b o b

Disco Volante is, simply put, one of the best albums of the 90s. A friend of mine from college, who was much more into the "hard rock" scene than I was, came to visit me sometime in the mid-90s and played a tape of this album while we were driving somewhere, knowing that it would be right up my alley. It wasn't long before I had my own copy on CD. Fortunately, when he "previewed" the album to me, he skipped the first track - a moronic heavy metal song about high school friends dying off. If that was the first track that I had heard, this review probably wouldn't exist. Fortunately, the rest of the album is nothing like that. I have to take exception to Nick's statement that there are no catchy tunes or danceable rhythms. "Chemical Marriage", the back half of "Carry Stress in the Jaw", "Desert Search For Techno Allah" and "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" are all very catchy, as are other parts of the album. Overall the music is a strange blend of speed metal, jazz, electronica, goofy and usually incomprehensible vocals, klezmer, hockey rink organ and a ton of other elements. The blend works much better than one would imagine, creating something entirely new, energetic and enticing. You'll rarely see Mr. Bungle compared to other bands, but it seems like every new "hard-rock avant" band that comes along is described as Mr. Bungle mixed with some other band. If prog fans need something to identify with, there's a lengthy, multi-part track called "The Bends" that attempts to musically depict someone falling out of a boat, having various underwater adventures and then returning to the surface with the bends (headphone listeners may want to turn down that ending). The band also has a sense of humor - be sure to read the lyrics to "Platypus" in the liner notes. And an occasional tendency to be disturbing - the lyrics to "After School Special" seem like another goof at first, but it's actually about an abused child. Disco Volante is definitely better than the band's self-titled first album, which spends too much time trying to be offensive or bizarre and only has a couple decent tracks. Personally, I also like it better than their third release California, which replaces a lot of the avantness of Disco with a mutant blend of metal and Beach Boys. If you're at all into the heavier and more experimental ends of prog, you need Disco Volante. review by Bob Eichler — 2-27-04 —

n i c k

Disco Volante, Mr. Bungle's second major label album, is a radical depature from past efforts. Gone are the funk and ska influences, as well as comprehensible lyrics. They are replaced with jazz, "world" music, avant garde noise, and a smack of metal. No catchy tunes (with the exception of "Merry Go Bye Bye") or danceable rhythms are to be found here. Instead we have saxophones dueling it out with thrash guitars, film noir tango, and perverse breathing. Things began elegantly enough with a track entitled "Everyone I Went To High School With is Dead," a sludge core metal track, and probably the most conventional thing on the album. After the first track, they abandon conventional styles all together. "Chemical Marriage" is a spookshow rhumba. "Carry Stress in the Jaw" can only be described as "thash bop", and "Merry Go Bye Bye" marries Beach Boys pop, death metal, and apocalyptic noise better than anyone has attempted before or since. "Platypus" is perhaps the most complex track on Disco Volante; swingin' jazz guitar, "Hot Rats" woodwinds and musique concrete make for a tune that for all its seeming randomness is actually quite a coherent listen. It even has some funny lyrics as well... good luck trying to decipher them. Disco Volante is a dense and sometimes difficult album, but ultimately very rewarding. It is definitely recommended to RIO and avant-prog fans looking for something edgy and challenging, but a little more humorous. review by Nick Paluzzi — 12-20-03 —