When I was visiting my friends at the book store one day, a friend who I knew well enough to point me in a direction to find something handed me this CD. It was Mr. Bungle's Disco Volante. He said hello and then he said, "Matt if you don't own this, the Sgt. Pepper of the 90's you should make this your next buy." "I laughed at his description and told him it's in my car as we speak. He was proud that I had this CD mainly because now he knew where my musical tastes were and he could judge what obscene or out of this world music he could pick for me.
He decided to open the CD and play it for the customers. I cringed and thought he would drive them out of the store. There was about ten of in the store at this moment. Well within five minutes he drove all but 2 out. This included myself and some other person who loved it as much as I did, but did not know anything about them. The person came up to the desk and asked where he could find this CD. I kept my mouth closed, because, I wanted to hear my friend explain to this person what is so great about this CD. He told him that the music spoke for itself and needed no praise on how it is so great, but just to buy it and it will speak volumes.
At first listen it sounds like a mess, but my friend was right. The music does speak for itself quite well. If you wanted some genre mixing this CD is one of the best at that. The mix of Death Metal, 50's pop and surf music, techno, Middle-Eastern music, and Italian Avant-Garde is the the best way to say what it is. It's a Mike Patton thought for about 70 minutes. It's fun and odd and definitely a album that will rise a lot of questions out of your friends. I would guess even people who don't know you will come up to you and ask you what the hell is this stuff.
I think the best way to tell people about this album is to listen to it for themselves. It has all the sounds of some spontaneous musical journey, but somehow Bungle put's it all together well. I know that if you are looking for an album to show off to people who like simple music, then you don't have an album for them. This album is so odd you wonder where they get the ideas from. To be a fly on the wall during this album must have been something just to hear them make sounds and odd nothings out of something.
I am not sure how to tell you more, but if all the albums you should listen to this is one that should be just heard. It might not hit your taste buds, but afterwords your mind will try to dissect everything you just heard and you will have to hear it again. My friend will tell you to this day that he still believes it is the Sgt. Peppers of the 90's. The world tries to guess what goes on in the mind of Mike Patton and this album gives us a small peak of what he is thinking. He is warped and fun and full of odd things, but one thing is for certain this album expresses his genius.
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I've meant to get this ablum for years...even have bid on it on eBay a few times and lost. I'll get it someday.
ReplyDeletePatton was in this band before Faith No More. I always liked the way he never forgot his boyz, and seemed even more loyal to them than Faith No More. His heart was truly as an experimentalist. Which was reaffirmed by him spending so much time with John Zorn in NYC, when he could have been out making a lot more cash with FNM.
Still, I think FNM was truly an innovative band. Nu Metal before all the Nu Metal bands, even before Rage Against the Machine. I always liked FNM more than the Chilli Peppers, who always seemed to lack some in the songwriting department. I always thought it was an injustice that FNM sort of got forgot in the shuffle when they broke so much ground, and were a hit making alternative band 2 or 3 years before Nirvana.
AKA/Rick
Though I much prefer the self-titled Bungle album and California to Disco, it's still all around awesome. I always forget though that most people on this earth don't "get" it.
ReplyDeleteMy iPod shuffled to Golem 2 on California at a NYE party. No one paid any attention to any other songs before or after yet Mr. Bungle threw them for a loop. So much that they blamed the song for messing up their Trivial Pursuit question... "your weirdass music is messing with my brain!"
Funny how California is considered the "mainstream" one...only takes someone else to make you realise it's only mainstream when compared to Disco Volante!
x0x0 Lusty
Thanks Lusty!! I knew albums like this create such talk. It's good that you love this type of music. Please if you can be a follower that would be great!! I like your blogs as well! Thanks again and keep reading.
ReplyDeleteall right, i just finished listening to 'desert search for techno allah' and 'carry stress in the jaw', 2 words for you... fucked. up.
ReplyDeletebut, i liked it. mike patton has been an enigma to me for quite some time. i appreciate what he does with music, i just never knew what to listen to or how to approcah him. i saw tomahawk open for tool twice and i was impressed, however, the mr. bungle material seems very strange.
i have a feeling i would like this album, it just sounds very intimidating and complex. john coltrane's ascension is quite an album to take in, i have a feeling Volante will be on par.
as always, an interesting choice that sucks up more of my work time than actual work.
- Fizz