Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle > Reviews > Not more, not even a bit, of Faith

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some good songs
Disadvantages:	A few bad moments and unneeded samples

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Imagine it’s 1991, two years ago a young man with a unique voice joined a little known rock group that was once called Faith No Man but for some years had been called Faith No More, as ‘the man’ had left and was at one point replaced by Courtney Love (!). This young man recorded an album with Faith No More called The Real Thing and it sold rather well. Sufficiently well for this young man’s other band to get signed to Warner Records and two years later, release their debut album. The young man in question is Mike Patton, the band are Mr Bungle and the album is also, Mr Bungle.

Quite what Faith No More fans made of this when it was first released I don’t know – I wasn’t even into music at that point in time let alone listening to Faith No More. Fans that were expecting more funk metal with keyboards were instead assaulted by a mixture of jazz, death metal, ska and circus music. Curious as to just how that works? Even in a slightly morbid way? Read on then friend!

* Quote Unquote *

On early copies of the album this song is known as Travolta, but was changed under record company pressure as they did not want to get involved in any law suits (One of the band members later commented that they didn’t think it was likely that John Travolta would notice a small band slagging him off between his trips to the bank). While its never entirely obvious to figure out the exact meaning of Mr Bungle songs it’s fairly obvious that this song is an attack on the trappings of celebrity. “All behold the spectacle, A fleshy limbless rectangle, Sitting on a pedestal, So nasal handicapable.” “Sniff and remember silver ball, Contortions that he can't recall, The torso on a trampoline, The happiness melts into dream”. Music wise Travolta is one of the rockier songs on the album, mixing woping bass (Makes sense when you hear it, trust me), metal guitars, harsh organ sounds and rhythmic wah wah guitars. The song moves between strange lounge/jazz quiet moments, crashing rock noise and a slow paced combination of all the above. One of the highlights of the album but be warned that the first thirty seconds (Which features someone sleeping) is just there to try and trick you into turning your speakers up!

= The sounds of a random saxophone and a passing train =

* Slowly Growing Deaf *

Faith No More fans start here! Apart from the very short ska guitar intro this song could just about have made it onto Faith No More’s “King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime”. Mixing quiet synth led parts in a sort of Evidence style with thudding rock moments, a few slight returns of ska guitar, a random burst of doo wop and even Super Mario at one point before finishing off as a slow organ ballad. Slowly Growing Deaf is actually one of the less interesting songs on the album as it sits in a sort of unhappy middle ground between Faith No More and Mr Bungle.

= The sounds of someone doing a number two =

* Squeeze Me Macaroni *

Oh boy! Coming on like an insane version of early Red Hot Chili Peppers, Squeeze Me Macaroni is one of the most innuendo packed songs you will ever hear – here’s a few samples of the lyrics. “I was givin' some head to some french bread, It was a four course orgy on the spread of my bed, French kissin' french fries in my Fruit of the Looms, I get deeper penetration with a fork and a spoon”. “Ronald McDonald just loves to be fondled, With Big Mac he'll **** it like a Chicken McNugget, Colonel Sanders wants to goose Granny's loose caboose, He's gonna give her a boost with that Kentucky fried juice”. Patton garbles the vocals out a frightening pace, getting through over 390 words in under six minutes including several instrumental sections and the random samples at the end of the track! Manic clean guitar, funk bass and a fair helping of random samples and bursts of saxophone make up most of the song but it also covers lounge jazz and metal. Including one of the best Bungle vocal moments that’s right up there with all of Chemical Marriage and the ‘chak’ section in Goodbye Sober Day. Suffice to say that the first time I played this to a few people I wish I’d had a camera. There are live versions of this song floating round the net where Bungle mix in the music from Star Wars, which is worth tracking down if you like the song itself!

= The sounds of a party (over a minute!) a few things going backwards and a sample from a porn film (A specific porn film, more later) =

* Carousel *

Bungle head off to a scary, scary fairground for this song as they mix rock, ska and the sort of music you hear coming of rides at fairs. At times the song pretends to bright and bouncy “A carnival for the human race, Cotton candy, happy face, A child talking with his mouth full, Girlfriend gets stuffed animal”. At times it’s subtly darker “The clown that painted a smile on you, Is now the one unmasking you, Animated scenes unwind, Dormant figures come to life” and at times just dark “You know there's something lurking underneath the shape, With a mask over it's head and makeup on his face, Will Warner Brothers put our record on the shelf? (Not what it has in the liner notes but it’s what’s sung!), Take a look in the mirror and see the clown in yourself”. A final mention goes to a rather clever drumming bit that features the drummer (Danny Heifetz, whose grandfather is a well known classical violinist!) playing with only his drum sticks which at one point is interspersed with Mike Patton pretending to be sick. It’s not as gross as it sounds! It’s done very tongue in cheek and sounds like someone pretending to be sick rather than being sick. You either smile or join in, or is that just me… Classic early Bungle.

= The sounds of a computer game =

* Egg *

A large (Ten and a half minutes) sprawling mess of a song mainly mixing ska and jazz. There are some good moments (The “la la la” fast guitar section and the “no place like home” chant at the end) but mainly it’s a bit boring and I tend to skip it.

= The sounds of three minutes of very quiet noises. A bit dull till you find out it’s the band members recording a ‘day with bungle’ and what they get up and then it gets a bit more interesting =

* Stubb (A Dub) *

A strange mixture of dancehall organ, ska/funk and rock. The songs about a child’s perspective of death told by the story of his dog dying. Some great lyrics “Do you remember, We called you puppy? Now you're one of us, We call you family” right at the start and “Do you remember, We called you family? Now you're underground, We call you memory” right at the end. There’s also a rather amusing chorus but I won’t repeat it here. More classic Bungle!

= The sound of someone crying and a bit of random music =

* My Ass Is On Fire *

Opening with a great, almost discordant, ska guitar riff, throwing in stabs of metal guitar and a few bursts of harsh organ the recipe is once again set for a classic Bungle song. Throwing funk in at the start of the verse, the song in it’s own strange and unique fashion to a huge screaming climax with the lines “You knew all along, goddammit, But you wouldn't tell me, Well, look at you now”. The angriest track on the album and also one of the best. Also worth checking out is the strange drum and bass take on this song they did live at the sno-core.

= The sounds of a porn film =

* The Girls of Porn *

Time to explain that film I guess. Now while the band claim they got their name from a puppet show that featured a character Mr Bungle showing kids how not to behave, Billy Gould the bass player from Faith No More pointed out that it was also a character in a porn film he owned. Right, that out of the way onto the song. Easily the most entertaining song Mr Bungle have ever written, this slice of funk metal is virtually guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Unless the language gets to you, while there is a light smattering of potty mouthing in the rest of the album there is a bit more on this song. I’d love to paste a bunch of the lyrics here but I don’t think you’d want anyone under 13 reading them! Worth checking out though, as not only is it entertaining but it’s not to strange either!

= The sounds of a day out with Bungle again =

* Love is a Fist *

Mixing jazz ska and metal again, Love is a Fist promises a lot but doesn’t deliver it all. It suffers from a similar problem to Egg but at nowhere near as dramatic a level. Not one of the best tracks on the album.

= The sounds of a certain puppet show =

* Dead Goon *

The strangest track on the album, opening with a huge collection of seemingly random noises which eventually evolves into something approximating child like jazz with a few random noises in the background. The tune disintegrates a touch though as the vocals come in but rises again magnificently for a descending guitar strumathon with some funky bass as well as a bright and bouncy circus section. The song itself though is about a far from cheerful matter, I’m not even going to hint at it. If you’ve looked up the lyrics and still don’t get it email me and I’ll explain.

= The sounds of strings =

The first Mr Bungle album is not the easiest of listens, when it’s good it really is good but when it’s not it can be quite dire. It also doesn’t need the random samples in-between in each song. Ultimately the eponymous Mr Bungle album ends up being closer to the entertaining side of music as opposed to the genius of California. Fans of strange music should check it out all the same.

* Useful Links *

www.bunglefever.com
www.cv.org