Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante

Much as each track would surprise on their first offering, Disco Volante dares you to remain a fan, going way over the edge of sanity to provide one truly demented album. The suits at Warner Brothers must have been downing those nitro pills, as this is nowhere near consumer standards. Yeah, it only took them four years, but once again the boys have managed to make an incredible album. What was different about this one was that it actually took me quite a few listens to "get" it, something I truly appreciate now. Between the plodding opener, which recounts some memorable school days, to the closer Merry Go Bye Bye (which begins with a nice little ditty before just bursting into some high octane Death metal), you're taken to aural hell and back, viewing each piece as a whole, dissected and mashed together while somehow still making sense. To quote: "This is some pretty f*&ked up s&*t right here!". I mean, this thing is all over the place, Chemical Marriage sounding like roller rink music, Violenza scaring the crap out of me (the knife sharpening effect is intense), and Ma Meeshka being a pictureless cartoon. People that hated the first one really hated this one, but for those of us that got it... I spent an entire Christmas Break driving around in the snow listening to this, thinking that I would lose my mind, it's that good. Again clocking in at almost 75 minutes, these aren't so much listening experiences as they are tests of will. What's most impressive is that this is all reproduced live. I think you get the idea, but if you're still not sure, ask yourself the question, "Do you want to listen to something really scary?".