Absolute love for my guys, Mr. Bungle; their genius surpasses all I've ever heard. Awesome choice for breaking this M.B. album down! Great job. *re: them being signed- IPECAC. *re: RHCP/A Keidis... WAY off track there. Bungle, Patton never "hated" Keidis. You can fact check multiple sources; even straight outta Patton's mouth. This band is unfuckingbelievable & Bungle is absolutely an entity, a force no other band can even hope to touch. Oh & FUCK RHCPs 😊
Finally found my corner of CZcams. Fun to listen in on a couple guys spending time discussing my favorite band. I’ve been on Bungle since ‘94. Got Disco Volante on the day it was released. Been listening to their records so much for so long that every time I do I get transported to a certain time and place. Saw ‘em in back to back shows for California. Loved it then. Love it now. Don’t care that none of my friends get it.
Awesome dude! It’s a fun corner to be in:) I would have loved to have seen them in their California tour! Hope you enjoyed this episode and our disco volante one as well. What are your thoughts on the raging wrath of the Easter bunny demo??
@@scratchatrack listen, I’m not gonna argue with an album that contains Lombardo, Scott Ian, Trevor, Trey and Patton. It’s really good for what it is - a straight forward thrash record. I know they claim thrash as their first thing and what MB was really about. But the John Zorn influence made their debut and Disco Volante what they are...something nobody ever heard before. Dangerous. Daring. Innovative. Challenging. And unmistakably talented. I miss the elements that guys like Willian Winant, Bar McKinnon, Danny Heifetz and Theo Lengyel brought to the equation. Heifetz is criminally under people’s radar. The horns, keys and percussion gave the first 3 official releases dimensionality and a vast canvas to work from. Platypus, Travolta, Goodbye Sober Day, Dead Goon, Carousel, Desert Search for Techo Allah, Ars Moriendi, Phlegmatics, My Ass is On Fire. Even unrecorded covers like Ei Raat Tomar Amar are what make Bungle...different and why I love ‘em so much. I just found you guys today, so I’ll definitely check out your library. Thanks
I remember the first time I heard it. I came back home drunk, put it on and just as I was passing out, I thought "gotta listen to it tomorrow. It can't be this good"
I don't think Patton needed to be an underdog but he wanted to be so he could be unfettered. He deserves every accolade he gets, he earned them all the rough way - through true talent, creative ingenuity and pererverence. I hope he never stops. Hia band mates are always geniuses too. True creative professionals, from Trevor and Trey to the FNM crew, all the way through Peeping Tom. Don't get me started on the Tomahawk guys. He is a magnet for talent.
So glad you guys covered this album! One of my absolute favorites, thank you for introducing me to it so many years ago. I absolutely echo your sentiments that this album deserves much more recognition than it gets. It's so sonically ambitious, it still feels ahead of the times. Another extremely difficult album to scratch! I guess if pushed I would choose Golem II. ALSO I should clarify, the show I saw did feature some covers, but was mainly a performance of Mr Bungle's first EP, which I think has only been available on cassette/bootlegs. It was a great show regardless, but my lifelong goal to hear California played live is still as of yet unrealized.
Thanks for the feeeeedback! Great to know someone else feels the same way about this album. We too would like to see songs from this album performed in a live show. There are some live versions you can find here on CZcams. The best ones are from the Bizarre festival in 2000.
Golem II? Bro.........Gross..............I guess you missed the hottest clavinet riff EVER! You should make a Dr.'s appointment and get your hearing looked at :-)
I was late discovering this album. When I did, I messaged my brother because I thought it would be something he'd be interested in as well. He responded with "it's been one of my favorite albums of all time." This album is one of my favorites as well!
Love hearing that! I feel like this albums just doesn't get talked about enough. I know it is a little out there but more people should know about this beyond just the Bungle heads! Have you listed to or like any of their other albums??
@@scratchatrack Yeah, oddly enough, I went through their discography in reverse order from that point. I love all their albums, but California is still my favorite. It's perfect👌
@@TraumaHound Our favorite too. I've listened to The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo a few times and although I don't typically gravitate to that type of sound it's pretty great!
Must have been a great show. Did you see them? We did an episode recently about the Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny demo you might enjoy checking out. What do you think of that album??
@@scratchatrack It's funny, in 2000 I was a big fan of Faith No More and Mike Patton. Patton's Fantomas first album was out in '99. I worked with a guy who shared similar music interests. He asked if I liked Mr. Bungle. Surprisingly I never heard of Mr. Bungle. He told me that Mike Patton sings in that band too. He let me borrow his California cd. When I got home and put it on, I was blown away. My first thoughts were that it sounded like music written by a band that was schizophrenic, and genius. It was so good, I couldn't stop listening to it for quite awhile. I have a Mr. Bungle California t-shirt. Rarely when I wear it does anyone say anything about it, but on the rare occasions when someone recognizes it they usually say something like, "Hell yeah! Mr. Bungle! Great album!"
@Scratch a Track Maybe....It is a great album any was you look at it. It's hard to say if it is my favorite as I like weird music. Like Mr Bungle's self-titled album, Fantomas, Dog fashion disco, and Dion McGregor. It's still definitely one of my top five albums ever; it kind of has it all.
Mr bungle did a tour called "a night with mr bungle" where they had no opening bands and just did 2 sets w an intermission. They landed in detroit on Halloween, so all the band members dressed up. Patton dressed up in a blond wig in pig tails and referred to himself as "anthony" and talked w an exaggerated lisp. It was hilarious. And when the aux percussionist wasn't playing, he'd hold a sign over the drummer that said "chad smith plays w vic firth". It was one concert I'll never forget.
It's been a while since I listened to this album. Listened to it a few times recently and I was shocked at how I forgot how good it is. Such a great album. Since you guys are Mr. Bungle (and King Gizzard) fans, I highly recommend checking out Ween if you haven't already. And if you do know them, scratch one of their albums!
@@scratchatrack Ween is tied with Radiohead for my favorite band (each holds that spot for very different reasons). Much like Mr. Bungle and King Gizzard, they do not stick to one genre. And they sometimes (...often) get weird (...very weird, or in common Ween parlance, "brown") with it. But they are also extremely great song writers and musicians. I'd say avoid their first three albums at first (too brown for newbies) and start with Chocolate and Cheese, The Mollusk, White Pepper, or Quebec. But also check out their live stuff (specifically Live in Chicago) because you can't truly understand the band until you hear what their songs translate to live.
Well, that’s interesting to find out that there was some animosity between Anthony Kiedis and Mike Patton, because that definitely adds some context to the song Squeeze Me Macaroni. From what I just read , after hearing about it here, is that it had something to do with Mike Patton joining Faith No More. I guess Kiedis didn’t like the fact that Faith No More’s song Epic basically beat RHCP to the punch by having a hit in a style they thought they invented, which makes it extremely fucking funny that Mr. Bungle released their first album with Squeeze Me Macaroni on it about a month before RHCP released Blood Sugar Sex Magic, which was when they finally broke-because almost nobody heard of them before that. Mother’s Milk had their cover of Higher Ground, but I don’t think that got on everyone’s radar like the songs off of Blood Sugar Sex Magic did. Mike Patton may not have had the commercial success, but I still think he and his bands have always been far more talented than anything by the RHCP. I could listen to Mr. Bungle on repeat for days and still keep finding new things I never noticed. Hell, I’ve been listening to them since the early 2000’s, and I still haven’t even dug into the lyrics of most of their songs. Of course I memorized Squeeze Me Macaroni back in the day, because it was such a fast and difficult song to sing, that I had to take on the challenge, but Mike Patton’s singing and lyrics are always kinda blended into the mix of their songs like it’s just another co-equal instrument, that you really have to pay attention to pick stuff out.
Yeah, it's funny that they have had such a beef over the years. I love both bands for different reasons. I will certainly put Mr. Bungle on way more than RHCP. What did you think of The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo?
@@scratchatrack so, I've been really out of the loop with music the last few years, but I happened across some interesting reaction videos on CZcams recently, and I was getting a kick of out watching people getting their wigs flipped by the weird ass music that I was listening to way back in High School/College--which is how I stumbled upon your video. So, I literally had no idea that they'd released or recorded anything after California until I pulled up their Wikipedia page while I was listening to you guys. Suffice to say, I was both surprised and stoked about getting to hear some new/old Mr. Bungle, because I'd never come across any of their demos from the 80's prior to now, and I certainly didn't expect to ever hear any new recordings. So, I haven't spent a ton of time digging deep into everything like I have with their previous releases, but I've listened to the new 2020 release, as well as the original 1986 demo. First off, I've gotta say that it was interesting to see just how metal they were when they started out, because it wasn't quite as over on any the three albums they recorded for Warner Bros. There had always been a little bit mixed into whatever jazzy/ska/funk fever dream they were on, but nothing ever straight up thrashed like this one. It's nothing like the Mr. Bungle albums that I already know and love, but I'm into metal/thrash, so I still enjoyed this one for different reasons. That said, I'm also glad I got to hear it with the benefit of more modern recording and production first, because I had a feeling that the original would sound super cheesy or suffer from all the typical problems that plague amateur recordings (especially back then), and I was right. The demo sounds like they probably recorded direct from the amps instead of properly mic'ing up the cabinets, or they were using cheap solid-state amps and digital distortion pedals, and the recording somehow managed to be both muddy and lacking clarity in the mid-high frequencies, but then also have excessive amounts of tape distortion fizzling out and smearing everything at the top of the spectrum. Even though it was rough just getting through the original demo, it was interesting because it sounded much more like the Mr. Bungle that they eventually became, than the new recordings did. You can tell that it was really rough, and unpolished given their ages at the time, and the fact that they were just a little bit too silly, probably turned off the more serious metal heads back in the day, and the lack of a horn section definitely held them back from going even further in the direction of that ska sound that was already starting to creep in. I'll probably give the new one quite a few more spins than the original, because there were a couple of gems on there that sounded good, even if they didn't sound like Mr. Bungle. I kinda hope they do this with some of the other songs they put out in between this one and their self-titled album, because I think those transitional steps in between is where things start to get interesting. Overall, it hasn't broken into the top 3 of my favorite Mr. Bungle albums, but it certainly ranks a bit higher than some Mike Patton's other projects he's done over the years, like the first Fantômas album. (I liked the second album "The Director's Cut" but they were making soundtracks to comic books I didn't know exited or movies that nobody ever made--so it figures that the one album that featured them playing songs from actual films was the best. Although, I've been known to throw some of their stuff into a Halloween playlist over the years to set a creepy vibe at parties.)
@@kernelpickle It is really cool to her the new polished version of an album they recorded so long ago. Even though it is not typically the style I find my self listening to I really appreciate the craftmanship of it. They are playing some live shows this summer. Would be a blast to see them live!
@@scratchatrack Yeah, I definitely agree and hope they make it to Detroit for a show, because that would be sweet to actually see them perform. That said, I was just thinking back on the goofy bands and shit I did as a teenage, and it strikes me as quite interesting that these guys were still willing to stand by their songs from back then. I'm sorta curious about their motivation, because when I heard the original demo, it didn't scream "this needs the full George Lucas treatment!" So, I wonder what it was that drew them back. Was it nostalgia, or was it the desire to make sure the Google results for a better version drowns out the poorly recorded version that surfaced recently? I don't know, just something that makes me scratch my head, because I can understand re-mastering and re-tracking some parts for a classic album (or to fuck someone out of royalties like Ozzy did), but to re-make a virtually unknown, and obscure record that nobody else would care about--that's not something you see everyday.
Niiiice one, this is one of the rare albums from my teens that survived with me til adulthood, I'll never let it go! I'm learning a lot from your discussion and the comments, wonderful
Great Stacey! Is it your favorite album of theirs? We have an episode on our first impressions of Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo that came out last year and actually have an episode on Disco Volante coming out on Wednesday so tune in!!
@@staceymarie8222 sweet! Please let us know your thoughts:) California is our favorite but you can hear a lot of what that album would become in Disco Volante.
Warner Brothers also signed Built to Spill in the nineties. They really tried to stay relevant with non mainstream bands at the time. They had high ups that really liked music. They signed some bands that they knew were not going to make much money, but gave them credibility. Those days are gone
Hahah, those days are gone for sure! Didn’t know they signed BTS. Another one of my favorite bands! How does California rank in Mr Bungle albums for you?
@@scratchatrack I used to love the self titled most, now it’s this album. He got older, I got older, I’ve been on their journey of genius for a while Anyway, I watched the early BTS shows at the Neurolux in Boise. There were talent scouts from many labels at every show.it was weird. I used to take off work to do merch for east coast tours. The whole band are angels,. Some of my best memories of my life. Too many memories to share, but I will never miss a chance to say how wonderful they are because they will never say it
@@scratchatrack oh yeah, check our Caustic Resin- The Medicine Is All Gone. Maybe for yourselves, not a huge response on social media. You will thank me
@@scratchatrack heard the same here, i got the first album picture disc too but thats only fit for hanging on the wall, got to go for the good press if poss! thanks for the show btw, very entertaining!
If yall like mr. bungle's style on their 1st studio album, you should check out a little lesser known band from nevato, CA called nuclear rabbit. Great weird circus, metal, funk, punk. They are incredibly weird. They had great song material such as titles like bowling for midgets, a squirrel and his crack pipe, alone with my clone, cross dress crusade, Chernobyl hampster. If you like weird music check em out
@@scratchatrack yes! I’m a huge Patton fan. Bungle, FNM and Tomahawk are my favorite projects of his. This is my top bungle album as well. Great stuff.
@@scratchatrack I love thrash metal so I thought it was awesome but it's at the bottom of my bungle tier list since the other albums are more amazing to me.
When you said organized Chaos in the context of production. I have to mention ' age of adz' Which isn't Mr.B. but came to mind at that unknown spectrum. Albeigt all digital to my knowledge. Still a hugely detailed production effort that's well balanced and , busy, too.... Fwiw
We couldn't agree more. I is the perfect combination of so many styles second to none when it comes to production. We recently did an episode on the The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo. Have you listened to that album?
@@scratchatrack Yes i did. Im not a huge trash metal fan but i feel like they can do every gemre of music great, serious talent on Patton, Dunn and Spruance.
Great that you guys are into Bungle, but please, before you talk about something, have the proper facts and stories in line. They are not recording “their first album”. They re-recorded their first demo tape they did when they were 15-16 years old, which in fact, were the songs that your friend Joe saw live. Yes they played a few covers, but it’s a thrash tape that started the whole bungle story. A piece that the band felt was never represented in their catalog. So, they revisited, and recorded with Dave Lombardo and Scott Ian.
100% correct! I misspoke and should have said "demo" not "first album". Thank you for the correction as we like to get our facts straight. Are you looking forward to the release of the rerecorded demo? Looks like it comes out tomorrow!
@@scratchatrack I’m stoked for the album and I’ve owned the demo tape from 86’! Never did get to see Bungle live but I’ve seen Individual members in different projects. I have a ticket for the Halloween show and I have bought various pressings of the album on preorder. Piss Yellow Vinyl, Red Vinyl and the CD/book version. Can’t wait to hear the recording of Loss For words, as they’ve covered it since the 90’s!
@@trumbolt Very cool, looks like the track listing has Methmatics, Eracist, and Loss for Words as tracks that were not on the original demo. Have you heard the other two? We're planning to do a first impressions episode of this album and release on Monday hopefully. Look out for it and we would love to hear your thoughts on the album in the comments!!
@@scratchatrack of course! I’ve heard live versions of those songs and I’ve downloaded Eracist from Apple Music! Killer songs! Eracist is not as fast as the other tracks, so probably the most “radio friendly” song on the album (if there is such a thing for a Bungle track). The live show planned for Saturday night should be interesting! I think they will be doing something similar as to what Fantomas done with the Directors Cut live DVD, with animations and the like. Also, being Bungle, I’m expecting masks or costumes as it’s a Halloween show. Maybe some false hope there but ya never know?!
i think you guys would get a kick out of Fantomas - Director's Cut. another Mike Patton Super Group. think covers of famous film scores ala bungle leaning more on trash. Spider Baby, Charade, Cape Fear, The Omen, The Godfather, Twin Peaks...all awesome. their other albums are much different but that one is definitely easier to consume.
@@scratchatrack yeah i caught recently the live recording they put up on Patton's label's channel "Ipecac" keeps me updated on all things patton. if you like the Bungle stuff i gotta suggest two of my fave bands you might also enjoy "Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" try tracks "1997" & or "The Donkey-headed Adversary of humanity" and the band "Estradasphere" track "Hungerstrike" if ofc you find the time.
@@scratchatrack Mr Bungle's new album is actually just a re-recording of their original demo tape they made when they were 16. It's 100% thrash metal and this time around has Dave Lombardo from Slayer on drums and Scott Ian from Anthrax playing on the recording. The concert your friend saw was Mr Bungle playing that demo along with a couple covers.
@@scratchatrack They made good use of it, however, its cool in a weird way to hear some Looney Tunes stuff in the middle of a trash metal breakdown, whats in the middle of some ska and jazz 😃😃😄
There is (or was) a video of a Mr. Bungle show where the members dressed as different RHCP members. I assume it's the Michigan one you refer to. One of them even dressed as a white-sheet and eye-holes "ghost" meant to represent Hillal Slovak, the original RHCP guitarist. I remember seeing them pantomiming stabbing needles into their arms. I'll take Bungle over Chili Peppers any day, but that seemed in particularly bad taste. Hard to see Bungle as an innocent victim. They went down swinging.
Oh wow. Yeah, agree that is not in the best taste no matter how deep the beef runs. I believe they did something at a show in Michigan because Anthony is from Grand Rapids.
@@scratchatrack honestly I can't say I'm much of a fan of Bungle. I think they're fantastic musicians. I love what Patton did in FNM and Tomahawk. I really enjoy the new album/demo of the raging wrath of the easter bunny. I think Bungle is a fascinating band. I was curious to hear your opinions on them. 😊
@@allsystemsgo8678 That's cool! As we said in the episode we think this album is a masterpiece but certainly not for everyone. Honestly I just think people need to understand that music like this is out there. I've never heard anything like it which is not always a good thing, but in this case it is for me!
western pop culture eastern tibet Middle East Far East goofy Balkans kusturicalifornia cahin cahots lumpy bumpy soil pot-pourri full of genius pop gems for sure surf rock shore real songs yes a less hotchpotch bungle yet fun insolite side up doo-wop bonhomie bal room slow tenderness jazz pop cabaret rnb electro funk electric funk glockenspiel radiohead modern elegance robot’s music box taking shape toddling toddler solfège nursery rhymes like a motion picture anime robots
@@scratchatrack WRONG , I would put california on repeat and listen to it non stop for three years , just like i did when it dropped . SKIP a song on a great album ? yall got some some post mtv attention span up in here . here is one , i will choose to SKIP subscribing to your channel and wish you the best as i bow out . california is a great great album but real bungle fans go for disco volante . thats the one that takes you about 400 spins before you can wrap your head around it . trust me ...
We appreciate the constructive criticism. Perhaps you can watch our episode on Crawling King Snake and give us some notes. Can we count on you for a Sub???
![MIKE PATTON Interview- Murmur 83 (2018) [Audio]](/img/n.gif)
one of the best and most underrated and unknown albums ever! a true recording masterpiece!
It truly is and couldn't agree more!
Greatest album of the 90’s and probably more
Absolute love for my guys, Mr. Bungle; their genius surpasses all I've ever heard.
Awesome choice for breaking this M.B. album down! Great job.
*re: them being signed- IPECAC.
*re: RHCP/A Keidis... WAY off track there. Bungle, Patton never "hated" Keidis. You can fact check multiple sources; even straight outta Patton's mouth.
This band is unfuckingbelievable & Bungle is absolutely an entity, a force no other band can even hope to touch.
Oh & FUCK RHCPs 😊
Finally found my corner of CZcams. Fun to listen in on a couple guys spending time discussing my favorite band. I’ve been on Bungle since ‘94. Got Disco Volante on the day it was released. Been listening to their records so much for so long that every time I do I get transported to a certain time and place. Saw ‘em in back to back shows for California. Loved it then. Love it now. Don’t care that none of my friends get it.
Awesome dude! It’s a fun corner to be in:) I would have loved to have seen them in their California tour! Hope you enjoyed this episode and our disco volante one as well. What are your thoughts on the raging wrath of the Easter bunny demo??
@@scratchatrack listen, I’m not gonna argue with an album that contains Lombardo, Scott Ian, Trevor, Trey and Patton. It’s really good for what it is - a straight forward thrash record. I know they claim thrash as their first thing and what MB was really about. But the John Zorn influence made their debut and Disco Volante what they are...something nobody ever heard before. Dangerous. Daring. Innovative. Challenging. And unmistakably talented.
I miss the elements that guys like Willian Winant, Bar McKinnon, Danny Heifetz and Theo Lengyel brought to the equation. Heifetz is criminally under people’s radar. The horns, keys and percussion gave the first 3 official releases dimensionality and a vast canvas to work from.
Platypus, Travolta, Goodbye Sober Day, Dead Goon, Carousel, Desert Search for Techo Allah, Ars Moriendi, Phlegmatics, My Ass is On Fire. Even unrecorded covers like Ei Raat Tomar Amar are what make Bungle...different and why I love ‘em so much.
I just found you guys today, so I’ll definitely check out your library. Thanks
Same here. Found this channel because of the new QOTSA
I remember the first time I heard it. I came back home drunk, put it on and just as I was passing out, I thought "gotta listen to it tomorrow. It can't be this good"
That's a great story! I imagine it was just as good when you woke up!
@@scratchatrack totally
The reason Mr Bungle was signed to Warner Brothers was because Mike Patton leveraged his Faith No More fame to get the band signed.
rakrakrakrak nice! That makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
@@scratchatrack In the last interview with Eric Andre he actually tells that story again. That interview is lit, I recommend.
@@jglumi Yeah! I watched that the other day. So glad they wanted to keep him happy:)
I don't think Patton needed to be an underdog but he wanted to be so he could be unfettered. He deserves every accolade he gets, he earned them all the rough way - through true talent, creative ingenuity and pererverence. I hope he never stops.
Hia band mates are always geniuses too. True creative professionals, from Trevor and Trey to the FNM crew, all the way through Peeping Tom. Don't get me started on the Tomahawk guys. He is a magnet for talent.
@@NobodyCaresALot 💯 Excellent and very well said!
P.S. Tomahawk is (yet again) PURE GENIUS 💙
So glad you guys covered this album! One of my absolute favorites, thank you for introducing me to it so many years ago. I absolutely echo your sentiments that this album deserves much more recognition than it gets. It's so sonically ambitious, it still feels ahead of the times. Another extremely difficult album to scratch! I guess if pushed I would choose Golem II. ALSO I should clarify, the show I saw did feature some covers, but was mainly a performance of Mr Bungle's first EP, which I think has only been available on cassette/bootlegs. It was a great show regardless, but my lifelong goal to hear California played live is still as of yet unrealized.
Thanks for the feeeeedback! Great to know someone else feels the same way about this album. We too would like to see songs from this album performed in a live show. There are some live versions you can find here on CZcams. The best ones are from the Bizarre festival in 2000.
Golem II? Bro.........Gross..............I guess you missed the hottest clavinet riff EVER! You should make a Dr.'s appointment and get your hearing looked at :-)
@@griffgrifterson4576 Haha... I mean I'll say this, I'm not pulling the screwdriver out for this record anytime soon. :)
I was late discovering this album. When I did, I messaged my brother because I thought it would be something he'd be interested in as well. He responded with "it's been one of my favorite albums of all time." This album is one of my favorites as well!
Love hearing that! I feel like this albums just doesn't get talked about enough. I know it is a little out there but more people should know about this beyond just the Bungle heads! Have you listed to or like any of their other albums??
@@scratchatrack Yeah, oddly enough, I went through their discography in reverse order from that point. I love all their albums, but California is still my favorite. It's perfect👌
@@TraumaHound Our favorite too. I've listened to The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo a few times and although I don't typically gravitate to that type of sound it's pretty great!
One of my favorite albums of all time.
Ours too! Doesn’t get talked about enough!!
Mr Bungle did not only do thrash metal covers live. They played their first demo which they were re-recording.
Must have been a great show. Did you see them? We did an episode recently about the Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny demo you might enjoy checking out. What do you think of that album??
Great album to talk about. California is one my all time favorites.
It is amazing, one of our favorites for sure!
@@scratchatrack It's funny, in 2000 I was a big fan of Faith No More and Mike Patton. Patton's Fantomas first album was out in '99. I worked with a guy who shared similar music interests. He asked if I liked Mr. Bungle. Surprisingly I never heard of Mr. Bungle. He told me that Mike Patton sings in that band too. He let me borrow his California cd. When I got home and put it on, I was blown away. My first thoughts were that it sounded like music written by a band that was schizophrenic, and genius. It was so good, I couldn't stop listening to it for quite awhile. I have a Mr. Bungle California t-shirt. Rarely when I wear it does anyone say anything about it, but on the rare occasions when someone recognizes it they usually say something like, "Hell yeah! Mr. Bungle! Great album!"
It's definitely an amazing album
Is it your favorite Mr Bungle album??
@Scratch a Track Maybe....It is a great album any was you look at it. It's hard to say if it is my favorite as I like weird music. Like Mr Bungle's self-titled album, Fantomas, Dog fashion disco, and Dion McGregor. It's still definitely one of my top five albums ever; it kind of has it all.
This was amazing. Thank you for the discussion and shining some light on this gem!
It truly is an amazing album and so happy there are people who love it as much as we do!
Mr bungle did a tour called "a night with mr bungle" where they had no opening bands and just did 2 sets w an intermission. They landed in detroit on Halloween, so all the band members dressed up. Patton dressed up in a blond wig in pig tails and referred to himself as "anthony" and talked w an exaggerated lisp. It was hilarious.
And when the aux percussionist wasn't playing, he'd hold a sign over the drummer that said "chad smith plays w vic firth".
It was one concert I'll never forget.
That is amazing you were at that show because it seemed to deepen the beef between the bands! I bet it was a wild show. What songs did they play??
@@scratchatrack , oh man, my memory isn't That good. This was over 20 yrs ago. Haha.
@@paherbst524 hahaha, right there with ya!! Either way I’m sure it was amazing!
and czcams.com/video/5sT0WSwgHLc/video.html
It's been a while since I listened to this album. Listened to it a few times recently and I was shocked at how I forgot how good it is. Such a great album.
Since you guys are Mr. Bungle (and King Gizzard) fans, I highly recommend checking out Ween if you haven't already. And if you do know them, scratch one of their albums!
It truely is a masterpiece!! I have not listened to Ween much but will give it a shot!!
@@scratchatrack Ween is tied with Radiohead for my favorite band (each holds that spot for very different reasons). Much like Mr. Bungle and King Gizzard, they do not stick to one genre. And they sometimes (...often) get weird (...very weird, or in common Ween parlance, "brown") with it. But they are also extremely great song writers and musicians. I'd say avoid their first three albums at first (too brown for newbies) and start with Chocolate and Cheese, The Mollusk, White Pepper, or Quebec. But also check out their live stuff (specifically Live in Chicago) because you can't truly understand the band until you hear what their songs translate to live.
i just subscribed to your channel guys, hope to see more analysis and talks about great quality works.
Thanks! We have a few! Let us know what you would like to hear more of!
The album has many great moments... not as break thru as the first album. Disco Volante is a terrific album as well - although much darker.
Yeah, I have never heard anything like it! It’s in my top 10 all time.
Well, that’s interesting to find out that there was some animosity between Anthony Kiedis and Mike Patton, because that definitely adds some context to the song Squeeze Me Macaroni. From what I just read , after hearing about it here, is that it had something to do with Mike Patton joining Faith No More.
I guess Kiedis didn’t like the fact that Faith No More’s song Epic basically beat RHCP to the punch by having a hit in a style they thought they invented, which makes it extremely fucking funny that Mr. Bungle released their first album with Squeeze Me Macaroni on it about a month before RHCP released Blood Sugar Sex Magic, which was when they finally broke-because almost nobody heard of them before that. Mother’s Milk had their cover of Higher Ground, but I don’t think that got on everyone’s radar like the songs off of Blood Sugar Sex Magic did.
Mike Patton may not have had the commercial success, but I still think he and his bands have always been far more talented than anything by the RHCP. I could listen to Mr. Bungle on repeat for days and still keep finding new things I never noticed.
Hell, I’ve been listening to them since the early 2000’s, and I still haven’t even dug into the lyrics of most of their songs. Of course I memorized Squeeze Me Macaroni back in the day, because it was such a fast and difficult song to sing, that I had to take on the challenge, but Mike Patton’s singing and lyrics are always kinda blended into the mix of their songs like it’s just another co-equal instrument, that you really have to pay attention to pick stuff out.
Yeah, it's funny that they have had such a beef over the years. I love both bands for different reasons. I will certainly put Mr. Bungle on way more than RHCP. What did you think of The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo?
@@scratchatrack so, I've been really out of the loop with music the last few years, but I happened across some interesting reaction videos on CZcams recently, and I was getting a kick of out watching people getting their wigs flipped by the weird ass music that I was listening to way back in High School/College--which is how I stumbled upon your video.
So, I literally had no idea that they'd released or recorded anything after California until I pulled up their Wikipedia page while I was listening to you guys.
Suffice to say, I was both surprised and stoked about getting to hear some new/old Mr. Bungle, because I'd never come across any of their demos from the 80's prior to now, and I certainly didn't expect to ever hear any new recordings. So, I haven't spent a ton of time digging deep into everything like I have with their previous releases, but I've listened to the new 2020 release, as well as the original 1986 demo.
First off, I've gotta say that it was interesting to see just how metal they were when they started out, because it wasn't quite as over on any the three albums they recorded for Warner Bros. There had always been a little bit mixed into whatever jazzy/ska/funk fever dream they were on, but nothing ever straight up thrashed like this one.
It's nothing like the Mr. Bungle albums that I already know and love, but I'm into metal/thrash, so I still enjoyed this one for different reasons. That said, I'm also glad I got to hear it with the benefit of more modern recording and production first, because I had a feeling that the original would sound super cheesy or suffer from all the typical problems that plague amateur recordings (especially back then), and I was right. The demo sounds like they probably recorded direct from the amps instead of properly mic'ing up the cabinets, or they were using cheap solid-state amps and digital distortion pedals, and the recording somehow managed to be both muddy and lacking clarity in the mid-high frequencies, but then also have excessive amounts of tape distortion fizzling out and smearing everything at the top of the spectrum.
Even though it was rough just getting through the original demo, it was interesting because it sounded much more like the Mr. Bungle that they eventually became, than the new recordings did. You can tell that it was really rough, and unpolished given their ages at the time, and the fact that they were just a little bit too silly, probably turned off the more serious metal heads back in the day, and the lack of a horn section definitely held them back from going even further in the direction of that ska sound that was already starting to creep in.
I'll probably give the new one quite a few more spins than the original, because there were a couple of gems on there that sounded good, even if they didn't sound like Mr. Bungle. I kinda hope they do this with some of the other songs they put out in between this one and their self-titled album, because I think those transitional steps in between is where things start to get interesting.
Overall, it hasn't broken into the top 3 of my favorite Mr. Bungle albums, but it certainly ranks a bit higher than some Mike Patton's other projects he's done over the years, like the first Fantômas album. (I liked the second album "The Director's Cut" but they were making soundtracks to comic books I didn't know exited or movies that nobody ever made--so it figures that the one album that featured them playing songs from actual films was the best. Although, I've been known to throw some of their stuff into a Halloween playlist over the years to set a creepy vibe at parties.)
@@kernelpickle It is really cool to her the new polished version of an album they recorded so long ago. Even though it is not typically the style I find my self listening to I really appreciate the craftmanship of it. They are playing some live shows this summer. Would be a blast to see them live!
@@scratchatrack Yeah, I definitely agree and hope they make it to Detroit for a show, because that would be sweet to actually see them perform. That said, I was just thinking back on the goofy bands and shit I did as a teenage, and it strikes me as quite interesting that these guys were still willing to stand by their songs from back then. I'm sorta curious about their motivation, because when I heard the original demo, it didn't scream "this needs the full George Lucas treatment!" So, I wonder what it was that drew them back. Was it nostalgia, or was it the desire to make sure the Google results for a better version drowns out the poorly recorded version that surfaced recently?
I don't know, just something that makes me scratch my head, because I can understand re-mastering and re-tracking some parts for a classic album (or to fuck someone out of royalties like Ozzy did), but to re-make a virtually unknown, and obscure record that nobody else would care about--that's not something you see everyday.
If you sang like Anthony, you would be offended by patton's majesty
Niiiice one, this is one of the rare albums from my teens that survived with me til adulthood, I'll never let it go! I'm learning a lot from your discussion and the comments, wonderful
Great Stacey! Is it your favorite album of theirs? We have an episode on our first impressions of Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo that came out last year and actually have an episode on Disco Volante coming out on Wednesday so tune in!!
@@scratchatrack wouldn't you know, disco volante is up there too!! I'm a dunn and patton fanatic :) thats serendipity for you, I won't miss it!
@@staceymarie8222 sweet! Please let us know your thoughts:) California is our favorite but you can hear a lot of what that album would become in Disco Volante.
Yay!!!!!
Warner Brothers also signed Built to Spill in the nineties. They really tried to stay relevant with non mainstream bands at the time. They had high ups that really liked music. They signed some bands that they knew were not going to make much money, but gave them credibility. Those days are gone
Hahah, those days are gone for sure! Didn’t know they signed BTS. Another one of my favorite bands! How does California rank in Mr Bungle albums for you?
@@scratchatrack I used to love the self titled most, now it’s this album. He got older, I got older, I’ve been on their journey of genius for a while Anyway, I watched the early BTS shows at the Neurolux in Boise. There were talent scouts from many labels at every show.it was weird. I used to take off work to do merch for east coast tours. The whole band are angels,. Some of my best memories of my life. Too many memories to share, but I will never miss a chance to say how wonderful they are because they will never say it
@@scratchatrack oh yeah, check our Caustic Resin- The Medicine Is All Gone. Maybe for yourselves, not a huge response on social media. You will thank me
If I had to scratch a track it'd be Golem II : The Bionic Vapour Boy
Tough album to scratch but I can't disagree with your choice!
Probably my favourite album.
It’s amazing! I only wish more people knew about it!!
i bought the mov release a couple of months back, just got to replace my player now so i can actually listen to it!
The mov release is great! Sounds so good. I heard the other version is lacking.
@@scratchatrack heard the same here, i got the first album picture disc too but thats only fit for hanging on the wall, got to go for the good press if poss! thanks for the show btw, very entertaining!
The experience of mr bungle is similar to the works of MASAAKI YUASA, a director of anime that is at a similar level of genius of these guys.
Very cool! We'll have to check some of that out!!
If yall like mr. bungle's style on their 1st studio album, you should check out a little lesser known band from nevato, CA called nuclear rabbit. Great weird circus, metal, funk, punk. They are incredibly weird. They had great song material such as titles like bowling for midgets, a squirrel and his crack pipe, alone with my clone, cross dress crusade, Chernobyl hampster. If you like weird music check em out
Sounds amazing!!
They are cool. But they feel like a rip off of Mr Bungle though
@@JoshReid_ both bands started near the same time and were kind of from the same area of ca. So yes I'm sure they influenced each other
This video needs more likes. Waaaaaaay more likes
Hahaha, glad you think so. Do you like other Bungle albums? This is our fav.
@@scratchatrack yes! I’m a huge Patton fan. Bungle, FNM and Tomahawk are my favorite projects of his. This is my top bungle album as well. Great stuff.
@@nickcds3419 sweet dude! Happy to hear it!
I like the first album more but this one is probably my second favorite by them.
What did you think of the new Easter Bunny Demo?
melvins army!
@@scratchatrack I love thrash metal so I thought it was awesome but it's at the bottom of my bungle tier list since the other albums are more amazing to me.
@@123612100 makes sense, this is less thrashy for sure. I’m guessing you dig the newest album??
I’d love to hear your input on their first two albums
We do have one on Disco Volante and also did a deep dive episode on the song Pink Cigarette. What is your favorite album of theirs?
Blown away first couple of times I listened to it
It is truly an amazing album. Do you like any of their other albums? We have an episode discussing disco Volante coming out soon:)
@@scratchatrack Disco Volante is a trip. Their self-titled reminds me too much of an over energetic teen-ager to really enjoy.
@@pablopumarestaminiau7512 hahaha, that’s a fun way to describe it!
When you said organized Chaos in the context of production. I have to mention ' age of adz'
Which isn't Mr.B. but came to mind at that unknown spectrum. Albeigt all digital to my knowledge. Still a hugely detailed production effort that's well balanced and , busy, too.... Fwiw
Thanks dude, we will have to check it out!!
@@scratchatrack don't call me dood, that is B's moniker. Lol. I was called goat if anyone forgot. Lmfao.
Nice
jesus thanks!!
For me this is the best bungle album, such a good music and weird at the same time, beautiful.
We couldn't agree more. I is the perfect combination of so many styles second to none when it comes to production. We recently did an episode on the The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo. Have you listened to that album?
@@scratchatrack Yes i did. Im not a huge trash metal fan but i feel like they can do every gemre of music great, serious talent on Patton, Dunn and Spruance.
@@ruggeri1sp Totally agree. It's not my style but there is no denying their musicianship!
Great that you guys are into Bungle, but please, before you talk about something, have the proper facts and stories in line. They are not recording “their first album”. They re-recorded their first demo tape they did when they were 15-16 years old, which in fact, were the songs that your friend Joe saw live. Yes they played a few covers, but it’s a thrash tape that started the whole bungle story. A piece that the band felt was never represented in their catalog. So, they revisited, and recorded with Dave Lombardo and Scott Ian.
100% correct! I misspoke and should have said "demo" not "first album". Thank you for the correction as we like to get our facts straight. Are you looking forward to the release of the rerecorded demo? Looks like it comes out tomorrow!
@@scratchatrack I’m stoked for the album and I’ve owned the demo tape from 86’! Never did get to see Bungle live but I’ve seen Individual members in different projects. I have a ticket for the Halloween show and I have bought various pressings of the album on preorder. Piss Yellow Vinyl, Red Vinyl and the CD/book version. Can’t wait to hear the recording of Loss For words, as they’ve covered it since the 90’s!
@@trumbolt Very cool, looks like the track listing has Methmatics, Eracist, and Loss for Words as tracks that were not on the original demo. Have you heard the other two? We're planning to do a first impressions episode of this album and release on Monday hopefully. Look out for it and we would love to hear your thoughts on the album in the comments!!
@@scratchatrack of course! I’ve heard live versions of those songs and I’ve downloaded Eracist from Apple Music! Killer songs! Eracist is not as fast as the other tracks, so probably the most “radio friendly” song on the album (if there is such a thing for a Bungle track). The live show planned for Saturday night should be interesting! I think they will be doing something similar as to what Fantomas done with the Directors Cut live DVD, with animations and the like. Also, being Bungle, I’m expecting masks or costumes as it’s a Halloween show. Maybe some false hope there but ya never know?!
What it do fellas? Of course this would be the first one I'd check out!
Great Stroh!! Lots more on the way dude!!
Y’all should do a video on Selling England by the Pound by Genesis it’s also up there with Dark side of the Moon!
roger waters we’ll check it out!
Scratch a Track Yes please do, you won’t be disappointed!
@@rogerwaters3165 Looking forward to it! Check out some of our other vids and subscribe if you get a chance!
Scratch a Track this video definitely stuck out because I’ve been a huge Mr. Bungle fan for years! All three of their albums are masterpieces!
I also see you did Radiohead vs Stone Temple Pilot I’ll be watching that one next!
i think you guys would get a kick out of Fantomas - Director's Cut. another Mike Patton Super Group. think covers of famous film scores ala bungle leaning more on trash. Spider Baby, Charade, Cape Fear, The Omen, The Godfather, Twin Peaks...all awesome. their other albums are much different but that one is definitely easier to consume.
Jeminai that doesn’t sound amazing!!!Thanks for the suggestion. Have you heard that Mr. Bungle supposedly has a new album coming out? -TD
@@scratchatrack yeah i caught recently the live recording they put up on Patton's label's channel "Ipecac" keeps me updated on all things patton.
if you like the Bungle stuff i gotta suggest two of my fave bands you might also enjoy
"Sleepytime Gorilla Museum" try tracks "1997" & or "The Donkey-headed Adversary of humanity" and the band "Estradasphere" track "Hungerstrike" if ofc you find the time.
Jeminai awesome! We will check out for sure!!!
@@scratchatrack Mr Bungle's new album is actually just a re-recording of their original demo tape they made when they were 16. It's 100% thrash metal and this time around has Dave Lombardo from Slayer on drums and Scott Ian from Anthrax playing on the recording. The concert your friend saw was Mr Bungle playing that demo along with a couple covers.
They were signed to Warner.. soooo they pretty much had access to the fx board.. convenient 😃
very convenient in deed!!!
@@scratchatrack They made good use of it, however, its cool in a weird way to hear some Looney Tunes stuff in the middle of a trash metal breakdown, whats in the middle of some ska and jazz 😃😃😄
@@ThePeca1988 oh absolutely! that is the stuff I love the most on the album. The idea and the execution of it is amazing!
Brian Wilson homage.
We have an episode on Pet Sounds you may enjoy! Happy Scratching!
ars moriendi source:
czcams.com/video/xnNCidccbG8/video.html&ab_channel=zilber34
Thanks for passing along, this is great!
There is (or was) a video of a Mr. Bungle show where the members dressed as different RHCP members. I assume it's the Michigan one you refer to.
One of them even dressed as a white-sheet and eye-holes "ghost" meant to represent Hillal Slovak, the original RHCP guitarist. I remember seeing them pantomiming stabbing needles into their arms.
I'll take Bungle over Chili Peppers any day, but that seemed in particularly bad taste. Hard to see Bungle as an innocent victim. They went down swinging.
Oh wow. Yeah, agree that is not in the best taste no matter how deep the beef runs. I believe they did something at a show in Michigan because Anthony is from Grand Rapids.
...shud look up Tyionda Braxton. amazing production+avant guard all day.
Thanks for the suggestions, will check out!! I take it you are a big bungle fan??
Personally, Golem II is my favorite track on the album
It's a tough album to Scratch and has such a variety of sounds! What one would you Scratch, if you had to??
...lord, this guy, am i right??
They got signed because of the success of Faith No More. If Patton never joined FNM they never get signed. That simple
Yeah, someone mentioned that a while back and makes total sense. What to keep them talent happy! Is this your favorite bungle record?
@@scratchatrack honestly I can't say I'm much of a fan of Bungle. I think they're fantastic musicians. I love what Patton did in FNM and Tomahawk. I really enjoy the new album/demo of the raging wrath of the easter bunny. I think Bungle is a fascinating band. I was curious to hear your opinions on them. 😊
@@allsystemsgo8678 That's cool! As we said in the episode we think this album is a masterpiece but certainly not for everyone. Honestly I just think people need to understand that music like this is out there. I've never heard anything like it which is not always a good thing, but in this case it is for me!
western pop culture eastern tibet Middle East Far East goofy Balkans kusturicalifornia cahin cahots lumpy bumpy soil pot-pourri full of genius pop gems for sure surf rock shore real songs yes a less hotchpotch bungle yet fun insolite side up doo-wop bonhomie bal room slow tenderness jazz pop cabaret rnb electro funk electric funk glockenspiel radiohead modern elegance robot’s music box taking shape toddling toddler solfège nursery rhymes like a motion picture anime robots
masterpiece but its no disco volante ... lol . anyone who skips holy fillament ... well i will be nice .
Well you have to pick one my friend:) What would you choose??!!
@@scratchatrack WRONG , I would put california on repeat and listen to it non stop for three years , just like i did when it dropped . SKIP a song on a great album ? yall got some some post mtv attention span up in here . here is one , i will choose to SKIP subscribing to your channel and wish you the best as i bow out . california is a great great album but real bungle fans go for disco volante . thats the one that takes you about 400 spins before you can wrap your head around it . trust me ...
@@peteytwofinger Hey our channel isn’t for everyone so we appreciate you giving it a try. Happy Scratching!!!
Its better than Abbey Road ha ha (that one is overrated)
Did we say that in the episode? I honestly don't remember, hahaha, :)
You guys really need to do your homework.
We appreciate the constructive criticism. Perhaps you can watch our episode on Crawling King Snake and give us some notes. Can we count on you for a Sub???