Mr. Bungle
California

First of all, I am reviewing this album because it is absolutely one of the albums by that crazy man Mike Patton that I love the most...

The name of the album is a clear reference and a clear mockery of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who are not even worthy of being highlighted in bold, let me explain: in the mid-90s, Patton was accused by Anthony Kiedis of having copied his style and openly denounced him, raising a storm of criticism... Mike didn't respond very well to him, and after the incident, the two were not on good terms, something that will cost Mr. Bungle dearly as they will later be excluded from a festival due to the RHCP. Here are Mike's words in an interview from '99: "We were trying to get Mr Bungle into some big European festivals. We had never played at big festivals. It was a great opportunity for us: we could play in front of thousands of people and get our music known. Our agent was doing everything to get us into these big festivals, we were about to participate in a big show in France, one in the Netherlands, and in others. All very beautiful until someone got envious. Suddenly we were canceled from many festivals, including a huge festival in Australia, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE ANTHONY KIEDIS DID NOT WANT MR. BUNGLE ON THE BILL. He threatened the non-participation of the Chili Peppers if Mr Bungle were not removed. Can you realize what he did! It was damn pathetic. This man has sold millions of records! We are nothing but a speck of dust on his ass! What the hell is the problem? It is truly incredible..." I leave it to you to comment...

Moving on to the album... it is nothing but a whirlwind of mental sensations, and "colorful" as I define them, with a dynamism and creativity now clearly crossover (a somewhat reductive term) that goes beyond the word itself. No longer something experimentally creative as one might have thought in "Disco Volante" or even in "Mr. Bungle" which so chaotically dragged your mind into that secret and sinister dimension, made of terror and screams. In simple terms, I would say it is a more cheerful album but veiled by that subtle and sadistic Pattonian irony that does not suggest anything good.

In the album, there are veins of jazz-rock-avant-garde-experimental (and the more the better) that truly make you go out of control, your spirit merges with that of the album and becomes one, it is he who imposes orders on you, imposes your moods, becomes part of you. Fast mental images follow one after another, giving you no time to think... I got the impression that there were explicit references to Frank Zappa for the simple fact that in every Mr Bungle album the first track (it's my theory) is akin to his genre... Such is the case with "Sweet Charity" (from "Violenza Domestica" in "Disco Volante" and "Travolta" in "Mr.Bungle," notice it) which despite starting in surf music style turns into a powerful Zappa-style song with rhythmic precision surrounded by a carefully studied and detailed environment out of the ordinary, it clearly shows they are cultured and intelligent musicians; there are many gems in this album, I don't have time to mention all the songs, unfortunately, I will pass on to the highlights: "Retrovertigo" struck me a lot, not only because it really seems very similar to the song "Let there be love" by the Oasis, [...], but for its intensity, what it gives you, one of the most wonderful semi-ballads I have ever heard that at the same time conveys a sense of fear due to the wonderful dissonances that make the song meticulously perfect, "Pink Cigarette" is fantastic, Patton's vocal extension never disappoints, he who could be defined as a falcon soprano as a woman manages to reach very low notes, a catchy, sweet, majestic refrain, a perfection wonderfully broken by the final beep that induces thinking of the death already previously announced by the song ("There's just 5 hours left until you find me dead..."); the explosion of "Vanity Fair" is then clearly a precise intent to finish the album, to complete it with a note of incompleteness that makes the listener believe that what they have listened to is only a small part of the satisfaction created by his music....

I have nothing else to say, only to marvel at the pure genius of this group that I hope can reunite soon...

"as bad as now.... I have never been before...."