A Mr. Bungle thread

[Iszil]

OK, maybe they are not strictly prog but honestly, what is prog?

I personally love their last album, "California". It's actually one of my favourites from the last 20 years. Their first two albums (specially the first) are a bit harder to swallow, but if you enjoy "California" you should check them out.

I suggest you give it a try. Mike Patton is involved, in case you care (not really important).

I strongly recommend that if you wanna give it a try then listen to the whole album for one simple reason: every song is totally different from each other. It's like they decided to merge all the music styles they could find. Truly eclectic.

However, I'll leave you with a little taste of it:

[Udi Koomran]

California=classic album sare I say masterpiece?

[Chuck AzEee!]

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...ungle-Any-fans

[Scrotum Scissor]

OK, maybe they are not strictly prog but honestly, what is prog? I personally love their last album, "California". It's actually one of my favourites from the last 20 years. Their first two albums (specially the first) are a bit harder to swallow, but if you enjoy "California" you should check them out.

Well, at least there's no "'strict' prog" to begin with. BTW, you do know that Mr. Bungle more or less spawned a whole rock subgenre of their own, and that there's considerable interest in this with several participants in here? There was a long thread on it not too far back, dissecting such bands as Prelapse, Scurvy, Estradasphere, Sebkha-Chott, Capillary Action and Secret Chiefs 3 (one of whose touring members, Matt L., is a rather frequent contributor in here and also a core member of MiRthkon). And if you haven't checked them out yet, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (SGM), who just had their debut album Grand Opening and Closing up for "album of the day" in here, were one of the main torchbearers of the post-Bunglian armee.

I never particularly cared for the debut Bungle, but I think Disco Volante was an artistic milestone and California their finest outing musically.

[Iszil]

Wow, thank you guys for the input!

[sonic]

2 Bungle threads! That's a bit of a bungle.

[Lebofsky]

For the record, before SGM they were Idiot Flesh, and before that they were Acid Rain, which I believe pre-dates Bungle, or at least were contemporaries of early Bungle, and not post-Bungle. Anyway that's a minor point - what these bands have in common is an insane work ethic. Plus they contain some of the most learned, enlightened, and inspired people I know.

There were a lot of amazing rehearsal intensive bands that came out of the whole Oakland early 90's scene. I also highly recommend from around that time the album "The Further Adventures of Der Schrimpkin" by Eskimo.

- Matt

[zravkapt]

Even if you don't like the earlier stuff, they were still a great live act.

[chalkpie]

California=classic album sare I say masterpiece?

Yes! I'll go as far and say a possibly top 5 "prog" album of the 90s (whatever prog is...). Every single measure of that album is just meticulous but not at the cost of heady music theory, technical wankery, etc. This is all subjective of course but this is an album that keeps drawing me back like an addictive drug. Mmmmmm....drugs.

One of Patton's finest moments, or maybe his finest?

[polmico]

Yes! I'll go as far and say a possibly top 5 "prog" album of the 90s (whatever prog is...). Every single measure of that album is just meticulous but not at the cost of heady music theory, technical wankery, etc.

I was lucky enough to see the tour for California at the fabulous Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA. I wasn't even 21 yet. They replicated those intricacies live with amazing clarity and verve. There are some boots out there (I think I have a few, including a particularly clean recording from a show in Colorado that was, I believe, broadcast in some way).

But California works largely because it is such a meticulous studio creation. Playing it live with as much enthusiasm as they did must've been a gigantic pain in the ass.

One of Patton's finest moments, or maybe his finest?

That would be Faith No More's Angel Dust.

[chalkpie]

^ Sweet! Must have been an event.

I tried Angel Dust this week...I'm not there yet but will keep trying. Do you love the entire thing soup-to-nuts?

[chalkpie]

I'm also about 80% through Fantomas s/t (99)....a total "headphones ear candy" record. I am going to binge my way through the entire catalog. I'm only vaguely familiar...

[polmico]

I tried Angel Dust this week...I'm not there yet but will keep trying. Do you love the entire thing soup-to-nuts?

It's the whole album. It really is a perfect album for me. There's not a misplaced note.

I think FNM wrongly gets lumped in with nu-metal and the whole "rap rock" thing (not saying you're doing that, of course). Outside of "Epic" and early tunes before Patton joined (Chuck really couldn't sing), there's not a whole lot stylistically to connect FNM with the bands that came after them. Limp Bizkit (is that how you spell it?) and Korn and their ilk. (And, yes, I'm painting with a very broad and ignorant brush, but you get the idea.).

Angel Dust is harrowing and out-of-place: a metal album with only a few metal songs. I think most folk were hoping for more tunes like "Epic." "They've got a guy that raps as their singer!" that sort of nonsense. After all these years, I'm still not exactly sure what Angel Dust is. "Epic, Part Two" it certainly isn't.

Love that album. I once had a friend describe it as the only guitar rock album without rhythm guitars. A slightly hyperbolic claim, but not entirely wrong.

[MudShark22]

In Casa MudShark - the missus and I are FNM and Bungle fans - and our faves are Angel Dust and California.

[chalkpie]

OK, I'll keep hitting Angel Dust....let's see what happens. Thx chaps.

[aith01]

OK, I'll keep hitting Angel Dust....let's see what happens. Thx chaps.

While not all of the songs on Angel Dust work for me, most of them do and I think it's one of the craziest/weirdest album to come out of the early 90s in the semi-mainstream within the rock/metal genre. Or something like that.

Land of Sunshine, Midlife Crisis, A Small Victory, Everything's Ruined, RV... there's some killer tunes on there. It's the only FNM album I own (I think).

An unsung gem in their catalog also is the tune "Falling to Pieces". A killer song with some really catchy hooks -- and Roddy's keyboards are the icing on the cake.



I fought to cover this song in a band I played in 10+ years ago, but the singer said that he didn't think he could pull off the vocal style enough to do it justice -- which is fair! Patton's shoes would be challenge to step into for anyone when trying to perform that stuff. I was still sad that we never covered it though.

[aith01]

I think FNM wrongly gets lumped in with nu-metal and the whole "rap rock" thing (not saying you're doing that, of course). Outside of "Epic" and early tunes before Patton joined (Chuck really couldn't sing), there's not a whole lot stylistically to connect FNM with the bands that came after them. Limp Bizkit (is that how you spell it?) and Korn and their ilk. (And, yes, I'm painting with a very broad and ignorant brush, but you get the idea.).

Angel Dust is harrowing and out-of-place: a metal album with only a few metal songs. I think most folk were hoping for more tunes like "Epic." "They've got a guy that raps as their singer!" that sort of nonsense. After all these years, I'm still not exactly sure what Angel Dust is. "Epic, Part Two" it certainly isn't.

Love that album. I once had a friend describe it as the only guitar rock album without rhythm guitars. A slightly hyperbolic claim, but not entirely wrong.

I really like your description here. Quite insightful and I agree with you.

[Rick L.]

I saw Faith No More on the Angel Dust tour. Helmet opening. They were touring the Meantime album. It was neato.

OK, bye.

[fiberman]

^ Sweet! Must have been an event.

I tried Angel Dust this week...I'm not there yet but will keep trying. Do you love the entire thing soup-to-nuts?

I could tell you some stores about the time (times) I tried Angel Dust some of them are not very pretty, I'm lucky to still be here.

[polmico]

Bungle are going on tour with Melvins this spring:

https://metalinjection.net/tour-date...w-2023-us-tour

May 11 Los Angeles, CA Palladium
May 13 Las Vegas, NV Sick New World Festival *
May 16 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom
May 17 Salt Lake City, UT Union Event Center
May 19 Seattle, WA Showbox
May 21 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
May 23 Oakland, CA Fox Theater

Trying to figure out how I can catch one of those dates.

Also trying to figure out how this doesn’t also become a Fantomas tour (or, at least, an opportunity for Fantomas to play a few songs as an encore).

[Finch Platte]

I have a couple of FNM discs, Fantomas, and a Mike Patton solo disc, Adult Themes For Voice, which I've affixed a sticker saying "this is the worst CD in my collection." I got it for 50 cents, and would like to get that 50 cents back.

[polmico]

More N. American dates for them Bungle lads:

5/6/24 Dallas, TX House of Blues
5/7/24 Austin, TX Emo's
5/8/24 Houston, TX House of Blues
5/11/24 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
5/12/24 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
5/14/24 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl
5/15/24 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
5/19/24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue


Now the only question is: Will I go to the show in ATL or Raleigh?