Mr. Bungle was an experimentally-minded, metal-tinged alternative rock band from Eureka, California. Led by Mike Patton, one of rock's most unpredictable songwriters and front man of Faith No More, the band formed in 1985 as a collaboration between high school friends. Over the next 15 years, Mr. Bungle developed a warped and avant-garde take on alternative rock that somehow got stranger yet more accessible with each subsequent release. With Patton's ability to morph his voice into all sorts of weird, creepy, haunting or sometimes downright pretty forms, the band incorporated elements of funk, jazz, metal, ska and electronic music to create one-of-a-kind songs that sounded like nobody else at the time. Though Mr. Bungle rallied up enough support to justify a trio of major label releases on Warner Bros., it will always be remembered more as a cult band due to its abstract appeal and lack of any significant hit singles. The band broke up in 2000 following the tour of its final album, California.
