I remember wondering about Mike Patton, the mercurial former front man of such outfits as Faith No More and Mr. Bungle who seemed the perfect blend of brilliant and bizarre. Each passing release (and song on aforementioned releases) seemed to further beg the question: what does the mad man in charge do with himself when not in studio? Is a porn provocateur as suggested? Does he spend long hours in his basement, geeking out on early 80's metal and ska albums? Or is he genuinely mad (not only in the Harry Darger way) set to flailing about the streets of Anytown USA like the goldfish at the end of the "Epic" video?
I don't wonder anymore. Sure, I am on to others for the occupation of my curiosity with. But I'm also through with Patton. I can answer easily, now that I've heard his latest opus "Peeping Tom" and its unwelcome blast of balls out hip-hop/rock fusion fury that spent not a moment in its conception thinking about the delicate art of song craft. Mike Patton has been dreaming up not only the collaborations for one of the worst albums in recent memory, but also the means of selling it to us as something worth listening to.
Patton has said, "I don't listen to the radio, but if I did, this is what I'd want it to sound like." Its a typical statement of outsider music cachet. Never in my life though, did I think I'd find myself wanting something to sound more like contemporary radio until now. The problem with Peeping Tom is that it is nowhere in any of the genres it seeks to borrow from. It's most inspiring quality is that it is loud, and I've always said, what can't be done well in punk and rock and thrash, should at least be done loudly (saving it from the 0 of 10 rating). To hail any one song as worse (or better) than another is to belie the consistency that exists on Peeping Tom from tracks one through eleven. They are all equally terrible and obnoxious, repetitive and in that, droll.
Patton may want radio that sounds like this. He hasn't gotten it, a merciful godsend for the rest of us. |