10 Greatest Band Rivalries In Rock History
6. Mr Bungle vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers
As the tides in music were changing, Mike Patton felt that his artistic direction seemed too contained in Faith No More. Wanting to expand his musical palette, Patton formed Mr. Bungle, which combined funk rhythms with rapid fire vocals and a hard rock presentation. Sound familiar? Well it should.
Back in his days in Faith No More, Anthony Kiedis had already called out Patton for ripping off his vocal style, but that only proved to be the tip of the iceberg. Patton was so focused on getting a rise out of Kiedis that he was originally going to release Mr Bungle's effort California on the same day as the funk rock gods' album Californication. Though the band eventually acquiesced and changed their release date, that didn't stop the live gigs where Patton mockingly call his band members "Flea" and performed covers of RHCP songs with the wrong lyrics.
Once the band mocked deceased guitarist Hillel Slovak by pretending to shoot heroin, it became too much for Kiedis to handle. When organizing the Big Day Out Festival in 2000, Kiedis was able to remove Mr. Bungle's slot, which Patton said severely hurt their potential going forward. Even with 20 years of hindsight, it seems that the fire between these two bands hasn't quelled just yet.