| We Care A Lot | 1985 |
| Introduce Yourself | 1987 |
| The Real Thing | 1989 |
| Live At The Brixton Academy | 1990 |
| Angel Dust | 1992 |
| King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime | 1995 |
| Album Of The Year | 1997 |
| Who Cares A Lot? The Greatest Hits (compilation) | 1998 |
Metal bands aren't usually known for appreciating diversity and creativity and combining disparate styles into one unique sound, but if there was ever a 'modern metal' act that did so successfully, it had to be these guys. One of the most interesting features of Faith No More's career is that at nearly every moment, the band seemed like they were going to implode concerning the tensions between the personalities within (and later, side projects threatened to and eventually did lead the group to disband), and the music very much reflects that. On initial listen, the music of this band may seem a little unattractive - you've got a near-psycho as a frontman attempting to be as varied and crazy in his vocal, and lyrical, approach as possible (or taking on a brattish character, like in The Real Thing period), a guitarist who so obviously seems to be a defiant metalhead, a rhythm section much more concerned with funkish groove, and a keyboardist that threatens to sound out of place with his atmospheric playing, but...
Yet these potentially haphazard styles often gel together perfectly to form something almost totally unique. The individual players in the 'classic lineup' might not be virtuosos at all (well, except for Mike Patton, probably one of the sickest and most versatile vocalists ever, in my humble opinion) - in fact, Bill Gould's slap-bass style is mostly simplistic (though effective), Roddy Bottum's keyboard playing mainly just provides not at all complex shading to the sound, Jim Martin's pretty much yer standard metal shredder (albeit a somewhat above average one technically), and drummer Mike Bordin is yer very competent, though not spectacular, drummer, but who cares? When combined with the fascinating sound, the band's ear for solid melody and most importantly, their willingness to experiment with basically any musical style possible and a wide variety of moods and emotions (particularly within their 90's output), makes them special.
Oh, and another thing - many people (unfortunately) only know the band from their hugest hit in the late 80's ("Epic"), which leads many to believe that these guys are a 'rap-metal' band. True, I guess the song did help pioneer the genre that later grew incredibly stale in the late 90's and early 00's (to an unfortunate effect), but this perception is largely incorrect. There may be a few instances of rap-like vocals scattered throughout the band's output, but the overall scope of their music, in terms of overall diversity and the blend of their sound, really goes much wider than that. Just listen to the often schizophrenic King For A Day and Album Of The Year or the psychologically mood-based Angel Dust and tell me you still pigenhole them in that pattern.
But despite what this intro might imply, the band's lineup wasn't totally stable throughout their entire career. While the core members (Gould, Bottum, Bordin) remained a constant, Faith No More actually went through scores of singers in their early days (including even Courtney Love at one point!) before finally settling on Chuck Mosely, a really really goofy, and volatile, character who was unsurprisingly kicked out of the band for erratic behavior after two albums - not that he was missed anyway, for reasons I'll explain later. It was really only when he was replaced by Patton (who was actually in Mr. Bungle at the time before joining Faith No More, not the other way around) that things really started to take off for the band. And the 'guitar' position became a bit of a problem in the early 90's, with Martin's exit and his eventual replacement of Patton's Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance, perhaps the most interesting player in this position. But of course, Spruance was replaced by a couple largely undistinguished guys that aren't really worth mentioning in the intro.
Hmm... not much else to write here. The overall shifts in sound they made from album to album (or sometimes even song to song) during their relatively short recorded output are better documented in the individual reviews, as is their overall career path. So that's about it - the reviews are coming up....
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: We Care A Lot, As The Worm Turns. LOW POINTS: Greed, New Beginnings.
Ah, the humble beginnings of a largely brilliant band is what this one mostly is. I believe not a lot of Faith No More fans even know of this effort's existence, as it's extremely hard to find, and I'm not even sure if it's been released on CD as of yet. Truthfully, a large part of their 'funk metal' formula is already in place, but the songwriting really isn't. Very few of the songs on here have much in the way of distinguishable melodies, song dynamics, any sort of diversity, and decent production, even if the overall sound is really cool. But one of the hugest roadblocks to the potential of the album revolves around vocalist Chuck Mosely - he doesn't have an awful voice or anything, but it's pretty colorless as a whole, and worst of all, the lyrics he writes come off as a product of a guy who thinks he's really funny and witty, but instead sounds almost embarassingly corny or childish.
Quite a few of these tracks suffer from problems like this, and the most frustrating thing is that they're not awful songs at the core. For instance, "The Jungle" has a decent riff, but suffers from serious lack of melody and intelligible vocals, and lyrics such as 'the jungle, sounds great' (with references to the 'really sacred part') just sound freaking retarded. The actual music in the introductory bit of the closing "New Beginnings", meanwhile, is actually gorgeous - the atmosphere carried by the keyboards and affecting guitars almost sounds heavenly, but as soon as Chuck enters with his annoying vocals and the atrocious 'wait a minute, why am I only three years old now?' line (what a dork!), the song goes straight down a pathetic melodyless drain.
The cool riff and aggressive rhythm section of "Greed" is again marred by a complete lack of memorable melody... plus it's lyrically a whole friggin' song devoted to Mosely's lack of vocal talent, as if we weren't aware of that already, which makes it pretty much a complete joke. But even some of the less Chuck-scarred songs aren't too special. "Mark Bowen", despite not having any nursery school lyrics, is a pretty standard unmemorable rocker, and the two instrumentals might be decent, but neither "Jim" (Jim Martin's acoustic solo spot) or "Pills For Breakfast" (a hard-charging and aggressive tune) have enough hooks to compare with their later material in this vein.
But thankfully, the remaining songs here are more worthwhile. For the most part, they aren't exactly as brilliant, or even anywhere near as memorable, as their later stuff in general (which, coupled with the weaker material, is almost enough to drop the rating below 6), but at least they show a good deal of potential and unique sound. While the opening title track's cynical Live Aid bashing lyrics might be just a tad dated (though still quite cutting and well-written), and the version itself is inferior to the reworking on the next album, it's still a highly classic funk-metal singalong tune, with far and away the most solid melody on the album, and eerie keyboard backing over a minimalist bassline and guitar work proving very, very effective. The dramatic keyboard line and overall energy alone makes "As The Worm Turns" a winner as well, even though it lacks solid melody.
Rounding out the album, meanwhile, is the side-closing ballad "Why Do You Bother", whose atmosphere again pretty much rescues a lack of serious melody (Roddy Bottum was clearly the most talented fellow in the band at this point, as his keyboard textures here prove), and the slow ending is also a gripping feature here. But even more interesting is "Arabian Disco", which believe it or not, almost sounds like what the title suggests, as its' danceable tempo and Far Eastern sounding keyboard line very much make the song. Despite those relative high points, though, the lack of melody, interesting arrangements, and overabundance of Chuck Mosely's idiotic behavior here all somewhat grate on me, making this debut by far the weakest of Faith No More's output.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Anne's Song, We Care A Lot, The Crab Song, Blood. LOW POINTS: Death March, Chinese Arithmetic.
While We Care A Lot was an album full of ineffective, but promising, songs that were made that way by several factors, Introduce Yourself seems to correct many of the flaws that plagued the last one. The band sounds tighter as an instrumental unit, not to mention fun and energetic, but the most important thing is that their intriguing sound is actually supported by melodies this time around, and good ones at that, making this a heck of a lot easier to enjoy. And hey, Chuck Mosely seems to have largely dumped the terrible 'childish' approach to his lyrics and instead goes for a more tongue-in-cheek approach where his sarcasm and humor is made more subtle and effective. Of course, his vocals are still a little grating here, as they just don't have the personality to carry the songs, but fortunately, he wouldn't last in the band beyond this album, as he was unsurprisingly sacked for erratic behavior, a change that was undeniably the best the band could make.
That doesn't really matter, though, if the material is good, and it really kicks at a high level when this is the case. The best example here is the timeless singalong "Anne's Song" - why this wasn't an absolutely huge single for the band is a mystery to me, as the whole thing is just full of upbeat optimism that can easily rub off on you thanks to the totally brilliant singing/speaking melody, an absolutely addictive, vintage funk groove, wildly entertaining lyrics about some fictional character (or maybe Mosely's friend) named Anne, and one of the best uplifting choruses of the mid to late 80's. Plus it's got a killer fade out / fade in where they quote Styx's "Lady"! How can it get any better than that? But the improved version of the title track from the last album was a hit, and deservedly so, as it's made even tighter and more powerful than the original. Maybe it's a bit of a cheat that it's on here, but I'm glad it is anyway, as it's very much in its' place amongst heavy and off the wall funk metal anthems like "R 'n R".
Although there's quite a bit of the debut's sound here in many places - "Blood" reminds me a lot of a We Care A Lot track with actual catchy melody, and that's good, because the haunting keyboards that drive the song create a brilliant atmosphere to contrast the energy - there's also a couple of songs that don't quite sound like anything they did before. The title track is basically a minute and a half of punkish fury with a high speed delivery (and keyboards contrasting it, of course). And "The Crab Song" is an actual attempt at some sort of epic that works - it's built as a haunting end-of-relationship song with a fantastic introductory spoken passage (love the 'I was only kidding!' bits) before shifting into this fabulous pummeling groove. This is also one of their better examples of a 'rap-metal' sound, and the lyrics delivered in that fashion prove to be absolutely perfect for it ('don't look back as a matter of fact, there's a ten foot jack gonna break your back,' etc.)
The album as a whole, however, is too inconsistent to quite rank as an early-period masterpiece, even if the final result is really good. Well, there's also the closing "Spirit", a song pretty much made on its' awesome acapella rendering of the chorus melody during the intro, but the other three tracks aren't really anything special. "Death March" is the only really close to awful song, one which would have fit in perfectly with the worst material on We Care A Lot, what with its' very dumb spoken intro backed by pointless bongo drums, and a boring, completely forgettable grind throughout. Elsewhere, "Faster Disco" (which doesn't bear any resemblance to "Arabian Disco", for the record) and "Chinese Arithmetic" are pretty much exactly the same 'decent' anthemic song, though the former one at least has a good hook, which is more than I can say about the other. But thankfully, those inconsistencies would be pretty much gone after this album, after which the band would get rid of its' weak link, and replace him with a much more talented one...
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Epic, Surprise! You're Dead!, Falling To Pieces, From Out Of Nowhere, The Real Thing, Edge Of The World. LOW POINTS: None.
All of a sudden, Faith No More found themselves without a frontman again, but little did they know that this at the time troublesome situation would trigger their big breakthrough, even if the music for the album was largely already written before Mike Patton joined the group (and one complete song, "The Morning After", apparently included Chuck Mosely on vocals). The challenge once Patton jumped on board, though, was to come up with lyrics in a relatively short amount of time, which he handled admirably well. But more important than the often wonderfully bizarre and colorful lyrics he came up with, though, was that the vocal style added a heck of a lot more of a dimension to the sound than before. And it's not like his actual approach to singing is as varied or totally off the wall as usual either - here, he mostly sticks to a whiny tone that I can only best describe as Anthony Kiedis meets Bob Dylan (at least to my ears) that I admit might have the potential to grate on people, but in some freakish way, it completely suits the songs. Add that to the rest of the band seemingly becoming only more tighter as musicians, and you have even better potential for greatness here.
But more importantly, one of the songs from the resulting effort became a huge crossover hit for the band - although it's unfortunate that most mainstream listeners aren't really aware of their existence outside this song, I cannot deny that "Epic" is probably one of the coolest singles of the 80's, and a major player in the now very much stagnated rap-metal movement. Sure, the chorus is an extremely infectious anthemic moment, but the rap-like delivery over the minimalist one-note bassline in the verses really makes the song come alive as well, and it's something that Mosely could have never pulled off with that much conviction. And don't forget the neat instrumental bridge with the Jim Martin solo or that spot of Roddy Bottum inspiration either - dig that haunting piano intro that manages to be the perfect way to close the song off.
Don't discount the rest, though. In fact, the stretch of the first four songs on the album is probably one that's just as great as any the band ever pulled off. Besides "Epic", there's also the opening "From Out Of Nowhere" and "Surprise! You're Dead!". The latter in particular is easily the most intense song they did to this point - Patton takes a break from his usual style here and delivers some really convincing screams over metal riffs and a melody that just pummels the listener into the ground, and I love the time signature shifts from the verses to the refrain that only seems to add to the bloodshed created by the mood. And the former, in contrast, is pretty much a pop song, as it's based on the interplay between a one-note riff and a symphonic keyboard line and some of the most well written melodies on the whole album (especially the almost moving 'one minute's here, and one minute's there...' refrain). "Falling To Pieces" is in a just as catchy similar vein (especially the singalong chorus!), but it has a bit more emphasis on the funky bassline from Bill Gould, and meaningless poetic imagery in the lyrics that sounds so colorful and well done.
As far as the other songs on the album, they might feel just a little underwhelming coming after the stretch of the best material, but all of them are very good, sometimes even close to great, and all have something neat going for them. The lyrical slant of "Zombie Eaters" is especially intriguing, as it's literally told from the point of view of a newborn infant, but musically it's rather cool as well - it's got a strangely menacing acoustic intro where the lyrics are sung very gently at first, then when it switches to another pummeling minimalist riff, a really cool simplified melody with a 'brattish' vocal and ('rebellious' lyrical) delivery comes in ('hey look at / me lady / I'm just a little baby!') Then there's the 8 minute epic title track, built on a really unique-sounding drum pattern, with constant shifts between uncertain groove and intense rappings (the exciting delivery of the lyrics really rivals "Epic" here in places, and the wordplay is insanely cool) that you'd think might seem overlong with the way it repeats itself, but it surprisingly holds attention the entire time.
And the last three tracks (on the original regular album, anyway - more on that issue later!) are nothing to ignore either. True, "Underwater Love" and "The Morning After" might not be anything that special, but they're still quite nice. The former's got a fun swirling organ groove, another perfectly memorable melody, and truly surreal lyrics about the subject matter of it's title, and the latter is the aformentioned composition from the Mosely era. It's probably my least favorite song on here, mainly because the melody doesn't sound nearly as memorable or exciting as the others, and the one-note bass groove doesn't really hold attention, but I still like the airy sort of verses throughout, and the 'if I am dead...' bursts in the refrain are engaging, so it's still a good little track. But even better is the very keyboard driven instrumental "Woodpecker From Mars", which honestly sounds like it came from another dimension in places - that violin sounding keyboard tone over aggressive riffing and slap bass playing just sounds cool, even if it is a little repetitive and very slightly overlong.
That song, of course, was where the original album ended, but the now standard CD version includes two extra tracks, which do improve the overall quality of the listening experience, but wouldn't make a difference if I were to factor them into figuring out the rating anyway (though I tend not to treat them separately from the actual album tracks). Even if both of them are really good - their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" (which also appeared on a Sab tribute album) is done at a much faster pace than the original, and actually might be better in improving its' slugishness (more on the ultimate version of it in the next live album review), and "Edge Of The World" is a really neat excursion into funky lounge music with a really catchy melody, a nice coda at the end, and lyrics about pedophilia of all things. Cool bassline, too, and it's interesting to hear Patton sing, 'hey little girl / would you like some candy', eh? Anyway, this is a great record on the whole, though it's only deprived of a higher rating because none of the songs after the first four are really brilliant, plus the vocal antics, diversity and overall musical approach would get even more interesting after this. But regardless, this is still Faith No More's second best album, which makes me recommend it highly.
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COMMENTS
This was the first FNM album, I ever had. I did have the greatest hits album, which was the reason I got hooked to them. They rock, I mean the album, is filled with intense fun. You can't find this kinda sound anymore. This was one of the last bands who actually mad a Damn good album, like this. Excluding "Epic," there were better songs, I mean, From Out Of Nowhere, Zombie Eaters, Falling TO Pieces, the title track, and last but not least Woodpecker From Mars (Instrumental, for all who don't own this album). The whole album rocks, not a dull moment. But if you buy this album the only song you have to get used to is Underwater Love. I'm used to it know, that is why my ten has to got to this album and not Angle Dust.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: War Pigs. LOW POINTS: The Cowboy Song.
This release is somewhat on the obscure and hard to find side of the Faith No More catalog, since it was released outside the US (probably due to the band apparently not being satisfied with the recording). Judging by the performances here, though, it sounds somewhat like an obvious and substandard cash-in, and shows the band as a not very solid concert act. The musicianship sounds erratic, the songs are performed much weaker than the originals in general, and Mike Patton's brattish Real Thing vocal performance is magnified here to an annoying extreme, often babbling in an incoherent and toneless fashion - if you're looking for a transition point from his vocal style on that album to Angel Dust, look to Mr. Bungle's debut instead. Plus, the sound is very messy, with the rhythm section mixed higher than everything else, and seven out of the eight live tracks come from The Real Thing, which is plain overkill.
Still, it isn't quite a mediocre or forgettable experience - after all, almost all the songs performed here do come from a very excellent album, as there are some quite memorable moments, such as the band briefly venturing into "The Right Stuff" from New Kids On The Block during "We Care A Lot" and the introduction to the huge hit "Epic" ('this next song is the song that has four letters in the title... and it starts with an E!'). The major standout performance here is on the Black Sabbath cover "War Pigs", though, which is done even faster and more energetic than the studio version that itself improved on the slightly sluggish original. The top moment here comes after the long solo in the middle, as the way Patton 'sings' a few of the lines in that verse is nothing short of hilarious ('hand of god has struck the hour-ar-ar-ar...', replacing the line right before 'on their knees the war pigs crawling' with hysterical gurling, and an over the top 'SATAN LAUGHING SPREADS HIS WINGS!').
Oh yeah, after all the live stuff, there are also two studio tracks added on, both of which are sort of unspectacular B-side quality tunes. "The Grade" is an okay-ish Zeppelin inspired acoustic instrumental done by Jim Martin and "The Cowboy Song" is a mildly catchy but standard FNM number that doesn't really possess much noteworthy about it. Fans will certainly need this album for those two tracks, but in all, this is more of an album for completists than casual fans. I'd definitely say get it if you see it cheap, though (I was lucky enough to find it for $5), since it's not exactly a common item, but be sure not to make it your introduction to the band or anything.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: A Small Victory, Midlife Crisis, Everything's Ruined, Crack Hitler, Jizzlobber, RV, Land Of Sunshine, Be Aggressive. LOW POINTS: None.
Like many bands in their position, it would have been extremely easy for Faith No More to repeat the formula of "Epic", their huge chart success, but even though the temptation certainly existed, and in fact up until the very end of their career were under constant record company pressure to do so, but instead created an album that can only rate as a pure psycyhological experience which is generally about the furthest thing from the mainstream. And if you thought Mike Patton's vocal approach was interesting on The Real Thing, wait until you hear this one - it's like he's totally altered his range here, playing a dizzying variety of disturbed characters and personalities throughout. But it's not just that - it seems it was only here that everything gelled perfectly for the band - the quality of the melodies and the tightness of the playing are at an absolute peak, and the amount of intensity and personality in both the vocals and the musical interplay seem to have been a heavy influence on contemporaries like Korn or whoever. But I'll always choose this album over anything that has or ever will come out of modern metal - it's that much of a masterpiece.
What also makes the album most impressive, though, is sheer variety and depth of moods expressed in the songs here, from sarcastic to cynical to animal-like to celebratory to reflective pull me in every time, and their experiments seem to gel perfectly as a whole, unlike, say, the very next album. This is also one of those records where picking the greatest song here is nearly an impossible task - maybe there aren't any here that'll strike you as among the greatest ever written, but they're almost all high quality, even enough that it's perfectly possible that 13 different listeners will all have their own unique personal favorite. Heck, "Caffeine" is perhaps my least favorite song of all, and it seems to be a popular track among a lot of fans. But it's easy to see why - this one has a fabulous grinding riff and interplay between the keys that creates sheer tension, plus some incredibly disturbed lyrics and a bridge that might scare the pants off you.
But how exactly do I examine the rest of the material? Well, let's meet some of the more interesting characters on here. The piano-led "RV" is a rather pleasant sort of ballad musically, but the way Patton portrays the part of the lazy bum who lives in a trailer through his vocals is brilliant, with a perfectly flowing spoken-word melody to boot. Oh, and I just love that poppy chorus ('I hate you, talking to myself...') and the almost hilariously overwrought bridge ('throw a belt... OVER THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD!') "Crack Hitler" is just as intriguing, and probably even more psycho, a character creation who's taken some drugs to modify his personality. The extremely funky melody and distorted vocals are a cool enough touch, but the tightness of the band throughout, from the brilliant dramatic keyboard part to the slap bass to the wah-wah guitar placements, are just unbelievable, and the way it shifts to a slow, doomy marching tempo creates a frightening effect.
It's not a totally uncommercial album, though. In fact, you can tell they made at least a little bit of effort in keeping up with the grunge scene at the time, and as an example, the aforementioned "Caffeine" and "Smaller And Smaller" provide a more 'raw' quality to the sound, with great hard-hitting twisting in your face riffs, and with Patton's one of a kind vocals and the always interesting contrast of the keyboard sound, they're made into unique experiences (I also love the weird Indian chant in the middle of the latter). And I guess you could say "Midlife Crisis" is the closest thing to following the 'rap metal' pattern of "Epic", but that's only in its' strange delivery - the chilling, slightly industrialized groove it creates between the bass, keys and vocal melody couldn't be more far removed from it. The chorus melodies are just about on equal footing in terms of insane catchiness though, plus this song has the immortal line 'you're perfect, yes it's true / but without me, you're only you'. Classic!
And actually, to tell you the truth, my favorite song on here at the moment is the poppiest one. Especially considering the real tensions during the recording of this album (which led to Jim Martin being fired and several of his parts supposedly being completely removed from the mix), the unity between the instrumentalists and the band on "A Small Victory" sounds incredible, led again by one of the most uplifting keyboard lines Roddy Bottum would ever come up with, and the rest of the band joining in. Plus the power of that anthemic melody always puts me in a great uplifting mood every time, especially when that little organ burst followed by a vocal 'whoo!' comes in over a heavy Martin riff. The end of this is great, too, with the hypnotizing spoken word portion: 'if I speak at one constant volume, at one constant pitch, at one constant rhythm, you still won't hear, you STILL won't hear...' Damn, what a great song.
There's also some really neat looks back at adolesence here as well, "Kindergarten" especially having some brilliantly written lyrics on the subject and a chilling refrain of 'WRITE IT A HUNDRED TIMES'. Musically, the song's about as minimalistic as possible, with just one simple riff and your average 'symphonic' type of vibe / funk groove, and yet it creates a truly captivating atmosphere due to the combination of everything involved in the song. And fascinatingly enough, "Be Aggressive" is the deceptively 'uptempo' side of adolescence, with the 'at first annoying and gimmicky but on future listens extremely engaging' chorus of cheerheaders chanting the song's title, but it's got an extremely catchy uptempo rap with lyrics about swallowing(!) and a chilling organ intro and time-signature changing chaotic guitar solo,. so it's not exactly happy. But it rules, anyway!
But still, that's not all! There's also a couple more classic pop songs here, starting with "Everything's Ruined", which builds up from a few simple piano introduction to a somewhat darker funk-based note. The lyrical matter here is kinda dark and depressing, but what really strikes me is how hopeful and uplifting the vocal melody actually is (especially the beautiful chorus). I also like the effect of Jim Martin's melodic solo right before the crunching bridge ('but how were we to know, he's counterfeit...') and the idea of the verses being all different lengths. And if you're looking for a sense of humor, the opening "Land Of Sunshine", with its' hilarious portrayal of advertising in the lyrics (especially with its' refrain of 'HERE'S HOW TO ORDER!'), will give it to you and more. The tightness of the band is incredible here (especially the Bordin/Gould rhythm section!), the carnival-esque keyboards rule, and it's incredibly catchy. What more do you want?
Finally, speaking of a carnival-esque mood, "Malpractice" is very effective in that respect, with disorenting riffs, time changes and disturbing vocal screams, effectively shifting during the song's essentially structureless running time, all complemented by a gentle piano middle. But even that one pales to the most truly terrifying song on here - all I can say about "Jizzlobber" is that this is the closest thing to a musical equivalent of the 'monster(s) under the bed' childhood trauma I've ever heard, with its' grinding tempo setting up the portrayal of one of the most hideous monsters Mike Patton has ever created (I mean that in a complementary sense, of course!), coming full blast in the chorus. The ending of the song, though, is the most brilliant moment - the song suddenly shifts into an alternate doomy riff on which the cathartic repeating ending lyric 'I am what I've doooooooone.... and I'm sorrrrrrryyyyyy....' takes over, and an absolute genius placement of a church organ in the last minute or so of the song gives it a sense of dark beauty.
However, the album does not end on a bleak note, instead allowing the listener to catch their breath on an instrumental cover of "Midnight Cowboy", apparently some sort of theme song I've never heard of, but if there is a better musical equivalent of perfectly following terror with uplifting credit-rolling beauty, I have yet to hear it. And they could not have picked a better piece to end off the whole entire opus with, since the instrumental melody is so incredibly fitting for this kind of effect. It's stuff like this throughout the album that really makes me put the label 'genius' on it almost without hesitation. Yup, this thing is far and away Faith No More's greatest triumph, one of my favorite records of all time, and certainly one of the top 5 of the 90's in my mind. Along with side one of Peter Gabriel III, it's also one of the coolest psychological experiences in music that I'm aware of.
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COMMENTS
I remember buying this on cassette when it first came out, popped it in the player, and from the first note, I knew it was going to kick ass.
I agree with you on everything you said about this abum, it's perfect, one of my favorites of all time.
I still play this today, and it sounds just as fresh as it di the day I bought it, in fact, every time I play it I hear something new, the same goes for Zppa's Joe's Garage, another one of my faves. It does'nt hardly get any better than this. A 10!!!!
Amazing album. Challenging, inaccessible, and Mike Patton sounds completely psychotic! I really admire the band for making a completely uncommercial release as a followup to their biggest hit. Angel Dust is so far from their "hit-making" formula ("Epic") that so many people wanted and expected. Every song on here is at least decent, and most of them are friggin' classics! "Mid-life Crisis" is one of the best songs ever made, at least in my opinion. 10/10.
Still a wondrous album after all these years. FTM rebelled against genre for the sake of rebelling, sometimes not quite getting it together, but in Angel Dust end up with a perfect blend of tempo, despair and desperation, uplifting melodies and changes in direction within and between songs that keep me on edge. That is why they go cross genre successfully - their attitude is the same on all songs - passionate - passionate about the diversity in each of their instruments, about surprising harmonies, about clichés thrown in places they should not be, about coming together as a band (despite Jim Martin's post recording disappearing act.) I cant understand how one of the most inspiring and surprising guitar vocal partnerships in rock - patton and Martin - just dissolved. Couldn't they just have got their act together. (no of course not)
Albums like this remind me why compilations and "best of"s often dont work. There is a completeness in this collection of music from the use of keyboards (organs and accordions for goodness sake - roddy is in his element), to tight driving rhythm section and the lyrics - have to be careful here - is Patton taking the piss? Are his lyrics really random catches of phrases (and words) that thrown together sound good? (as he claims) The seriousness of Farrell on ritual de lo habitual (another of my five favorite 90's CDs) is clearly not there but the starkness and power of the imagery that is Patton achieves with a few phrases, well I can only think of Butch Walker and The Marvies (no , that's an exaggeration, I can think of others.. but only a few).
RV still is the most disturbing track for me. I have met the families that RV is talking about But last year visiting the US I saw the exact family at a gas station of a interstate near washington DC - they were filling up when the father shouted to the son - "You aint never gonna amount to nothin'" .. no questions asked .. a statement with the same finality as the song.. there is no way out. True story!
Like me, the older band members (Mike, Roddy and Billy) are now 40 ... hmmm .. if I had achieved something as enduring and complete as Angel Dust I would feel OK about the rest of my life. I have to say though that my current favorite track is Midnight Cowboy .. oh the instrumental .. Mike Bordin is sublime.. and Roddy .. and the accordion. .... tears in my eyes..
Hey this is probably too long for a comment - but I enjoyed writing it.
This really is my favourite album of all time. It's the best. I don't think I can do it justice by talking about it but I am proud of FNM and Mike Patton for sticking it to the man, or else we wouldn't have this immaculate album.
My favourite songs are RV, Jizzlobber, and Midlife Crisis. After that it is impossible to choose. Jizzlobber is the most intense song ever (I don't know how anybody can't like that chorus.), and RV has that odd beauty. Malpractice is characterized by it's stomp, which makes me thing of some madman running through a trail like some Bigfoot. Speaking of weird stuff like that, the beginning of Jizzlobber makes me picture a swamp or swamp character. I really like Kindergarten's bridge. Ok, but the album as a whole is musical bliss. You can't listen to single tracks only. It's the perfect desert island album.
I really wish I could have seen these guys live.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Just A Man, Take This Bottle, Evidence, The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies. LOW POINTS: Ugly In The Morning.
Without a doubt, this is Faith No More's most controversial album ever among fans, some of which proclaim it the absolute bottom of the barrel from the band, and some who see it as their finest hour. Given the background of the album and the end results, it's easy to see why this is the case. See, after Jim Martin's firing, the band brought in Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Sprunance as a temporary replacement for the album only, and as a result the separation between both of Mike Patton's bands became thinner (though Bungle's release that year is stylistically about as far away from this one as humanly possible). Additionally, this is where certain members of the band started to become a little more interested in side projects than Faith No More themselves, and this is most apparent in the unfortunate lack of Roddy Bottum in the sound (due to his own solo commitments) - his keyboards were obviously a huge factor in their early albums, though he does make his presence felt when he can be heard.
What's most apparent about the album as a whole, though, is the sometimes non-existent cohesion between tracks. While The Real Thing and Angel Dust very much flowed immaculately, this album wants to throw all sorts of moods and styles at you, but without much of an idea on how to throw them together. King For A Day, as a result, has the distinction of being the only release in their catalog that works better as a collection of individual songs than one coherent album. And admittedly, a few of the songs on here are more generic and standard than what we've come to expect from the band, at least musically - "Get Out" is a fairly routine punkish opener that's only distinguished by Patton's psychotic way of handling vocals and lyrics, though that style becomes more annoying than terrifying on "Ugly In The Morning", a burst that's not quite as dull as most modern metal out right now, but close.
But still, the combination of the way the band tackles more conventional metal that has been described as the equivalent of a 'punch in the face' by members, catchy melody, and neat genre exercises is fascinating. The best of the first group features lyrics and vocals generally even more psychotic and raw than before. "The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies" is essentially a nasty 'tribute' to Jim Martin, with a quiet bass-heavy build that seems to get more and more biting as it moves into the punkish chorus (with some immortal passages like 'happy birthday, fucker', 'I deserve a reward, cause I'm the best fuck that you ever had' and 'your day has finally come, so wear the hat and do the dance and let the suit keep wearing you'), while "Cuckoo For Caca" has a biting riff with organ interplay, truly convinicing intensity, and a violent screaming 'YOU CAN'T KILL IT!!!' frenzy. Oh, sick lyrics too, about something that's 'cold and smooth as a hard shade of white'.
On the whole, though, King For A Day actually seems more accessible than the last album in terms of catchy melodies, in spite of its' truly psychotic moments. "Ricochet" is probably the single catchiest one, with a first class verse melody gelling well with the heavier symphonic tinge in the chorus, but the others are nothing to ignore either. As hard as "Digging The Grave" tries to be a conventional punk metal number, the 'stick in my head' melody is way too catchy for me to dismiss it (and the whole song has the distinctive Patton stamp on it), while "What A Day" combines a "Get Out"-style rhythm with keyboard melodrama at the end and another 'charming' chorus of 'what a day, what a day, so you can look it in the face and hold your vomit'. Then there's the slow number "The Last To Know", which actually sounds almost emotionally moving in the majestic way the chorus melody is set up (and the guitar solo is a nice additon here, too).
Oh, there's the matter of that new guitarist. Well, Trey Spruance may be a truly screwed up character based on his frequent Mr. Bungle songwriting contributions, but there's no denying here he adds a much more varied palette of tones than Jim Martin ever did. This is really apparent on "Evidence", which is undoubtedly the most convincing venture into pure funk ever pulled off by this band, in no small part due to the fantastic and quite unique textures Spruance throws into the mix. Add the whole entire Patton vibe in the lyrics, vocals and melody, and tasteful keyboard and piano touches, and you have a really haunting, yet simultaneously groovy, atmosphere. He also adds life to the uptempo ska excursion "Star A.D.", which sounds pretty underdeveloped (but still fascinatingly catchy and spaced-out in the lyrics) otherwise.
The two absolute highlights of the album, though, show the band venturing into unlikely musical territory. "Take This Bottle" has a sort of country-ish tone (almost loungey in the tempo as well), and Patton really handles the vocal and lyrical vibe of this style extremely well, but what's more important is that the melody here is gorgeously written, the kind that could make even the fakest performer sound incredibly resonant, not to mention that the guitar chord Spruance hits right before the chorus has quite a bit of power, as do the 'backing' vocals toward the end of the tune. And the closing "Just A Man", well, that gospel excursion could honestly be a contender for their greatest song ever - the combination of a groovy bassline, a nighttime vibe in the intimate vocal melody and gentle keyboard touches create an otherworldly atmosphere in the first half, but once the song hits that spoken word bridge ('man was born to love, though often he has sought...'), it veers into an utterly powerful coda with a huge choir of backing singers right up until the end of the song as it fades out that just has to be experienced. Stunning.
So what's the final verdict? Well, the whole thing is very uneven and flawed in places, and there are annoying instances of repetitiveness here and there, particularly in the two songs I didn't mention. "Caralho Voador" is a neat atmospheric funkster with a great bassline and use of woodblock thrown in there (along with a violent middle passage spoken in Portuguese - the title translates to 'flying dick'), but the chorus gets repeated a few too many times towards the end, and that same kind of thing mars the overly simplistic title track, which in the verses is based on, like, one acoustic chord and an overlong 'don't let me die with that silly look in my eyes...' coda. Granted, the melodies in that song are amongst their most unsettling and eerie, but I wish they'd developed that epic more. Still, King For A Day may have apparent flaws in songwriting and flow, but it's still quite an interesting and excellent effort anyway in its' own right in spite of itself.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Stripsearch, Pristina, Mouth To Mouth, Ashes To Ashes. LOW POINTS: She Loves Me Not, Naked In Front Of The Computer.
Well, at this point in their career the band were hardly winning the accolades from the mainstream that the title of this might suggest - in fact, King For A Day basically pushed them further and further into commercial decline from the heights of "Epic". But more noticeably than that was the fact that Faith No More were becoming almost an afterthought as a band, with the whole side project bug having firmly bitten them by this point (though Roddy Bottum is much more prominent here than the last album). And given their chaotic history, their subsequent breakup the following year was hardly a surprise, but going by the results here, it might not even have proven to be a very bad thing, as while the material is usually high-quality, it's easy to spot the signs of creative decline in the songwriting - things like predictable and more standard song structures and too much chorus repetitiveness. But it's still a testament to their talent that they sound fairly creative and exciting in this kind of environment.
There's also another change in the lineup, with Jon Hudson filling in at the guitar spot, but it's not like you're going to be able to tell the difference between him and Jim Martin anyway, since his tone is virtually indistinguishable from his predecessor. Thankfully, even the songs that resemble 'standard metal' numbers on here have interesting personalities of their own. Take the opening "Collision", whose nearly effortless generic crunching riff is complemented well by the airy, sparse keyboard-laden verses and nicely done 'screeeeching... head on head on' refrain - maybe it could be a little less repetitive, though. Same goes for lead single "Last Cup Of Sorrow" - take away the last minute's 'you might surprise yourself' portion, and you have a killer song, what with the great bell-styled keyboard line, haunting distorted vocals in the verses, and a soaring poppy chorus. It's probably the only song by this band outside of "Epic" that's even played on the radio anymore, actually.
In terms of the more straightforward fare, another minor highlight is probably the punkish adrenaline rush "Got That Feeling", with its' manic rapping, stop-start bursts in the verses and incessant 'get it get it get it get your gold get it get it' chorus that really gets my blood flowing. On the other hand, the E-mail inspired "Naked In Front Of The Computer" is kind of a throwaway despite its' curious pace which honestly sounds like the equivalent of someone typing away at the 'thing', since the melody really isn't very interesting at all, but "Home Sick Home" is an intriguing (though very short) take on blues music (love the 'going baaaaaack home' tone on the vocals and hard-hitting refrain), and "Ashes To Ashes" kinda resembles an epic ballad - the way the ominously dark tempo of the verses (with chilling guitar notes thrown in to boot) builds up to one of the most majestic, slightly symphonic styled, choruses the band ever wrote is awesome. I just adore the fantastic lyrical imagery on this one!
There's also a couple slightly 'epic styled' pieces here as well, though only in tone, not length. "Paths Of Glory" is basically a slow grinding piece with a moody approach to the vocal melody along with some very curious imagery in the lyrics. What is this song about exactly? And what's with the 'I'm not afraid / but I'm afraid' paradox in the refrain? Ah, who cares. There's also another mood-based, largely acoustic number in the form of "Helpless", whose coolest feature is Patton repeatedly screaming 'Help!' as the heavier music behind him fades out, but it's got a really neat mood due to the subdued instrumentation and curious effects they use on the vocals and multiple distinctive vocal hooks.
Elsewhere, we have more of the usual attempts at a diverse style. Not all of them work - the R&B-ish ballad "She Loves Me Not" proves that this band sounds plain awkward attempting to capture an overblown romantic feel like that, as it sounds more like Boyz II Men, if you ask me, but "Mouth To Mouth" is fabulous. It actually has a strong Mr. Bungle influence in the demented circus music keyboards, and it captures that vibe throughout the remainder, with a simply classic 'psychotic' feel in the unorthodox delivery of the nearly unintelligible verses, plus a slightly repetitive but still extremely singable refrain ('I can dress up the dead man...'). And "Stripsearch" is actually a foray into electronic music in places, and it's honestly one of the most atmospheric songs they've ever come up with. The embellishments in the beginning over the 'ah-oooooo' vocal portions create an utterly haunting mood, plus the melody is almost beautiful in a melancholy way. And the ending just rules, with the symphonic keyboards combining over a grinding riff and the 'give yourself away' / 'F for fake' distorted vocal melody. It almost singlehandedly makes this the best song on here!
There is one serious contender for that position, though, and that's the closing track "Pristina". Essentially the band's equivalent of a love ballad, it's also their slowest song ever, as the opening moments of the verses are built on one sustained heavy guitar chord that actually works in spite of its' total minimalism, since the haunting romantic melody it's backed up by is simply gorgeous. It does build up a little bit more afterwards (that echoey 'who's going to protect you? WHO? WHO?' part rules!) until the incredibly uplifting repeated 'I'll be with you...' coda. Maybe it's the most musically unsophisticated thing the band has ever come up with, but still a totally beautiful song that carries extra resonance due to the fact that this totally majestic moment is the last couple minutes of the band's final record. And on that note, Faith No More ceases to exist - what an appropriate ending to a career. And an impressive album, even if it is weaker than the other Patton-era albums, and probably much closer to a 7 than a 9. Ah, but who cares - it's still an effort most bands would kill for, and an outstanding swan song to boot.
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| Fantomas | 1999 |
Fantomas is a supergroup of sorts, featuring the notorious Mike Patton on vocals, Melvins guitarist King Buzzo on guitar, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn on bass, and ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo on, you guessed it, drums. Patton is the creative genius behind the band, writing all the music and er... "lyrics." As is to be expected from Patton, the music of Fantomas is quite unique and highly experimental, yet it actually sounds nothing like any of Patton's previous bands or projects.
--Caleb Smith
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(reviewed by Caleb Smith)
The first, and hopefully not the last, Fantomas album. It's actually somewhat of a concept album, with each track representing a page from a comic book. There are 30 "pages" in all, yet the album clocks in at only around 40 minutes and it won't even seem that long. This is in part due to the frantic nature of the music. A friend of mine once commented that the album "sounds like the chipmunks." It's true in fact, that if you were to give the chipmunks a couple of guitars and distortion pedals, this just might be the result. So be warned, this is not easy listening. It's not hard to listen to either, especially if you've been exposed to experimental music before, but there is very little structure in the traditional sense, there are no lyrics (just weird vocal sounds), there are no true songs, and last but not least, it's very loud and very heavy. There are some occasional breaks however, where the music actually turns into almost pure ambiance, but they don't really take up the bulk of the album.
Throughout all this, there is some amazing musicianship to be found. Lombardo's drumming is particularly spectacular. He does lots of rapid drum fills that are perfectly coordinated with Patton's vocals, and he knows just when to let the drum kit and explode and just when to hold back. Buzz's guitar playing is just as adequate, and is truly what makes the album come alive, working the music into a frenzy with insane start and stop riffs. Trevor Dunn contributes equally to all the heavy riffing and adds an interesting sound to some of the more ambient passages, while Patton's vocals just have to be heard to be believed. The whole band works as kind of a machine actually, with every movement perfectly planned and orchestrated, and every note hitting just in time. Even so, the music never sounds rigid, and instead there's a vibe of explosiveness kept throughout.
In closing, this is not an album that's going to appeal to a large number of people. This is unfortunate, because it's one of the most exciting and creative metal albums to come out recently. It's also suprisingly fun. I don't think it's a masterpiece though, I don't know if I'll ever be able to consider anything so freakish a masterpiece, but when the mood hits, Fantomas can be quite a cool experience.
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