Corpse Flower
Studio album by
Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2019 (2019-09-13)
Genre
Length43:11
LabelIpecac
ProducerMike Patton
Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier chronology
The Place Beyond the Pines
(2013)		 Corpse Flower
(2019)

Corpse Flower is a collaborative album by American singer Mike Patton and French composer Jean-Claude Vannier, released on September 13, 2019, through Ipecac Recordings.[3] The album consists of Patton singing a selection of Vannier's songs, with Patton backed by a band in Los Angeles and Vannier by an orchestra in Paris.[4]

Background

Patton and Vannier met in 2011 while working on a Serge Gainsbourg tribute event at the Hollywood Bowl, with Patton saying they "bonded immediately". Vannier described Patton as a "formidable vocalist" and stated that they "created a strong, beautiful and sincere collection of music, as well as a friendship".[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Exclaim!8/10[2]
Loud and Quiet8/10[5]
Record Collector[6]

Corpse Flower received a score of 79 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[4] Kerrang! called it "an album for completists", while Uncut felt that Patton "rises to the occasion throughout" and the "swooping strings and Escher-like melodic structures of "Camion" and "Yard Bull" are reassuringly familiar to Vannier enthusiasts".[4] Alun Hamnett of Record Collector wrote, "That Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier should get together to make an album was not necessarily implausible, but neither was it expected. The results are likely to delight fans of either artist. For fans of both, Corpse Flower is, quite simply, exquisite".[6]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated that the "set crisscrosses many genres" and "is ultimately rooted in exploration and adventure yet grounded in sleazy chanson, lounge tropes, blues, cinema music, and sound library tropes", remarking that it is "a dark jewel from two remarkable musical iconoclasts" and "a high-water mark for both men, albeit one born from the belly of hell itself".[1] Reviewing the album for Exclaim!, Joe Smith-Engelhardt wrote that it "dives into western-styled lounge music with a wide range of instruments and weirdness to keep listeners on their toes for each and every track" and that as "the record carries on, the intensity of the songs seemingly increases with every passing track", concluding that it contains a "dynamic sound that is interesting for anyone".[2]

Jeremy Allen, reviewing the album for The Quietus, selected it as "Album of the Week" and wrote that "the power struggle between American and European sensibilities feels a little inevitable", although Patton "has wisely taken a step back, allowing Vannier to present ideas and arrangements and then bend them towards his will as producer". Allen also found that the "surrealism is also manifest in the title track" and the album as a whole "presents a very strong case for working together alone".[7] Dafydd Jenkins of Loud and Quiet called it both "questionable tripe from creepy old men raging against the dying of the light" as well as "a pornographic text of premeditated, nothing-left-to-lose hideousness, openly goading the listener to hate it. To listen feels somehow masochistic, which is to say, gratifying on some deep, primal level", summarizing that it is not "the worst album of all time; it just delights in seeming that way".[5]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Mike Patton, except where noted; all music is composed by Jean-Claude Vannier

Corpse Flower track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Ballade C.3.3." (lyrics by Oscar Wilde)3:21
2."Camion"3:23
3."Chansons d'amour"4:22
4."Cold Sun Warm Beer"3:40
5."Browning"3:14
6."Hungry Ghost"3:48
7."Corpse Flower"2:53
8."Insolubles" (lyrics by Ariane Bomsel and Vannier)4:08
9."On Top of the World"3:20
10."Yard Bull"4:21
11."A Schoolgirl's Day"3:27
12."Pink and Bleue"3:14
Total length:43:11

Charts

Chart performance for Corpse Flower
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[8] 163
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9] 110
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 180
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 99
Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] 79
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[13] 29

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jurek, Thom. "Mike Patton, Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Smith-Engelhardt, Joe (September 12, 2019). "Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier Corpse Flower". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sodomsky, Sam (May 17, 2019). "Faith No More's Mike Patton and French Composer Jean-Claude Vannier Team for New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Corpse Flower by Mike Patton Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Jenkins, Dafydd (September 10, 2019). "Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vannier Corpse Flower". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Hamnett, Alun (August 6, 2019). "Corpse Flower". Record Collector. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Allen, Jeremy (September 12, 2019). "Hungry Ghosts: Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier's Corpse Flower". The Quietus. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
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