Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle (1991)

Mr. Bungle are known as one of the most weirdly diverse bands around. The tracks all contain a mix of different genres, each track different from each other. Bands like Incubus would try that experimentation in the mid-1990s before sticking firmly to a different style. The talented skill of Mr. Bungle is in great display here!

Their 1991 self-titled debut was certainly unexpected at a time when grunge killed the glam star. No one before Mr. Bungle had ever dared to go full-on experimental, except John Zorn with his band Naked City. Zorn would also perform saxophone on one of the tracks in this album. But there's more than just jazzy saxophone. Here we have an avant-garde metal exploration through noise, funk, thrash, and circus music. Just far how can they go to reach the experimentation limit?

The spooky opener "Travolta" was named after John Travolta, but due to trademark conflicts, the song name was later changed to "Quote Unquote". It's truly the soundtrack to a spooky Halloween night at a carnival, though not as disturbing as its banned music video that shows clowns hanging on meat hooks. "Slowly Growing Deaf" is the best example of the band's metal, while exploring the carnival's house of mirrors. Brass-fueled "Squeeze Me Macaroni" is also amazing. That's where the album sounds best when blending lightness with spookiness. Chords are played around in "Carousel", which is actually slightly more normal. You're having fun in the funfair and riding the carousel, but it's too much to take for your motion sickness, and you throw up right in front of all the clowns that laugh at you.

"Egg" is one of two 10-minute epics in this album, this one having some playing fun before a bit of chaos that then leads to a few-minute segue to the next track. "Stubb (A Dub)" is a 7-minute track, but that includes a two-minute outro of audio samples for a nice atmosphere. Still if you want to listen to this track on its own, you might wanna just listen to the 5 minutes of actual music. "My A** is on Fire" is another more normal song, though the title is not one you would find in every album. I like the drums here, but I'm not too sure the Blue Velvet samples click.

"The Girls of Porn" has some groovy bass. "Love is a Fist" is about spouse abuse. The vocals and keyboards shine the most in "Dead Goon", the closing second 10-minute epic. Now this story might not be for the easily weirded out... An asphixiophile clown finds desire in choking himself to escape his own misery. He wasn't planning on committing suicide, but he did in a hanging accident. For a song with such a dark theme, the chorus has such a clean pop vibe.

All in all, Mr. Bungle's debut is the kind of album that someone who was a rebellious troublemaking high school kid can hear and be like, "Wow, that is musically like what I was as a kid." If the human equivalent to this album's music is around, I would hang out for some time with this cool guy whose name is... Mr. Bungle!

Favorites: "Slowly Growing Deaf", "Squeeze Me Macaroni", "Egg", "Stubb (A Dub)", "Dead Goon"