Mr. Bungle is the eponymous debut studio album by American 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 reasonable following and fanbase. The fact that Mike Patton was gaining fame from Faith No More may also have been a contributing factor to this. The album cover features artwork by Dan Sweetman, originally published in the story, "A Cotton Candy Autopsy" in the DC Comics/Piranha Press imprint title, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children.
Background
The first track, "Quote Unquote", was originally titled "Travolta", referring to John Travolta, but had to be changed for legal reasons. However, Travolta's name is still spoken in the song. The first few minutes of the Lunchroom Manners instructional video, where the band got its name, can be heard at the end of "Love is a Fist".
Musical style
AllMusic called the album 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."[1] The website described Mike Patton's lyrics as "even more bizarrely humorous than those he used in Faith No More", and "also less self-censored".[1]
Quotes and samples
Quotes from David Lynch's 1986 film Blue Velvet are strewn throughout the album. Samples included are outtakes from KFC commercials, items from the videogames Super Mario Bros., Altered Beast, Smash TV and R.B.I. Baseball, the pornographic film Raw Footage (misattributed to Sharon's Sex Party) and the pinball games Cyclone, Earthshaker and Haunted House.
Critical reception
The album was generally well received by critics upon release, with AllMusic writing, "It's a difficult, not very accessible record, and the band wouldn't have it any other way" and awarding the album four and a half of a possible five stars.[1]
Entertainment Weekly, however, gave the album a much more negative review, writing, "Adjectives like puerile and unlistenable take on entirely new dimensions when applied to Mr. Bungle".[2]
Track listing
| 1. |
"Travolta" ("Quote Unquote" on later pressings) |
6:56 |
| 2. |
"Slowly Growing Deaf" |
6:58 |
| 3. |
"Squeeze Me Macaroni" |
5:38 |
| 4. |
"Carousel" |
5:13 |
| 5. |
"Egg" |
10:39 |
| 6. |
"Stubb (A Dub)" |
7:19 |
| 7. |
"My Ass Is on Fire" |
7:47 |
| 8. |
"The Girls of Porn" |
6:42 |
| 9. |
"Love Is a Fist" |
6:00 |
| 10. |
"Dead Goon" |
10:02 |
Personnel
Mr. Bungle
Additional personnel
- David Bryson – engineering, mixing
- Matt Murman – engineering assistance, digital editing
- John Zorn – production
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Troy Blakely – Management
- Stan Diamond – legal representation
- Kristin Yee – band management
- 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
- David Shea – turntables
- Yeesus Krist – backing vocals
- Maximum Bob – backing vocals
- Kahli – backing vocals
- Jennifer – backing vocals
References
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| | | | Studio albums | |
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| | Singles | |
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[1]