Mr. Bungle was an band from . The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film regarding bad habits which was featured in a Pee Wee Herman HBO special in the early '80s. Mr. Bungle released four in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to and releasing three full-length studio albums between 1991 and 1999. The band toured in 2000 to support their last album but in 2004 they disbanded. Although Mr. Bungle went through several line up changes early in their career, the longest-serving members were vocalist , guitarist , bassist , Saxophonist and drummer .

Mr. Bungle was known for its distinctive musical traits, often cycling through several within the course of a single song. Many of its songs had an unconventional structure and utilized a wide array of instruments and . Live shows often featured members dressing up and an array of . An ongoing feud with frontman escalated in the late 1990s, with Kiedis removing Mr. Bungle from a number of large music festivals in Europe and .

Despite being signed to a major record label, the band never experienced significant commercial success during its lifetime and only released one music video. Nevertheless, Mr. Bungle was critically acclaimed with referring to them as "among the most talented rock instrumentalists". They achieved a degree of worldwide popularity due to a large cult following.

Disco Volante (1995–1998)

Due to artwork delays and the band members' many side-projects, it was 4 years before was released in October 1995. The new album displayed musical development, and a shift in tone from their earlier recordings. While the self-titled album was described as "funk metal", with Disco Volante this label was replaced with "avant-garde" or "experimental."

The music was complex and unpredictable with the band continuing with their shifts of musical style. Some of the tracks were in foreign languages and would radically change genres mid-song. Featuring lyrics about death, suicide, and child abuse, along with , and a Middle Eastern number, music critic Greg Prato described the album as having "a totally original and new musical style that sounds like nothing that currently exists". Not all critics were impressed with the album, with describing it as "an album of cheesy synthesizers, mangled disco beats, virtuosic playing and juvenile noises", calling it "self-indulgent" and adding that "Mr. Bungle's musicians like to show off their classical, jazz and world-beat influences in fast, difficult passages which are technically impressive but never seem to go anywhere". Additionally, writer Scott McGaughey described it as "difficult" and was critical of its "lack of actual songs". Disco Volante included influences from , , pioneer , , , , , and European of the 1960s and 1970s such as those composed by and .

The album notes also contained an invitation to participate in an "unusual scam" - if $2 was sent to the band's address, participants would receive additional artwork, lyrics to the songs "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" and "Chemical Marriage", and some stickers. The vinyl release of this album shipped with a 7" by the then-unknown . Mr. Bungle supported this record with tours through the United States, Europe, and Australia during 1995 and 1996. In 1996 Theo Lengyel retired as Bungle's original sax player and keyboardist due to creative