DISCO VOLANTE by Mr. Bungle

no, can't

Amazing review brother! Thanks for reccomandation! Amazing album and pure genius man! Love from Turkey <3

Ok, so, while I was listening to Disco Volante, I wrote what was going on in my mind. Here are my notes through the process:

I strangely like it!
It reminds me so much of Pinkly Smooth - I can definetely see where Jimmy and Syn got their influence from
It has Tim Burton/Danny Elfman vibes - looks like it could be on the Beetlejuice soundtrack
Very awesomely theatrical
Percussions are amazing
It gets a little tiring by the middle of the 4th track
I'm a bit disappointed by the fact that Mike Patton doesn't get to really sing on this, 'cause that guy has an amazing voice
I can definetely hear the influence of the band on Jimmy's drumming style
Violenza Domestica - this title creeps me out; but I like the fact that there's Italian lyrics in this song. Oh, and there's a bit of ASMR too... lol
I don't know, these songs are very appealing to me, but, at the same time, I feel haunted lol
THIS IS GIVING ME MIXED FEELINGS, OKAY?
I agree with Mr Patton: my mom is better than your mom and your dad, too!
OMG, this makes me think about Pinkly Smooth all the time, I really love it!
It gets a little tiring again in The Bends; looks like a loooot of different songs glued together into one
Merry Go Bye Bye - finally, a song in which I can hear Mike actually sing

I'm completely dazed and captivated by this masterpiece! Thank you so much, Syn! This album listening was an adventure trip! Mr Bungle is definetely gonna be on my playlist, from now on.

This Album is amazing!!!!!!!! First discovered this band when SYN mentioned them in an interview with Rick Beato since then I've gone down the rabbit hole Disco Volante is probably one of the most complex album it took me almost a week to even understand what the fuck was going on but its amazing. Some of my favorite songs are Carry Stress in the Jaw, Merry go bye bye and Desert Search for Techno Allah well those song titles may seem funny but man don"t let em fool you the music is amazing the performances on the songs are amazing and man I tried to transcribe some of their stuff on my guitar but damn it was a big fail but I"m still trying but honestly I really want integrate this style of music into by playing so that i can come up with stuff that"s equally weird and creative but that's definately gonna take some time but anyways i could go on and on about this album just wanted to say a big Thank you to SYN for introducing us to this amazing, weird and mixed martial arts band haha really look forward to more your suggestions.

Damn!!!! that album is lit!!!.... thanks syn for sharing...

Syn Gates said:

:syngates:Yo family! Wanted to start doing a monthly album discussion based on records that have changed my life and musical path. We are kickin it off with Mr. Bungle’s insanely ambitious sophomore release, Disco Volante.

Jimmy made me a mixtape of some of the most avant-garde shit I had ever heard at 13 years old ranging from Primus, The Residents, Bungle, and beyond.

I HATED this mixtape with a passion for two whole weeks until a small spark of curiosity grew rapidly into a deep and profound obsession.

The mixtape had songs from the previous eponymous record which, as obscure as it was to me at the time, paled in comparison to my first listen of Disco.

Already a huge fan of the band, I did however HATE this record for two whole weeks until a spark of curiosity grew rapidly into a deep and profound obsession.

I was pissed that Patton didn’t sing, Spruance didn’t solo, no clown music etc. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Patton’s vocals and the entire bands performance interwoven throughout a chaotically beautiful and terrifying “soundtrack”, transcended anything I’d ever heard before. One of my favorite song writers of all time, Trevor Roy Dunn, composes masterful and incredibly singable atonal brilliance throughout. The man is nothing short of pure genius in my humble opinion.

I now focused solely on orchestrating my guitar parts with deep sensitivity towards the soul of the song. This gift of perspective was the greatest of any in my musical history.

Like ALL of my favorite things in life, this is an acquired taste, so please, give it time.

All my love,
Syn
:syngates:

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for sharing Syn. I heard about them through a post on your musical influences. I listened to their self titled album and it’s by far one of the greatest things I’ve listened to in a while. I’ll definitely give this album a try

I'm no theory aficionado nor am I well versed in songwriting talk so this is probably gonna be worded in layman's terms for the most part.

Everyone I Went to School with Is Dead.
What the fuck... the first thing that really hit me was the production of it. The bass is way more up front in the mix compared to what I'm used to but I like it. It's for sure making it's appearance known. The kicks are slamming, the guitars sound both great and bad. Not sure how to describe it. There is a flow to the madness but it speeds up and slows down frequently. I'll have to look up what the lyrics to the chants are but for some reason I get depressed/angry baseball crowd sing along vibes haha. I'm not quite sure why. Then the chaos comes in with the drums being played with a groove I couldn't pick up on. Bits of feedback and what sounds like harmonic slides maybe? The bass is a bit lower in the mix at this point but it's still making it's fuzzy appearance known haha. So far I agree with Ed, I'm missing Mike's vocals. Compared to the first song off of their debut Quote Unquote this is setting up for the album to be a lot different.

Chemical Marriage.
One thing I really enjoyed about Mr Bungle's first album was the synth work. I generally refer to it as sounding like you're at a carnival. Chemical Marriage's synth parts definitely feel like it could fit on the first album and I like it! The drums have a nice rhythm to them and they sound great in the mix. Not super forward but they sit well. 2:55 and they throw in a weird collection of noises that I think I'd prefer it if they left off of this song since it does feel a bit forced. Not a bad song at all but I don't quite care for 2:55 to 3:09(the end)

Carry Stress in the Jaw
Wow, I really enjoyed this one! Mike's whispery vocals sound great as well as his screams! The heavy guitar/saxophone combo isn't something I was expecting but wow! That was awesome. The guitars sound great tone wise and there are awesome riffs throughout. The drums have sounded consistently good so far in the album and on this song it isn't any different. 4:46 and the vibe of the song does a 180 and it threw me off going from heavy fast paced riffs with equally fast and heavy drums to clean guitar (kind of getting a surf guitar vibe I think?) and more groove oriented drums with added cowbell. Can't forget to add Mike's impression of the old man sprinkled here and there. Some more keys with Mike harmonizing along wahing away haha. The note choices towards the end for some reason made me think of the James Bond theme. Maybe it's just a weird connection haha. The final groovy drum fill outro was the cherry on top of the song for me. This has been added to my main playlist.

Desert Search for Techno Allah
A pretty sharp turn compared to Carry Stress in the Jaw. I like it though! The synth parts give me a heavy retro video game feeling. Mike speaking/firmly chanting adds a spooky/not quite sure another word for it but it's a different feeling to it. Parts of the song feel like they are really cinematic. They'd fit well with a wide angle shot a major city at night or maybe a small scene of a car driving on a highway alone (3:22-5:23). I like the small touches of hand drums throughout. It fits well and it surprisingly suits the song. This too goes on the main playlist.

Violenza Domestica
I don't have a lot to say about this song. One thing that has stuck out to me about Mr Bungle is that they frequently have parts of a song that I refer to as ear ticklers. From the light tapping on the right ear and a sharpie being used to right in the left ear. Mike getting up close and personal on the mic and whispering into my ear made me uncomfortable especially with the sounds of him breathing into your ear a bit haha. The song features quite a bit of stereo placement which is always fun. I wear headphones for 99.999978% of my audio so looking back and forth towards where the audio is "coming from" is a fun trick that generally helps make the song easier to actively listen to. Quite a broad use of instruments and other noise makers besides the standard drums, bass, guitar, vocals, and keys. Not a bad song but it's not a favorite.

Pt1/2

After School Special
This is rather interesting. It's got a pretty goth vibe to the keys. Bits of Ozzy's solo stuff and I can hear the inspiration for A7X on this song especially. I can hear a touch of Jimmy's vocal style in this too. It's a nice somber tune up until the weird part kicks in at 1:46. From that part to the end creeped me out haha. The vocals/lyrics made it uncomfortable but the added sound effects really bumped it up to creepy. It's an interesting tune worth checking out but it's not one I'd really look for desperately trying to listen back to the song.

Phlegmatics
Starts off strong with an awesome drum beat that pops in and out throughout the first half of the song. The harmony between the guitars and keys both does and doesn't work. I'm not sure why or how. I like the somber vocal style with heavy reverb on it. It really adds to the gloomy nature of the song. The wind instruments in the end relaxed me a bit. I can't quite figure out the other vibe it has but it's got a darker sound to it. It's a good song but not something that I would listen to regularly.

Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz
Starts out with another gloomy sounding organ/keys part. Then the bass, hand drums, and Mike Patton doing what Mike Patton does best. Making weird sounds that bewilder the listener kick in. The synth changes things up and it sounds like it'd fit perfectly on their debut. This is probably the most chaotic song on the album so far. Different tempo changes either have me zeroed in while listening to the song or I feel like I'm out of the loop haha. It's an interesting song that's kind of all over the place which feels like the intention. So far this album feels like a Mel Brooks film in that I'll have to listen to it at least half a dozen times to pick up a good chunk of the smaller nuances hidden throughout that give it it's character. This song definitely fits that description. Good song that I'll probably listen to a few more times to see what tiny details are hidden.

The Bends
Going into it I figured this song would be different. This song was very atmospheric feeling. It'd definitely work for a video for space footage. Not a whole lot going on up until the last 20 or so seconds anyway. Kind of felt like they had a few melodies and chord progressions that sounded fine enough but they couldn't place anything on them so they decided to write a song that would allow the listener a break after the immense amount of chaos they'd been through the last little while haha. Not a song I'm going to search out for again but I think it's alright. It's a great song to have on in the background to just relax to. I'm curious if this is meant to be a sort of eye in the storm before even more wildness comes in the next few and final songs.

Backstrokin'
Another more laid back song. The synth still has a darker tone to it but the note choices were giving me a Sci Fi sound track feeling with a groovy bass line. I'm not sure if I'm correct in this but the lyrics and vocal rhythms have a jazz vibe to it. The doo dap baps. Maybe I'm just misremembering things but isn't that kind of common in jazz? 2:08 the music changes and I'm not quite sure how they get that noise but it sure is interesting with Mike Patton forcefully telling you to "stroke his fucking dick" haha. It's an interesting song but again not something I'd go out searching for again.

Platypus
I don't have much to say on this one. This is probably the closest to a normal song on the album. The main riff is played throughout the song. The bass sounds great and has a few groovy lines throughout the song that I enjoyed. Mike sounds like he's deep in a well and singing somberly to pass the time haha. The vocal production has been great throughout this album. I wish there was more singing from Mike but I can see why he decided to dial it back. The weird voice effect made it's return and I still don't like it haha. I don't know why it weirds me out but it really does. It's a good song that I'll have to listen to a few more times before I decide to add it to my playlist I think.

Merry Go Bye Bye (With Hidden Track "Noises")
Final songs on the album and I definitely enjoyed Merry Go Bye bye! Going from Alternative Rockish to some heavy riffage really closed off the album nicely. I was glad to hear Mike Patton a bit more for the final piece and I'm always amazed at the range of voices/singing styles he's able to use. I wouldn't have guessed that that was him singing! It's different compared to what I'm used to hearing of his which generally speaking is either fairly nasally, him adding some dirt to his vocals, or him screaming. This was a different pace but a nice one. The guitars like the rest of the album sounded great whether playing the clean parts or the fast heavy riff sections. Noises sounds like just a quick jam piece that they decided to sneak onto the album. Nothing too memorable besides Mike yelling "fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit" haha. Merry Go Bye Bye is definitely going on the main playlist!

So that was fun haha. Definitely a good album with some very interesting parts throughout that I'll have to go through and listen to again. Like others have said I do miss Mike's vocals and lyrics being more I'm not sure. Apparent? I really enjoyed his variety of vocal melodies, styles, and rhythms that he used throughout their debut as well as his bizarre lyrics that took me a while to pick up on the meaning to some of the. I definitely plan on going through and listening to the album start to finish again without writing down my thoughts. Just letting the album flow from front to back. I couldn't imagine how insane this album was to put together. The intermixing melodies/harmonies with the guitars, keys, synth, and woodwind parts let alone the rhythm section. Like their debut I enjoyed the weird sound effects that it had throughout whether it was moving back in forth or having two different effects 1 for each ear. For a first album to really deep dive and to actively listen to for little nuances to this extent was a tad hard and a bit overkill but it made for an interesting afternoon of really thinking about how this part goes there and questioning what the fuck is going on haha. I don't think I'll do these sorts of things very often but I might aim to do something similar for myself every other week or so. Thanks for the recommendation Syn! Looking forward to what you recommend next!
Pt2/2

Edward John said:

Wow. Syn, the Syn, actually replied to my Nickelback joke, I'm honoured.
But seriously, we should do a Nickelback discussion, my man, what do you say? His tone is as brutal as yours.

Click to expand...

I guess you didn't want to offend him but... We all know Chads Tone is way heavier.
In fact Chads rhythm Tone is what Gojira sing about in "the heaviest matter of the universe"!

The Mr Bungle self titled album was always one of my favorite albums of all times because of its atmospheric spirit. Also the album 'California' is a great shut for sure. But somehow, I never listened Disco Volante before(There was no goddamn reason). In these days I was listening more blues or jazz stuff. Thanks to you, I remembered Mr Bungle and now it is time to check this out ! Yo, btw the new Mr Bungle album is coming up soon, it is called 'The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo'(I know you already know it). So excited for this one too...

I remember I tried to listen to Mr. Bungle a couple of Times.
Last time, a couple of months ago I Made it through Like 90% of a Long track of theirs, can't remember the Name though.

It went from "wtf is this?" To "okay, I See where we're getting" to "this makes me really uncomfortable".... Didn't make it to the end

I always hear you talk about Mr. Bungle and I keep telling myself to go give Mr. Bungle a listen but i still haven't given it a listen to this day

Just had a listen and I can definitely hear How much you guys are actually inspired by them. The vocals on “carry stress in the jaw” remind me of Jimmy on “fiction”.
Can really hear the musical influence in a little piece of heaven too! This is awesome to hear what inspires you guys

Thanks!

Dominik Gräber said:

I guess you didn't want to offend him but... We all know Chads Tone is way heavier.
In fact Chads rhythm Tone is what Gojira sing about in "the heaviest matter of the universe"!

Click to expand...

Chad's tone is definitely more brutal, that lead tone could move mountains.

where?

William Byerley said:

is Chad the opposite of Doomer?

Click to expand...

Chad is the opposite of Virgin. And Chad Kroeger is the biggest Chad of them all.