Track Listing

1. Godfather
2. Golem
3. Experiment In Terror
4. One Step Beyond
5. Night Of The Hunter
6. Cape Fear
7. Rosemary's Baby
8. Devil Rides Out
9. Spider Baby
10. Omen
11. Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer
12. Vendetta
13. Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion
14. Twin Peaks
15. Charade

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27578 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Those who know Mike Patton best as the lead singer for anthemic metal pioneers Faith No More may be surprised to hear Fantomas's The Director's Cut; it's apparent that, post-FNM, his sympathies lay not in the punishing riffs of nu-metal, but in the most perverse reaches of the avant-garde. Fantomas brings together Melvin's guitarist Buzz Osbourne, one-time Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist Trevor Dunn from Patton's long-running experimental project Mr Bungle--a line-up that should suggest something of the pretension, eccentricity and pure gut-churning heaviness that appears on this, their cinematically-conceptual second album. The Directors' Cut consists of 15 bizarre interpretations of the scores to their favourite cinematic moments, from modern horror landmarks--see the sludged uptake on Angelo Badalamenti's haunting Twin Peaks theme "Fire Walk With Me"--to ancient birth-of-cinema classics--look to the grindingly heavy death metal reworking of Karl-Ernst Sasse's terrifying theme to The Golem. Guided by Patton's gliding falsetto, the cover of Henry Mancini's Experiment In Terror score could almost be Faith No More--but such palatable moments are few and far between on this occasionally inspired catalogue of punishing weirdness. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
Second album from noise metal supergroup featuring ex-FaithNo More frontman Mike Patton, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. On this album they cover popular movie theme tunes, including 'Twin Peaks', 'Cape Fear' and 'The Godfather', in their own inimitable style.

Customer Reviews

Mike Patton's best post-Bungle offering
This album is definitely the best thing that Mike Patton has released since Mr. Bungle's "California" album. On this album, instead of featuring short 30 second musical vignettes of undeveloped ideas as on all of Fantomas' other 3 releases (albeit cut-and-pasted together on Delerium Cordia), Mike Patton and co. do Mr. Bungle-esque arrangements of film themes from some of the masters of the genre (Morricone, Rota, Mancini...). Although this idea had already been explored by Trey Spruance on Secret Chiefs 3's "2nd Grand Constitution and Bylaws" (worth checking out if you like this one), Patton (as arranger, producer and band leader) definitely brings his own unique spin to these tunes in the arrangements and his vocals are the best he has done for fantomas (he has to sing the melody lines of these film themes as opposed to his normal "wacka-jawaka-shaka-splaka" nonsense for fantomas). Highlights include the opening "Godfather" theme tune (sombre strings one moment, giving way to 200mph death metal), "Experiment in Terror" (loungey spy music giving way to swinging metal, with MP's vocals on top form), "Twin Peaks" (Trip hop-sounding tune with another great vocal performance) and "Charade" (genre bending bungle-ish sounding arrangement with a great demonstration of Patton's stylistic range vocally). Sadly, as great as this album is, the fact that Patton didn't write any of the music on the album himself is further proof that Patton's hectic work ethic/schedule is preventing him from producing any of his own tunes to match the quality of his songs for "California".

mr bungle mark 2.
i bought the debut album two years ago and took it back to the shop the same day. i might just go and revisit it now. this album is brilliant. it suits patton down to the ground to do this sort of thing. patton has always been about bringing tremendous atmosphere to his songs whether they be FNM ballads such as just a man, or bungle tracks such as pink cigarette. what better genre for producing atmospheric tunes than film soundtracks? some bits are slow and melodic, others would make speed metal freaks want to go and sit in a chill out room. there is a definitely dark and sinister theme which dominates the album (most tracks are taken from horror films), and there is a lot of singing which patton has always done so well (unfortunately, totally absent from debut album). it is also very reminiscent of the more extreme side of mr. bungle, particularly bits of disco volante. if you're wondering whether or not to get this album or the debut, go for this one first, you will not be prepared for the debut unless you do, no matter how much you like patton. why only four stars? - it's not long enough. Oh, and don't expect it to allow you to win friends and influence people, on hearing this most peolple will think you are insane for liking it.

Classic Cuts
Mike Patton is a man of many talents. Strange, self-obsessed and eclectic, his midas touched has graced the records of several acclaimed bands in the last decade, including Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, and now the Fantomas. Featuring members of the Melvins, Mr. Bungle and Slayer, this band forms some kind of 'anti-supergroup', aiming to expand and confuse their listener's minds, rather than squeeze a few more dollars from their collective fanbases.

The record takes an all new perspective on some classic movie scores. From the opening visceral assault of 'The Godfather' to the electro, dare I say, trip-hop version of Twin Peaks 'Fire Walk With Me', this album never lets you settle. Patton has never been one to go with the flow, and here he pokes and prodes at your sense of musical decency, taking stone cold classic movie soundtracks and daring to put a new slant on them. But the simple fact is that in most cases its worked. This album is really good. Patton, the Melvins, and Mr.Bungle can produce utter toss at times (look no further than the Fantomas awful first album), but this is proper Patton. Proper music. Not just distrion and samples and noise, but top quality versions of great songs. On first listen you might not get the fact that Charade was a great song, but thats not the point with the Fantomas. Quite frankly if i got this on first listen I'd be disappointed.

But anyway, enough of my ramblings. Buy this.....seriously.....you won't regret it.