FantA´mas - Suspended Animation

%@#$!!? Brace yourself, super group Fantomas is back with a vengeance on their fourth album SUSPENDED ANIMATION. Unlike the epic DELIRIUM CORDIA, SUSPENDED ANIMATION likens itself with Fantomas' first record (self titled) punctuated with cartoon escapades.

The first edition (Limited to 25,000) is a spiral bound 30 page eye popping package illustrated by world famous Japanese painter Yoshitomo Nara. The theme is a calendar, the month of April, the tracks appropriately named the days of the week. Album Description

wonderful, mental

Wonderful and mental; now i will shamelessly promote my own book - DEATHDAY BY EUGENE BRUCE (No. 23 in the list if you type my name in)
Please buy it, thanks - I love you! July 21, 2008

Far From Faith No More Thank God

The reviews that bitch about this one have a point, that it shouldn't be listened to all at once, but the concept behind this concept album is obviously that it's not intended to be played straight through. It works best on shuffle w/ all your other stuff, as nice little frenzied breaks of sweet craziness. I think in this day and time w/ mp3 players as the main way hardcore music junkies listen to music, this should be obvious. It's a bunch of loony toon type arrangements with crushing gits and drums. Mike Patton doesn't really sing as much, but does a primitive tribal animalistic percussive type thingy that makes me think of monkeys running around on fire. Love It!!! June 17, 2008

Perfection, and t-t-t-hat's all folks!

Oh, Mike Patton, you handsome devil, you. From the day I first heard you brilliant voice I have been in love. I have spent countless hours listening to Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. And then I discovered your new project, Disco Volante on crack: Fantomas. Yes, Fantomas is, in my humble opinion, Mike Patton's most interesting project. There are certainly some brilliant contenders, like _Irony Is A Dead Scene_ or _General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners_, but Suspended Animation is a modern day, jump-cut, masterpiece. A much needed one at that, considering that I have listened to John Zorn's brilliant classic Naked City about 4 million times (not that there is anything wrong with that).

If the terms "naked city" and "jump-cut" have caught your attention, then stick around. Jump-cut is exactly what it sounds like, the cutting/jumping of different styles and types of music into one album. In other words, take some obscure samples, add some jazz, throw in some metal, put it all into a blender, and behold. Jump-cut is very avant-garde, so if the idea of someone yelling sporadically into the microphone while the band plays disjoint music to the tune of no tune sounds unappealing to you, then don't buy this album!

Fortunately, Suspended Animation is the fourth album in the Fantomas cannon (well, fifth if you're going to count the Millennium Monsterwork 2000 live album with the Melvins). It is likely, by now, that a lot of people know what to expect with this album. However, because Mike Patton has a large fanbase and a wide array of music styles, it's safe to say that Fantomas may just be his most difficult project to get into besides his solo vocal works. This is jump-cut to the tune of metal, and Mike Patton's carnival-voice from the Mr. Bungle days has been brought along on this whacky rollercoaster ride of an album, only it's been chopped up and delivered in segments by an evil clown from Satan's carnival.

Needless to say, if you aren't sure what you are getting into, sample some of these tracks first. You very well may not be expecting what you are going to get with this album.

Now...as for Suspended Animation itself; this is, quite simply, the best thing that Fantomas has done thus far. As far as jump-cut goes, this is the zenith of material at this point in time. There are so many amazing melodies buried into this mix; it's almost a tease listening to this album from start to finish. Suspended Animation is a concept album, with each song representing a day in the month of April. The album is full of cartoon music and samples. The samples are used to an excellent effect, and thrown into the jump-cut blender. The end result is a brilliant flurry of Looney Toon medleys sliced and diced to brilliant unorganized perfection. I personally thought that Fantomas' self-titled release was brilliant, but somehow they managed to top it with this album. This album is just zanier and has much more personality. Personally, I think this album is a lot of fun to listen to. It has some amazing samples and Mike Patton is on top of his game throughout the entire album.

Obviously this isn't going to be most people's cup of tea, but if you're looking to expand your horizon this is a good place to look, especially if you've exhausted the Mr. Bungle catalog. Fans of John Zorn's _Naked City_ and Mr. Bungle's _Disco Volante_ should feel right at home.

I can't recomend this album enough.
April 26, 2008

AMAZING CREATIVE WILD FUSION METAL

I think in YOU respect a good musician, you new to buy this one, incredible wild experimental fusion metal, I download it from a share music page, but they always recomend to buy it if you want it, I BUY IT.

If do you expect regular radio pop music, why you still reading at it.

Experimental any patton and Fantômas song makes you think why, whats that, I think the evolution of a great master musician, with a taste of old horror movie, eight thumbs up, if I was a octupus. hail patton. July 9, 2007

10/21/06: "Suspended Animation Review" day

Mike Patton has proven himself to be one of the most prolific and unpredictable musicians in show business in his post Faith No More/Mr. Bungle career. Although I don't even begin to attempt to collect everything he puts out I do like to take a listen to what he's up to now and then.

SUSPENDED ANIMATION is packed with hundreds of ideas, of varying degrees of success. Some "days" have better moments than others, like the spooky intro for "04/11/05 Monday" that sounds like a room full of gurgling ghosts, or "04/27/05 Wednesday" 's sleigh-ride in outer space. Most of the other intriguing moments on this CD involve some manipulation of found sounds or electronic toys.

Patton's former band, Mr. Bungle, was also a band renowned for it's musical spontaneity, but whereas Bungle's songs worked through it's own inner logic and fluidness, making it easier to digest, the disparate elements of SUSPENDED ANIMATION doesn't hang together nearly as well as the best of Bungle work. It's progression is more akin to rapid-fire channel-surfing than an epic motion picture.

Despite the low rating I'm assigning this release, I must admit that I'm not sorry I bought it. I rarely reach for this CD to play, and when I do it's just to seek out a handful of random tracks, just enough to satisfy a need to hear something wild and chaotic. Perhaps the calendar concept of the song titles was meant to be followed literally, to listen to one track each day. Compressing an entire "month" in 43 minutes is too demanding a listening experience. October 22, 2006

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