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Mr. Bungle (album)

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Mr. Bungle
Studio album by
Mr. Bungle
ReleasedAugust 13, 1991
Recorded1991 at Different Fur, San Francisco, California, United States
Genre
Length73:19
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerJohn Zorn
Mr. Bungle chronology
OU818 (demo)
(1989) 		Mr. Bungle
(1991) 		Disco Volante
(1995)
Singles from Mr. Bungle
  1. "Quote Unquote"
    Released: 1991

Mr. Bungle is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Mr. Bungle. It was released on August 13, 1991, through Warner Bros. Records. The album contains many genre shifts which are typical of the band, and helped increase the band's popularity, gaining them a cult following.

Content

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The album cover features artwork by Dan Sweetman, originally published in the story "A Cotton Candy Autopsy" in the comic book series Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children.

The album mixes a variety of musical styles, including ska, circus music, heavy metal, free jazz, and funk.[2] Steve Huey AllMusic called the album's musical style a "dizzying, disconcerting, schizophrenic tour through just about any rock style the group can think of, hopping from genre to genre without any apparent rhyme or reason, and sometimes doing so several times in the same song", and Mike Patton's lyrics as "even more bizarrely humorous" and "less self-censored" than those of Faith No More.[8] Warner Bros. promoted the record as Patton's "seriously weird new project".[9]

The lyrics in the album are broad in themes, ranging from more comedic to dark or sexual. "Slowly Growing Deaf" was "inspired by the ironic need to wear earplugs while listening to music and also people’s inability to listen", according to bassist Trevor Dunn, and was later designated as part one of his "Sleep" trilogy, with the other two being featured on the band’s second album in 1995.[10] "Squeeze Me Macaroni" is a song featuring strong sexual themes being illustrated through food metaphors. "Egg" is about asociality. "Stubb (A Dub)" is about Trey Spruance's dog, Stubb.[11] "The Girls of Porn" is about pornography and masturbation. "Love is a Fist" is about domestic violence. "Dead Goon" is about an asphyxiophile whose actions lead to his accidental death.

Samples from David Lynch's 1986 film Blue Velvet are strewn throughout the album.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[12]
Entertainment WeeklyD−[13]
Kerrang![14]
NME1/10[15]

The album received mixed reviews upon release. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a highly negative review, writing: "Adjectives like 'puerile' and 'unlistenable' take on entirely new dimensions when applied to Mr. Bungle".[13] In contrast, Trouser Press called it "one of the most ambitiously random, fractious records in recent memory" and "one of the finest records of its kind".[16]

Legacy

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In 2015, Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer praised the album, stating: "I loved their last album, California, but their self-titled debut had the biggest impact on me. There’s a song on there called "Love Is a Fist" that's fucking crushing. That set the tone for us and what we went on to do creatively. They were completely outside the box and just didn't care – they satisfied only themselves. It wasn't about record sales, it was just about creating a band."[17]

Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold has named the album as "one of the most incredible pieces of music [he has] ever heard in [his] life".[18] In 2021, Incubus vocalist Brandon Boyd stated that he loved how "irreverent and disgusting and scary the music was" at the time.[19] Boyd and Incubus later toured with Mr. Bungle at the 2000 edition of the SnoCore Tour. When asked about the album's influence on bands such as Korn and Incubus, Spruance said in 2021, "often I feel that the public that took to this album had pre-existing mental problems that the wide distribution of the CD only exacerbated."[20] Saxophonist Bär McKinnon was asked the same question in 2021, and reflected, "it's an honour that bands and musicians name-check us. But it doesn't make me feel like a king or anything!".[21]

Track listing

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All songs are credited to Mr. Bungle. Actual writers below, according to ASCAP.[22]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Travolta" (retitled "Quote Unquote" on later pressings)Trevor Dunn, Danny Heifetz, Mike Patton, Trey Spruance6:56
2."Slowly Growing Deaf"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance, Clinton McKinnon, Theo Lengyel6:58
3."Squeeze Me Macaroni"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance5:38
4."Carousel"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance5:13
5."Egg"Dunn10:39
6."Stubb (A Dub)"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance, McKinnon, Lengyel7:19
7."My Ass Is on Fire"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance7:47
8."The Girls of Porn"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance, McKinnon, Lengyel6:42
9."Love Is a Fist"Dunn, Spruance6:00
10."Dead Goon"Dunn, Heifetz, Patton, Spruance, McKinnon, Lengyel10:02

Three more songs ("Mr Nice Guy", "Thunderball", and "Platypus") were also recorded for the album, but were cut at the last minute; a revised version of "Platypus" would appear on the band's second album, Disco Volante.

Personnel

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Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[23]

Mr. Bungle

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Additional personnel

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  • Yeesus Krist – backing vocals
  • Maximum Bob – backing vocals
  • Kahli – backing vocals
  • Jennifer – backing vocals
  • David Shea – turntables
  • John Zorn – alto saxophone on "Love Is a Fist", production[24]

Technical personnel

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  • Matt Murman – engineering assistance, digital editing
  • David Bryson – engineering, mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Anthony Lee – album sleeve design
  • Lisa Wells – band logo typeset
  • David Louapre – album cover and interior art
  • Dan Sweetman – cover and interior art
  • Jay Marshall – cover and interior art
  • P. Earwig – inside double panel art

References

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  1. ^ "Mr. Bungle - the Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ^ a b c McGaughey, Scott (September 1999). "The Unclassifiable and Ever-Evolving Music of Mr. Bungle". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  3. ^ "Experimental Rock Legends Mr. Bungle Revisit First Demo At Warfield". February 3, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo - Mr. Bungle". November 3, 2020.
  5. ^ a b August, Michael Christopher. "25 Years Ago: Mr. Bungle's Debut Polarizes Faith No More Fans". Diffuser. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "The Quietus - Features - Anniversary - Flying Saucer, Attack! Mr Bungle's Disco Volante Two Decades On". Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  7. ^ Shteamer, Hank (May 13, 2011). "Heavy Metal Be-Bop #3: Interview with Trevor Dunn". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  9. ^ "1991 Mr. Bungle ad poster". Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  10. ^ "TREVOR DUNN | Disco Volante Interview".
  11. ^ "Stubb | Faith. No Man".
  12. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  13. ^ a b Browne, David (September 6, 1991). "Mr. Bungle". Entertainment Weekly. No. 82. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  14. ^ Kaye, Don (August 10, 1991). "Bung-Ho! | Rekordz". Kerrang!. No. 353. EMAP. p. 21.
  15. ^ Wells, Steven (September 21, 1991). "Long Play". NME. IPC. p. 36.
  16. ^ Robbins, Ira; Frampton, Scott. "Faith No More". Trouser Press. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  17. ^ "Korn's James 'Munky' Shaffer - Under the Influence - The Skinny". Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  18. ^ "Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold / Rick Beato Interview". YouTube.
  19. ^ "Brandon Boyd of Incubus: 'Jeff Buckley to me was my first experience of a Western male singer'". Music-News.com.
  20. ^ Followers, Faith No More (October 31, 2021). "Trey Spruance Halloween Interview". FNM Followers.
  21. ^ https://www.fnmfollowers.com/post/mr-bungle-30-bar-mckinnon-interview
  22. ^ "ACE Repertory".
  23. ^ Mr. Bungle (liner notes). Mr. Bungle. Warner Bros. 1991. 9 26640-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ "MR BUNGLE". www.trevordunn.net. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
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