I Murdered Mommy!

Structure map of I Murdered Mommy!

***I Murdered Mommy!*** is an unfinished CD-ROM game by The Residents, developed between 1996-1997 by the group as a follow-up to their 1996 game *Bad Day on the Midway*, and intended for release through publisher iNSCAPE. The game would have been interactive and structurally complex in nature, and would have depicted "the fantasy life of an emotionally abused 13 year old boy".

*I Murdered Mommy!* was abandoned when iNSCAPE went bankrupt in 1997 and was never completed. An album consisting of instrumental pieces intended for the game's soundtrack was released in a limited edition on Ralph America in 2004, and reissued by Klanggalerie in 2017.

## History

After the consistent success of their first three CD-ROM projects (*Gingerbread Man*, *Freak Show*, and *Bad Day on the Midway*), The Residents were encouraged by iNSCAPE to produce another. The group promptly set to work on what they hoped would become their most ambitious title yet: *I Murdered Mommy!*

*I Murdered Mommy!* was intended by The Residents to stretch the capabilities of the format to new limits and pave the way for further innovation. iNSCAPE, the company which had released *Bad Day on the Midway*, had some reservations with the proposed concept, "an interactive game based on the fantasy life of an emotionally abused 13 year old boy", but as *Bad Day* had sold well they accepted the project.

Unfortunately, shortly afterwards the CD-ROM market took a nosedive due to a mountain of inferior titles and limitations inherent in the medium, and iNSCAPE went under. *I Murdered Mommy!* was abandoned and shelved by The Residents in Summer 1997, ending an era for the group.

## Cast of characters

* The Kid
* The Father
* The Mother
* The Stepmother
* The Yeast
* The Atom
* The Aliens
* The Sea Monkey
* The Google God
* God
* Satan

## *I Murdered Mommy!*

* Original release
* 2007 reissue

### Genre

Avant-garde, Industrial, Experimental, Electronic

### Producer

The Cryptic Corporation

Although *I Murdered Mommy!* was nowhere near completion when work on the project stalled, The Residents had nonetheless completed a number of "sketches" of music for the game to play during pitch meetings. The game was cancelled in Summer 1997, although the CD's 1996 copyright date implies that this material was completed by then.

In 2000, a four minute excerpt from the soundtrack was released on the rarities compilation album *dot.com,* and in 2004, while the group were at work on the concept album *Animal Lover*, the unfinished music was collected for release as a 29 minute mini-album with ten distinct tracks.

### Release

*I Murdered Mommy!* was made available for pre-order by Ralph America on October 11th 2004, and was premiered on KRVS Radio on October 18th, before its release on November 1st.

The initial release contained ten untitled tracks, with no track listing presented anywhere on the packaging. Some fans wrote to The Cryptic Corporation to ask for the track titles to enter into their digital media players. In response to this, Cryptic webmaster Big Brother published the album's track titles, as provided by The Residents, on the group's official news blog.

*I Murdered Mommy!* was reissued on Klanggalerie in 2017, with the packaging showcasing concept art from the abandoned game. This version featured the track listing printed on the packaging.

### Reception

#### Retrospective

In March 2010, freelance music reviewer Mark Prindle described *I Murdered Mommy!* as a "bland" and "boring" soundtrack comprised of "a bunch of keyboard instrumentals -- not even really songs... just incidental music filled with tiny non-recurring riffs", despite "promising" instances of "clomping tribal percussion, wiggly Eastern melody and gigantic dance rhythm".

### Track listing

1. IMM Presentation (4:11)
2. Video Game (1:56)
3. Dream Wheel (3:51)
4. Google God (3:51)
5. Andy Atom (1:33)
6. Sea Monkey (1:27)
7. Search For Truth (4:14)
8. Breakdown (0:38)
9. The Shoebox (0:52)
10. The Game Ends (6:48)

## See also

* *Freak Show*
* *Gingerbread Man*
* *Bad Day on the Midway*
* List of unfinished projects
* iNSCAPE

## External links and references

* *I Murdered Mommy!* on The Residents Historical
* *I Murdered Mommy!* on Klanggalerie
* *I Murdered Mommy!* on Discogs

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041018153302/http://residents.com/C1016472556/E1897723941/index.html
2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041018192349/http://www.residents.com/C1016472556/E2074942494/index.html
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041014083457/http://www.residents.com:80/
4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041127164354/http://www.residents.com:80/
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20041127164354/http://www.residents.com:80/
6. ↑ Mark Prindle, "The 'What's New?' Page", Mark's Record Reviews, March 13th 2010 (archived via archive.org)
7. ↑ Mark Prindle, "I Murdered Mommy", Mark's Record Reviews, March 13th 2010