by Steve Huey

To say that Mr. Bungle is unfocused is like criticizing a rapper for not being able to sing -- it may be true, but it misses the point of the music. Mr. Bungle is a dizzying, disconcerting, schizophrenic tour through just about any rock style the group can think of, hopping from genre to genre without any apparent rhyme or reason, and sometimes doing so several times in the same song. Mike Patton's lyrics are even more bizarrely humorous than those he used in Faith No More, and they're also less self-censored, as titles like "Squeeze Me Macaroni," "My Ass Is on Fire," and "The Girls of Porn" indicate. It's a difficult, not very accessible record, and the band wouldn't have it any other way.