Mr. Bungle's California C or D?

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But that doesn't mean it's not pretty good.

Then there's also the debut...the John Zorn-produced sick-funk-metal freakout with the clown on the cover. Myself, at 16 years old, was just not ready for something of that nature...so, I grew by listening. "Girls of Porn" is one of my all-time favorite songs...about as funky as anything any white folks have ever done.

Of course, the thing with California is that it's weird and crazy as anything anybody this side of Karlheinz Stockhausen ever did, but in an amazingly accessible and approachable way.

I would personally consider all of 'em classics...including California. I'm hoping someone will post on here that Mr. Bungle sucks and makes unlistenable noise, cause all this agreeing is creeping me out a little.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS TO THREAD

Ever listened to Faxed Head's "Uncomfortable But Free"?

California is very nice but it just doesn't have anything as great as "Desert Search for Techno Allah" on it, though "Golem II" and "Goodbye Sober Day" come damn close. I'd actually like to hear another album like this where the songs were just a bit stronger. That'd be all-time classic stuff.

Faxed Head didn't seem all too great when I heard them but Secret Chiefs 3 are classic!

LOL! I know the one you're talking about! I have absolutely no idea of the title though--as is the case with all that Secret Chiefs 3 stuff.

I love the Second Grand Constitutions...I can't believe a piece of music can be so ethereal, disturbing, and fun all at the same time!

Have you heard/how do you feel about Fantomas? I've been listening to them a lot lately, The Director's Cut in particular. If you don't know, it's Mike Patton and Trevor Dunn from Bungle with King Buzzo from The Melvins and Dave Lombardo from Slayer. Their music is absurdly intense, and there's nothing goofy about it; except for maybe the faces Trevor Dunn makes.

The second one: Disco Volante. This one I think you would like more than the others. It's disturbing, creepy, powerful, methodical, all sorts of shit. Not very much about it could be called "goofy" or "jokey" (okay, the 'secret song' after track 3 might not go over well with you, but that's about it). It's their most focused and down-right EVIL album for sure. If there's an album of there's that you would like, it's this one...based on my extremely-limited-knowledge of your tastes, that is. :D

i then became sort of a fanatic for a few months collecting all the side projects, but from what little i heard, Tomahawk didn't do it for me. it sounded too straight. almost Faith No More-ish.

I don't think Patton has been involved with much great music recently, I'd rather listen to Jesus Lizard than Tomahawk, the first Fantômas was very good, but the covers album was dull. Lovage just wasn't a thing for me.
Oh crap, I'm being a negative panda. Sorry.

California was my most highly anticipated album the year it came out, to the point that I imported it because the release in Norway got delayed. Those situations are always scary, as my hopes grew so frigging huge. Imagine my joy when the first listen turned out to be pure bliss.

Oh yeah, the second Secret Chiefs 3 album is wonderful as well, the debut rather blotchy, whilst the third one I still haven't listened to enough to really give a bunly opinion on. Apparently three more SC3 albums are coming out this year. Yikes!

BTW, how are Patton's solo albums? As far as I've gathered, he's essentially pulling a bunch of Demetrio Stratos sounding stuff on them?

As for Tomahawk, they're much beter live than on that record. They actually did this 10min+ drone rock thing when I saw em, so I'm hoping their next one is bit more unconventional.

Oh, and it's on their self-titled first proper album, with the creepy clown on the cover. John Zorn produced that one, btw.

listening to "Chemical Marriage" right now, and it still cracks me up this many years later.

Chemical Marriage is a Hermetic term, by the way. Disco Volante is loaded with Hermetic axioms (that's the occult for you stupid types) and I would like to know why. The songs are just goofiness, so why pretend they are deep and mystical?

Strikes me that virtually everything Mr.B did was designed first and formost to fuck with people. That you've spent time scratching your head about this means they've succeeded, I suppose.

lol JJ wants to have this album's babies

There's one more hoooour until you will find me deeead

3 analog 24 tracks chained together. That has probably not happened since.

best album ever, perhaps. apart from disco volante.

pink cigarette is a great song. is it supposed to be an an homage to david lynch? cuz it sounds like an even more warped bad-acid-trip version of Julee Cruise.

Just listened to this a coupla times today, the CHAKCHAKCHAKCHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKA*RIFFFFFF* bit in Goodbye Sober Day is my new favourite bit, but this is always subject to change.

That's taken from Indonesian kecak music. Buy a kecak CD and just hear that CHAKCHAKCHAKCHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKA bit all day!

This band got better with every album for real.

Well I just listened to Disco Volante right thru again and I'd quite possibly dispute that, but the last 2 are simply titanic (and the 1st one merely very very very good)

My old roommate was a big Mike Patton fan, I never understood why. Mr. Bungle reminds me of this:

oh good cameron carr is here

This album is absolute magic from beginning to end. So many chills inducing moments, including:
"Save me, the heavens have opened, I'm coming home sweet charity"
The fiddle riff at 0.53 in Ars Moriendi
"From the skyscrapers down to the submarines"
When the extra-layered vocals come back in after the freak-out instrumental in The Holy Filament
The chorus of RetroVertigo ("staring into glassy eyes, mesmerize")
All of Pink Cigarette

Cameron, if that's what you think Bungle sound like you've probably only listened to the first album, and not very closely at that. YouTube Pink Cigarette and give it a listen, you'll be astounded by the difference.

that video is like if cardiacs were really bad and unimaginative, which is not a universe i want to be in

This is one of those albums I always thought I'd like but have never heard.

If Naked City covering Pet Sounds seems like something you'd like, you should check it out. I was a fan from the first album onward and caught the California tour with an early incarnation of Dillinger Escape Plan opening. So good.

does patton smoke crack or what? listening to this now

this is mr bungle's pop album muahahahahaha

Same guy who engineered this recorded my last album. He's freakin awesome.

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/mr-bungle-california-20-year/

This never been polled?

Goodbye Sober Day would surely take it

(or Pink Cigarette...maybe you should poll it after all!)

Now I'm POLLING truth is a ruin: Mr Bungle's 1999 masterpiece "California"