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Mr. Bungle - California CD (album) cover

CALIFORNIA

Mr. Bungle

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

4.11 | 241 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

MovingPictures07
Prog Reviewer
4 stars This is such an enjoyable album. If you're in a bad mood, try not smiling at some of these! That is, of course, if you enjoy listening to music that would make you appear insane to most people.

1. Sweet Charity- Wonderful atmosphere here with a very demented surf-relaxing feel to it. I really like the opening, particularly when the vocals and keyboards kick in. Patton's accentuated bah-bum vocals also set the ironic, humorous tone to this song. SWEET CHAAAAARIIITYY! Great song. 8/10

2. None of Them Knew They Were Robots- Haunting opening, then breaking into another odd song (But what do you expect from these guys?). This is another really good one and I like the twisted dance feel to it. It again has elements of several genres, including surf, dance, and others turned upside down to create something new and enjoyable. The keyboards here almost remind me of a ghostly type. 9/10

3. Retrovertigo- Ballad in the terms of Patton and the crew. It's a pretty good song, and has more of the bizarre, haunting ironic mood to it. I can feel quite a bit of emotions in this song as well, and the vocals are interesting despite being sung somewhat more conventionally. Patton's vocal noises in this one are absolutely fitting and set an intriguing tone. 8/10

4. The Air Conditioned Nightmare- My favorite track. This song is simply so awesome, from the beginning to end. The vocals range from soulful to downright bizarre, and the mood drastically shifts several times throughout this one. This really conveys the atmosphere of a nightmare and I absolutely love the way this song is structured, the uniqueness it brings with influences of many genres, and it succinctly shows you what this band is all about. And, of course, the lyrics have the word suicide in them. 10/10

5. Ars Moriendi- The art of dieing. Yeah, I can definitely see that. From the bizarre Middle-Eastern intro, this song certainly is a strange one. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is one of my least favorites on the entire album. Typical genius Bungle uniqueness and the songwriting is good. 6/10

6. Pink Cigarette- This is a funny one and quite enjoyable at that. More of a slower track here, this has a demented ballad feel to it, except it's not all that similar to Retrovertigo. It almost has a desert feel (similar to last track) combined with an extremely odd piano-driven pop song in Bungle style. I find this song incredibly difficult to describe. Nonetheless, it's enjoyable and interesting. The female-esque vocals in it are very odd. 8/10

7. Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy- This one is one of my favorites. From the opening robot-like toy windup all throughout, this track is more upbeat and has a robotic feel to it. Heavily enjoyable and crafted pretty well! 9/10

8. The Holy Filament- Awesome song once again. This is quite a spooky song, and the piano parts are beautiful. The vocals are ghost-like and are hard to describe. 8/10

9. Vanity Fair- The most hilarious track on here. The whole track comes across as entirely satiric. Patton's vocal noises again here are PERFECT and the mood of this song perfectly fits the concept of it. 9/10

10. Goodbye Sober Day- A very fantastic closer to this album. GOODBYE SOBER DAY! I love the instrumentation on this one especially and the mood changes are intriguing and enjoyable. 9/10

Overall, I hesitate between 4 and 5 stars for this one. In the end, 4 is more fitting, as it is not really an essential masterpiece of progressive music that is for everyone, but it is definitely an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Heavily weird and enjoyable, especially if you're in the mood for it!

Only for the open-minded and insane.

MovingPictures07 | 4/5 |

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