Can one be self-absorbed to the point of having an identity crisis? I'm not sure Patrick McGoohan or Peter Falk can answer that question, although McGoohan thinks the elaborate ruse he's created is the answer, or could be mildly interesting. The best it gets is an unintentional laugh out of the genial lieutenant, blurting out "Mah Jong" a few times after a glass of wine.

The first of a number of appearances Patrick McGoohan would make in the series, and it's an inauspicious start. He ends up playing the same hard-boiled but flawed character that's all too easy for Columbo to trip up in the end. What's worse is, getting to the punchline is not worth the trouble.

A lot of Columbo fans tend to peg Dagger of the Mind as one of the worst entries in the series' classic run, but I go in the other direction, mainly because Baseheart and Blackman make for a wacky, refreshing turn as a loony, air-headed, over-the-hill villain tag team. It often feels like there are two separate stories going on that just happen to intersect at coincidental, key moments, which feeds into the anything-goes vibe of the episode. Underrated.

The last Mr. Bungle disc until the fateful year of 2020 has them going pop with a severe exotica bent, and blending in elements of their progressive-cinematic sound. It generally works, mainly because the tracks are short and don't meander around too much, but it's not foolproof. It's the most accessible of the three Bungle discs, but the drawback here is they are starting to repeat some ideas from the first two albums.

This was a quantum leap from the debut record which came out in 1991 and still retained at least some vague connections to the funk-ska-alt-rock scene which was the realm of Faith No More and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Volante is a truly cinematic, very experimental, and much more mature album. A good chunk of the material has no relation to Western pop music whatsoever - tracks like "The Bends", "Violenza Domestica", and "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" are indescribable yet somehow compelling thanks to the group's incredible dexterity. Those who like their music to play out like a very complicated mind puzzle will love this.