this, of course, sounds like it would come from a porn flick. There's a huge use of horns and samples, making this possibly my favorite song on the album (as I said above). The bridge is mellow while Patton names off different types of porn, followed by "yeeaaa!!!". I like the ending the most when the horns kick in and the sample of "I'd buy that for a dollar" comes through the speakers. Rating: 5/5
The 9th song, "Love Is A Fist", is next. The verses are a lot different than the actual chorus. I don't exactly know how to explain the verses, but they are awesome. Also, the ADD saxaphone solo before the chorus was brilliant. We now get to the highlight, the chorus. The chorus is thrash metal while there are gang shouts of "Love Is A Fist!!". The rest of the song is kinda the same as before, but it's a really good song for when you want nothing more than to get up and beat the *** out of someone. Rating: 4.5/5
The final song is "Dead Goon". I never liked this song as much as the other songs before because of how long the intro to it is, but I soon grew to love it. I think this is the song with the most genre shifts on the entire album, and the sound of it is just plain weird. My favorite part is when Patton shouts "NOOOOOO!!!!" followed by "it can't happen..". I love Trevor's bass playing in this song the most, especially around the "innocent friction.." part. As far as I know, this is the longest song on the album, but only because of the hidden extra samples after the song ends. Rating: 5/5
Mr. Bungle's self-titled album is a masterpiece in my opinion. The thing I've always loved about Bungle is they don't leave any genre behind in their songs.
