Disco Volante is a 1995 album by the band Mr. Bungle. It is by far the most experimental of all their productions as it picks up inspirations from a wide variety of musical styles, including death metal, techno, 50s space age pop and Italian avantgarde. Many music critics have considered Disco Volante to be one of the strangest albums they've ever listened to.
Mike Patton also uses a great number of vocal effects boxes and samples throughout the album, most noticeably in songs like the circus freak-show rollercoaster "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" and the psychedelic underwater adventure "The Bends".
The album also contains a hidden track (hidden in a double-groove on the vinyl release) after "Carry Stress In The Jaw." This track was originally recorded without bassist Trevor Dunn's input or knowledge; although, shortly before its release, Dunn managed to hear it and added a vocal track. Though never explicitly stated, it is believed (by Dunn) that the drums were played by McKinnon, and the bass by Patton.
The songwriting credits in the album's booklet include the section "Nothing - Words: Lengyel; Music: Heifetz". This is not, as some people believe, the name and credits for the end section of "Merry Go Bye Bye" (the song preceding it in the list), but is a joke at the expense of Lengyel and Heifetz, who had no songwriting credits for material appearing on the album.
"Carry Stress In The Jaw" is subtitled "Sleep: Part II" and "Phlegmatics" is "Sleep: Part III." Part I is "Slowly Growing Deaf" from the self-titled album. All three songs were written by Trevor Dunn, who didn't decide to make "Slowly Growing Deaf" part I until after the other two were written for Disco Volante. The three songs share themes dealing with body parts.
This would be Lengyel's final album with the band, leaving shortly after the tour due to "artistic differences." Heifetz would later comment, "I miss him. He added a huge chemical imbalance that helped us on the road. He hates us and rightfully so. The music changed, plain and simple. Very little call for saxes, trombone or flute. He was an original member. I'm not. Makes me feel a bit like a union-buster."
Track listing
- "Everyone I Went to High School With Is Dead" (words/music: Dunn) – 2:45
- "Chemical Marriage" (music: Spruance) – 3:09
- "Sleep (Part II): Carry Stress in the Jaw" – 8:59
- "Sleep (Part II): Carry Stress in the Jaw" (words/music: Dunn)
- Untitled
- "Desert Search for Techno Allah" (words: Spruance, music: Patton/Spruance) – 5:24
- "Violenza Domestica" (words: Patton, music: Patton/Spruance) – 5:14
- "After School Special" (words: Dunn/McKinnon/Patton, music: McKinnon) – 2:47
- "Sleep (Part III): Phlegmatics" (words/music: Dunn) – 3:16
- "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" (words/music: Spruance) – 6:06
- "The Bends" (music: Patton/McKinnon/Spruance) - 10:28
- "Man Overboard"
- "The Drowning Flute"
- "Aqua Swing"
- "Follow the Bubbles"
- "Duet for Guitar and Oxygen Tank"
- "Nerve Damage"
- "Screaming Bends"
- "Panic in Blue"
- "Love on the Event Horizon"
- "Re-Entry"
- "Backstrokin'" (music: Patton) – 2:27
- "Platypus" (words: Dunn, music: Dunn/Spruance) – 5:07
- "Merry Go Bye Bye"/Untitled – 12:58
- "Merry Go Bye Bye" (words/music: Spruance)
- Untitled
Personnel
- Mr. Bungle - Producer, art layout and design
- Billy Anderson - Engineer, Mixing, Pre-mastering
- Mike Johnson - Assistant Engineer, Pre-mastering
- Kevin Donlon - Additional Assistant Engineer
- Chris Roberts - Additional Assistant Engineer
- Mike Bogus - Additional Assistant Engineer
- David Ogilvy - Additional Assistant Engineer
- Adam Munoz - Additional Assistant Engineer
- Trevor Ward - Additional Assistant Engineer
- Bernie Grundman - Mastering
- Athur Hertz - Photography (front cover)
- Joseph A. Thompson - Photography (outer tray)
- Davis Meltzer - Photography (booklet backpage)
- Trey Spruance - Artwork, Pipa, keyboards/organs, guitar, electronics
- Patton's friend - Artwork "Violenza Domestica"
- Bettman - Artwork "Techno Allah"
- Margaret Murray - Art layout and design
- Gregg Turkington - Art layout and design
- Danny Heifetz - Drums (Credited for playing "A Woodblock")
- Trevor Dunn - Bass, vile
- Clinton McKinnon - Tenor sax, clarinets, keyboards on track 6, drums on track 5
- Mike Patton - vocals, microcassette, organs on tracks 9 and 10, ocarina on track 3
- Theo Lengyel - Eb reeds piped in from Ithaca
- William Winant - Cymbals on track 2, bongos on track 3, tablas, kanjira, sistrums on track 4, Jews harp, percussion on track 5, bongos, xylophone, glockenspiel on track 8
- Graham Connah - Piano on track 5, piano solo on track 9, one piano on track 11
- Lisandro Adrover - Bandoneón on track 5
Notes
Miscellaneous
- Disco Volante is also the name of the high-tech ship in Ian Fleming's Thunderball as well as the subsequent 1965 film of the same name. Mr. Bungle recorded a cover of the theme to the film during the sessions for their first album.
- The album's booklet comes with a few missing sections which have to be filled in with stickers. While the band was still active, fans could write them at the address provided in the booklet and receive the stickers in return.
- The track "Desert Search For Techno Allah" has no bass guitar.
- The booklet features images taken from the classic novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
- The fish featured on the cover of the album is a small, dried viperfish.
- This was the only Mr. Bungle album to make a Top 40 chart, peaking at 40 in November 1995 in Australia.
External links
- Disco Volante review by Stylus Magazine
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Last updated on Thursday July 17, 2008 at 15:53:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
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