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Faith No More: Album of the year
22/04/11 || Altmer
You could argue for ages whether this album belongs in the class 6(66) section or not. Me, I’m of the opinion that it’s not. Not because it’s not a fantastic album (it is, more on that later), but because it lacks the seminal nature that earlier FNM albums had. When people think of Faith No More, they think of “Angel dust” or “The real thing”. And you can argue that these albums were infinitely more influential (they were), and better (“Angel dust” is. “The real thing” is not.) But we’re not gonna argue that today. My instinct says that this belongs under reviews, and it will be put right there by your truly. So before we start an endless bitchwar about that, I’ve got my choice out of the way.
Second question: how metal is this album, really? Well, in many instances, indeed. it’s more of a rock than a metal album. In fact I don’t think FNM is that easy to categorize, but what it most certainly is is a very straightforward album. By Mike Patton’s standards, that is. This album is actually accessible, it has choruses, hooks, and riffs. Friggin’ amazing! Don’t expect Mr Bungle esque “what the hell is going on here, you schizoid fucks” moments. Expect it to rock.
What makes FNM so genius though is the way they weave Mike Patton’s wacko vocals seamlessly into these slightly stripped down song structures. Mike Patton takes the whole FNM weirdness to an entirely new level. “Naked in front of the computer”, apart from the plain oddball title, just asks questions of “what the hell is going on here?” with the vocals. He’s like a werewolf: he has the shapeshifter ability to go from frantic screams to soulful crooning, to melodic choruses. He’s got a rough, gravelly edge that he can use to provide more extra oomph, but he can also go bizarro just when you didn’t see the turn coming. And behind it, most of what the band is actually doing is a) playing some funky grooving metal or b) using weird blues influences.
The music here is less varied than the vocals, but that doesn’t mean anything. Helpless is what normal people would call a ballad, but with some weird soulful vocals over it by Patton who turns it from slow and moody into something awesome and weepy. “Naked” and “Got that feeling” are both exercises in funky groove that make you bounce around like a skippyball. “Collision” features such a beautiful intro riff it’s a marvel they haven’t had to sue anyone for nicking it yet. And some other tracks take a more regular alt rock/groove approach, but never straying away from what FNM is supposed to sound like.
Even without their founding guitar player (which probably explains why this record is less spaced out and subdued than most of their material), FNM’s creative ability and spark is far, far beyond that of most bands. They are both true to a certain sound and production, but they’re also not afraid to try different things, and branding them with the unique FNM stamp. And, having Mike Patton’s idiosyncrasies made palatable in a simpler, less avant-garde format never hurts. Mike Patton can be odd at the best of times, but here his trademark unique half-rap/half-soul/half-screech/half whatever the fuck he’s decided to do this time approach is condensed into songs. And that works for me.
You can call this album tame, but I call this album awesome. Faith No More are and will always be a legendary band, and even with the last embers of their creativity fading away they’ve created a better record than most bands in a lifetime. Kudos to them. (And that for one of the most pretentiously titled albums of the year).
- Information
- Released: 1997
- Label: Slash
- Website: www.fnm.com
- Band
- Mike Patton: vocals
- Jon Hudson: guitars
- Billy Gould: bass
- Roddy Bottum: keyboards
- Mike Bordin: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Collision
- 02. Stripsearch
- 03. Last Cup of Sorrow
- 04. Naked In Front Of The Computer
- 05. Helpless
- 06. Mouth to Mouth
- 07. Ashes to Ashes
- 08. She Loves Me Not
- 09. Got That Feeling
- 10. Paths of Glory
- 11. Home Sick Home
- 12. Pristina
