CALIFORNIA

Mr Bungle: Prog? No; progressive? a most emphatic yes. Whilst not as boundary breaking and sonically experimental as their 2nd release, 'Disco Volante', 'California' stands out as an incredibly solid piece of work that draws inspiration from many sources. It would be easy to dismiss this album based on the apparent lightness of some of the tracks, these being some of the most aurally pleasing and chillingly beautiful tracks I've heard - 'Retrovertigo', 'Pink Cigarette' & 'The Holy Filament', but surely the strength of an album is in it's diversity and they don't come much more diverse than this. This album is packed with so much ear-friendly experimentation, from the unusual dissonance of 'Vanity Fair' to the Middle Eastern tinged 'Ars Moriendi' (with hints of thrash) and the Hawaiian twangs of 'Sweet Charity'. And it ends with an absolute belter ('Goodbye Sober Day') packed with so much musical goodness that it made me play the CD all over again immediately when I first bought it (and I still have that urge to this day) - few albums have achieved this since my youth.

Always a contender for my top 10 albums of all time (alongside the likes of Sgt Pepper', 'Kid A', Kate Bush's 'Dreaming', and Floyds 'Animals'), I recently was forced to make a choice and at the moment I would rate it as my favourite album of all time - a definite 5 stars.

Footnote: Mike Patton is an example of properly progressive musical force and should be cited alongside the likes of Fripp, Eno & Gabriel. Is Experimental Music the new Prog?