MONDO CANE

Just like John Zorn who defies placement under any genre or label, Mike Patton has now followed his mentor's steps and once again broadened the possibilities of his musical talents.

Mondo Cane is an album filled with renditions of cinematic Italian pop songs from the '50s and '60s all sung in their native language by Mr.Patton. Backed by an orchestra and recorded during two live shows, among them one in Italy, this album shows everything you might or might not care to know about Mike Patton's vocal and linguistic abilities. This material shows off just how unique of a personality that he possesses and if you could handle Patton singing tenor-style vocals on an opera-sounding Il Cupo Dolore off A Perfect Place or any of his previous solo albums then I'm sure that you'll enjoy bits and pieces of this release.

Granted that this material is void of anything resembling prog or avant-garde, Mondo Cane is not for everyone but there's just enough charm to this material for a lovely easy listening session. I can definitely recommend playing it while having a few guests over just to hear them ask what music this is. Then you can go about and tell them everything you know about Patton, but make sure not to go overboard by completely alienating them in the process. The album features a total of 11 tracks where each displays something new about Mike Patton may it be his great pronunciation on the quirky Che Notte! or passionate and sweet delivery on Ti Offro Da Bere, this release displays it all!

Even though I seem to be enthusiastic about Mondo Cane, which I am, there is no real point in recommending it to anyone but the fans and even some of them might scratch their heads when experiencing this album for the first time. Still one can't blame Mike for any lack of ideas and that's why I award the album a shaky good, but non-essential rating for showing how an artist can go about when broadening their scope of abilities.

**** star songs: Il Cielo In Una Stanza (3:56) Ore D'Amore (2:53) Deep Down (3:22) Quello Che Conta (4:04) Ti Offro Da Bere (2:28) Senza Fine (4:38)

*** star songs: Che Notte! (3:18) Urlo Negro (2:49) Scalinatella (3:15) L'Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare (3:17) 20 KM Al Giorno (2:56)

Let me start by saying that im a huge Rock Progressivo Italiano fan, a friend of mine sent me this album, and I had no idea what to expect (truth be told I was expecting Faith No More) I began listening and I was pleasantly surprised, it’s all covers of 50’s 60’s Italian pop/ jazz, and in fact it’s all sung in Italian. The album gives mike patton a lot of room to show off just how great of a singer he is, and how very diverse of a singer we already knew he was. He does such a good job singing it’s hard to believe he isn’t a native speaker. Tracks like “Ore D’Amore” “Quello Che Conta” show of Patton’s more soft side where as tracks like “Urlo Negro” and “Che Conta” show a much strong, heavier and darker side although nothing compared to the heavy tracks of Patton’s other projects (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle).

The 50’s 60’s Italian pop/jazz is very authentic (except for the sound quality obviously) and the music is so well performed, being that the majority of the record was recorded live which is incredible because the album sounds excellent, it would be hard to make it sound better in anyway, even if they spent years in the studio. I believe this to be one of the best cover albums of all time and a very strong album in Patton’s discography. 5 out of 5

"Mondo Cane" is the 5th full-length studio album (including a couple of soundtracks) by US rock/metal artist Mike Patton. The album was released through Ipecac Recordings in May 2010. Patton is probably mostly known for his work with acts like Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, and Tomahawk, and for his experiments with the human voice, but on "Mondo Cane" he goes down a quite different path. "Mondo Cane" does continue the Mike Patton tradition that you should expect the unexpected though.

This time around the singer has chosen to cover 50s and 60s Italian pop songs backed by the Filarmonica Arturo Tuscanini orchestra and choir (conducted by Aldo Sisillo). "Mondo Cane" has a pretty interesting recording history, as it was recorded live during the first three dates of an Italian tour. No performance was kept intact though, and instead the album was created from various instrumental and vocal tracks and spliced together for the final mix. All tracks feature Italian language lyrics. The idea for making the album came to Patton while he was living in Bologna, Italy, and was touched by the "older" music playing on the radio. Patton had learned the Italian language and moved to Bologna when marrying Italian artist Titi Zuccatosta, and I´ve read comments from more than one Italian fan, saying that although Patton has an American accent, he actually nails singing in Italian pretty well.

As usual a bold move that Patton more or less pulls off with seamless ease and also great conviction and passion. Patton has a strong voice and an extremely versatile vocal style and while it's only "Urlo Negro" which features some semi-aggressive vocals, we're still presented with a plethora of different "clean" vocal styles on the album. The choir backing and the orchectra work really well and provide/support the tracks with the right atmosphere but it's Patton's vocals that are the center of attention. There's a nostalgic and sentimental atmosphere to most of the tracks that really graps my attention (this is music which wears its emotions on the sleeve), but images of spies and femme fatales also come to mind during the most energetic of the tracks like "Che Notte!" and the above mentioned "Urlo Negro". The material are predominantly just a really warm and pleasant listening experience.

Although the album essentially was recorded live, "Mondo Cane" feels like a studio album (you won´t hear audience noise or talking between tracks), and a very well produced on at that. The organic and warm sounding production suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion "Mondo Cane" is a quality release through and through. It´s one of his more easy listening releases and some fans may find it a little too safe and not experimental enough, but to those who enjoy Patton's voice and and support his eclectic mindset regarding the boundaries of music (which means no boundaries in his case), this could prove to be a litte pleasant gem. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

With Mike Patton's history in music, I think it is safe to say that the biggest surprise he could give us now would be to not surprise us at all. His versatility shines through on this album where he ventures into arranging and singing classic Italian cinema songs. This album is completely in Italian and his amazing voice is backed up by beautiful orchestral arrangements. One of the nicest things about this album is that the songs sound updated yet they still retain that genuine classical Italian flavor. You could be in any Italian ristorante listening to this music and think you are listening to a native speaking Italian. But Patton fans need not dispair, the voice is uniquely Mike Patton's voice and that's what makes this so wonderful. He pulls off the drama and the dynamics of these songs to convince you he is totally in a realm he belongs in singing Italian music and adds his own twists and turns so that you remember he is a contemporary artist and that there is no doubt that this is 100% Mike Patton. He even takes a slightly dark turn (not as extreme as some other albums however) in the arrangements "Che Notte!" and "Urlo Negro". The orchestral arrangements are beautiful and really are essentail to this collection, the most beautiful in my opinion is "Quello Che Conta". This album is excellent and should be added to anyone's collection that considers themselves a Mike Patton fan, it should be explored by prog lovers, but it probably could not be considered essential. There really is no new ground explored here, but the arrangements of the songs and production of this album is so well done that it should not be passed by if at all possible. Look this one up, especially if you are a fan or if you are into Italian Progressive.