Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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194 of 207 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This record has destroyed my fragile little mind., May 8, 2000
Imagine the following situation: Its 1991, Mr. Bungle is suggested to me from my brother, who is currently discovering cool music in college. I'm in ninth grade. That night while doing my homework, I popped in Mr. Bungle. I remember everything up to this point very clearly.The next hour is gone. What I do remember is the true Fear that I felt when the album stopped spinning and I came to. Fear of how closed minded my musical sence was. Fear of what I didn't know or understand. My head hurt. How could someone have even thought up this delightfully evil music? Who was this Vlad Drac fellow and what planet was he from? The only reasonable explanation at the time was that I had witnessed the music of Satan, himself. So, I quickly called all of my friends and within days, I distributed about 20 more copies of Mr. Bungle throughout my high school. To say the least, it affected us all on a life-changing level. Granted, I was at an impressionable age but Mr. Bungle changed the way I look at everything in the music industry. Once tolerable, Bungle has proven that the Top 40 is completely worthless. Music isn't for fun anymore. I can't apprecite it unles it affects me both mentally and phsyically. Bungle has raised the bar on what I consider worthwhile. A catchy tune will never be enough again. I have a bitter sweet love for Mr. Bungle. They forced my mind to expand long before it was ready. I really wish that I could sit in my car and bob my head to the latest Matchbox 20 song, or makeout with some Celine Dion blasting in my living room, but I can't. Mr. Bungle, thank you for pounding the last nail into my pop culture coffin. Be careful with this record. It will change the way your ears work.
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40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Manic brilliance., January 20, 2003
Usually when I tell people that this is one of my favorite albums ever by anyone, they usually raise their eyebrows and tell me I'm weird and that Mr. Bungle is stupid.But eh...what do they know? I can think of few albums that combine such far-reaching stylistic influences with this kind of deranged songwriting genius. Mr. Bungle's self-titled album combines every style under the sun, siphoning it through a dizzying kaleidoscope of demonic circus music. It's wild and seemingly out of control --- the first time I heard it I thought it was entertainingly comical but a mess in any case. Songs jump all over the place and leave the listener in the middle of nowhere without a map. Mike Patton, known on this album as Vlad Drac, gives one of the most brilliantly insane vocal performances ever on this record. His singing styles run from lightning fast vocal riffs ("Squeeze Me Macaroni" still amazes me), bleeding-throat screams, sonorous croons, or anything else you can think of. A lot of people consider him the most remarkable vocalist in all of rock and...well, sometimes it's hard to disagree. The rest of the band is blessed with killer chops demanded of music this aggressively nuts. If the album were all about stunning performances and craziness, it would be impressively amusing but not astonishing. What makes the album so enduring is the sheer polish behind the writing and arrangements. The album is far too much to put together in one listen, but everything is so incredibly well put together that before long one cannot deny the sick intelligence here. It hops from metal to jazz to doo wop to punk to circus music to Disney-like themes to funk to video game soundbytes to...well, you get the idea. These transitions between genre occur with no audible seam and even after listening to this record countless times I am amazed by how well this band ties it all together. And frankly, I think the lyrics are pure genius too -- "Squeeze Me Macaroni" fills the act of eating into something drenched with sexual metaphors. "Stubb (A Dub)" is the classically morbid story of a dying dog. "Egg" is philosophy a la Bungle. Even "The Girls of Porn" hard not to love -- it's absolutely dirty but Patton's whiny vocal makes it oddly endearing somehow. This is no novelty disc that loses its thrills quickly. There is long term appeal to be found in this music. Too bad they only release albums every four years or so.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Turn it on, tune it in and drop out of your sanity., December 13, 1999
I have been curious about this recording ever since I first heard about it around 1990 (?) or so. I was reluctact to try it because I had gotten word that the lead singer was Mike Patton, and the only thing I knew about him at the time was that he sang for Faith No More, and I didn't exactly consider Faith No More an artistically creative outlet (my respect for them has greatly increased since joining the mental Bungle circus train). Finally, I was persuaded to hear it at my local music store after reading the one comment here on Amazon that says "This may very well be the most sinister music I have ever heard in my life." Now I'm not necessarily into SINISTER music, but I love music that challenges and charges my emotions, and the idea of funk and metal mixed with circus music in oddly demonic ways intrigued me. I can't begin to tell you how much the cover of the CD still has the power to make me cringe. As for the contents, all the reviews in the world can't begin to prepare you for how frantic and fun this album really is. It swirled all about my head and filled my brain in a zonked hippy haze that kept me charged for days afterward. One thing I also want to point out here (no offense meant to anyone who said that these songs can't be called "songs", because I see exactly what you mean! :) is that if you know about musical structure and study these compositions REALLY close, they do have a strong, carefully thought out structure...a wild structure, sure, but these guys knew exactly what they were doing in assembling these songs right from the beginning. No mere novice out there could take bits and pieces of different music, slap them together, and come out with exactly this combination of elements. The really amazing thing here, as I'm sure all the other fans of this album here agree, is that this music was all done WITH NO EDITING! At ALL! They did NOT splice this stuff together, they are so talented that they have the natural ABILITY to switch musical gears in a split second to play something completely different! That is REAL talent, and never before would I have guessed what a musical genius Patton is or how varied his vocal skills are. It's no wonder they are now considered in the same league as Zorn (who co-produced this first one here) and now are respected as genuine musical ARTISTS and not just performers. I can't overpraise this album enough, I'll just say, hey, listen to everyone here who has said that you should try this album if you're sick of all the Top 10 stuff out there. Oh, and by the way, the album features a song (the closest one to sounding "traditionally structured" but still wildly different) which is a load of fun and one of the most delightfully catchy little pieces I've ever heard, "The Girls of Porn". I swear, I play that song and "Squeeze Me Macaroni" to DEATH in my van's stereo and the music is so delightfully goofy and fun (and the lyrics are often hilarious) that they put me in a great mood even when I'm feeling down in the dumps. Check it OUT, man...!
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~ Mr. Bungle
~ Faith No More
~ Faith No More
~ Faith No More
~ Faith No More
by Mr. Bungle 
