Faith No More - The Real Thing
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Faith No More's The Real Thing turns 20 tomorrow. 11 year-old me couldn't get enough of it. I listened to it constantly for probably about a year. Then I left it behind. It's not a "deep" record. Faith No More isn't a "deep" band. I wonder what Faith No More means to people. It's good they didn't stoop to obvious themes like love and politics. But they were so "out there" that it's difficult to imagine a deep personal connection with them other than nostalgia. This band was in that place at that time. For some reason, people want to hold on to that. The videos of Faith No More's reunion shows are painful. Mike Patton sounds out of breath. He can't hit notes like he used to. Nostalgia is a deadly force. It clouds one's judgment and lightens one's wallet. Now it also clogs Internet bandwidth.
Zombie EatersWoodpecker from Mars
Better, then, to remember Patton as a 21 year-old. What a voice! Even when it goes nasal and annoying, it's irresistible. Patton had soul. It's not the easily definable kind on actual soul records. He's definitely emoting — but about what? ("You want it all, but you can't have it / It's in your face, but you can't grab it / What is it?" I bet this is about lap dances.) I haven't figured out what any Faith No More songs are about, and I doubt many of the band's fans have, either. Faith No More didn't seem to be about anything other than Faith No More. They filled up minutes with weirdness, skewed aggression, and catchiness — starting with The Real Thing, anyway. The stuff before doesn't even compare. Anyone who defends the Chuck Mosley years is doing "the demo was better" posturing.
It's a trip hearing The Real Thing after so many years away from it. The bright and clean sound takes getting used to. What I seek in music has almost completely changed after 20 years. What an innocent time, when I could tolerate slap bass, not to mention keyboards in metal. (I recently wheeled out Angel Dust and was repulsed by its keyboard-smothered muck.) It's cool, though, to hear a snare drum actually sound like a snare drum. Most drums now are horrific aggregrations of triggers and compression. It's cool, too, to find that I still know the songs almost by heart. Patton sure could write a catchy vocal pattern. This record has many "moments" for me. I loved "Epic" so much that I transcribed its piano outro by ear. The acoustic intro to "Zombie Eaters" was one of the first things I learned on guitar. What do kids learn guitar to these days???
My final takeaway from The Real Thing is how Sabbath-esque it is. The influence isn't obvious, like how stoner bands detune now and play bluesy riffs. It's more in how chords sustain and certain matters of timing. You feel it more than than you hear it. The guitar in "Woodpecker from Mars" is total Sabbath. When after 10 songs, the cover of "War Pigs" rolls around, it makes complete sense. Talk about owning a song! Faith No More made it theirs. It's apt that Mike Bordin is playing the song behind Ozzy now. But, man, nostalgia. Enough is enough. My first girlfriend was great. She was perfect for me then. But not now. Au revoir, Simone. Au revoir, Faith No More.
Labels: anniversaries, clee, heavy metal, usa
25 Comments:
In my opinion, absolutely flawless album.
Yeah I agree this is the product of a specific time. If it has depth, it's not the obvious type, I hesitate to say it's all nostalgia that people still like this.
What's interesting to me is the trend that this record started, which produced some of the most superficially odd but vacuous music.
I was 18, and remember being absolutely floored by "From Out of Nowhere", which was the first single. Talk about a quantum leap! But although I bought the album based entirely on that track's appeal, what totally caught me off-guard was just how heavy the rest of the record was at times..."Surprise! You're Dead" came on, and I couldn't believe it.
That said, to this day I still greatly prefer the eccentricity of Angel Dust.
This has unabashedly been one of my favorite albums for 20 unbroken years. I think it implanted itself in my young impressionable brain--understandable meanings or not, it deeply connected with my teenage angsty neurons.
And my most embarrassing, long, drunken message board post ever was about how Sabbathy this record is.
I disagree. The lyrics might not be all that deep but the music hits you there, kind of like the weirder beatles' songs. They summon up an emotion that normal 'deep' music doesn't because it's got a different tone from more run of the mill stuff.
Also, I've just watched FNM at Download & I can assure you he can still hit every note. The show was totally awesome, not a disappointment at all.
I wasn't a FNM fan first time around, I've only just discovered them aged 25 so nostalgia has nothing to do with it!
this post is a joke right? FNM at download was amazing. the real thing is the least best patton FNM album.
I never really got FNM. I bought [i]Introduce Yourself[/i], heard the big hits from this album, bought [i]Angel Dust[/i] and briefly liked one or two songs, and never paid attention again. The only Patton thing/project I really, really like (as in, listen to for pleasure rather than kind of admiring from a distance) is Fantômas. The waves of nostalgic rapture greeting the FNM reunion tour are utterly befuddling to me.
At the time, I had heard "Epic" like everyone else on the radio/eMptyTV and thought it was all right. I went to a Voivod show and FNM and Soundgarden where the opening acts. It was one of maybe ten times in my life that I have been totally blown away by an opening band that I had no real prior knowledge or expectations. I went out an bought the CD the next day and have enjoyed it ever since.
The Real Thing is an outlier in my musical taste, as you can probably guess from a commenter on Invisible Oranges. It is Sabbathy, it is keyboardy, intentionally vocally odd and it is wonderful. One thing nobody has mentioned so far is it was a record pretty much without precedent on a major label. How strangely brave, did they think they were signing the next Red Hot Chili Peppers?. No need to be nostalgic to enjoy it. However, I don't much care for the follow ups, Angel Dust and King for a Day
Funny that you walk away from your past loves. Actually, it seems a bit sad. I can listen to something and not like it as much...but do you actually sell the CD or throw it away?
Also, Faith No More on SNL could be the best SNL musical performance ever. So damn amazing. Not on the 'You Tube' but try and find it. I taped it back then and watched it over and over. 'The Real Thing' and the even better 'From Out Of Nowhere'.
I like The Real Thing but I think Angel Dust is far superior. I can still listen to it over and over and it doesn't feel nearly as dated. More than anything I love Faith No More for leading me to Patton's far superior band MR BUNGLE!
I still love pretty much everything the band did, but I agree with many previous comments that "Angel Dust" is king. I still love "The Real Thing", though. Probably damn near as much as I did as a kid.
I'd defend the Mosley years as well, though. No doubt. Certainly not as good as Patton, but "Introduce Yourself" is a GREAT album. Just as strong as "The Real Thing" for me, overall.
Neckdeep-- you mean these vids?
http://fr.truveo.com/80s-ROCK-CLASSIC-Faith-No-More-Epic-Live-SNL/id/2873107366
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=22086611
Chuck Mosley is releasing an album soon "Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food" you can listen to 2 new songs from the album on his myspace page. www.myspace.com/chuckmosleyvua.com
I've never heard The Real Thing. I'm a big fan of Fantomas and I respect Mike Pattons' spazzy abilities and work ethic. I've since heard Mr. Bungle and Angel Dust. I haven't really been able to get into either one. So, I have to reserve judgment. I will say that Epic is impossible to dislike. One of the best crossover singles ever. Who doesn't like that song (besides Anthony Kiedis)?
I dunno. Did I ever tell y'all about the time I witnessed Mike Patton feeding King Buzzo mussels in a three-star food clinic north of the California line?
Talk about a fish outta water...
Oh Omniscient One,
I reckon you visit more gay shellfish bars than you do metal blogs. Hey, maybe you could run a blog relating such experiences...
By the way. I gotta hand it to ya. That was God damned funny.
Talk of Angel Dust falling short of this album is just plain crazy talk, opinion or not.
I also think it's sad that the only influence that gets spoken of in regards to FNM is the nu-metal garbage that came after them. There's a serious difference between "influence" and "plagiarism", there tons of great bands who've been influenced by these records aside from the blatantly obvious "rap-metal with a dj" sound that permeated (read:stunk up the airwaves) the last 15 years!
Beavis and Butthead doing Epic. That one's gonna stick with me to my grave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TguIOV-cuVY
I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Woa...his shirt says Mr. Bungle
What is it?
I wish this video had explosions
Fairies grant wishes
Bung Hole
Thanks for the very-cool SNL videos, post-felix. Patton looks like a cross between Johnny Depp and the guy from Jesus Jones.
I checked out the Download clips on youtube (something inherently funny in writing the previous sentence), Patton is mostly hitting his notes fine. Not painful at least.
I really liked it at the time, and still do to a certain extent, but i'd say that I like it now more in a nostalgic context. I can't hardly listen to the Chuck Mosely stuff. "Angel Dust", to me, is their record that's held up the best over all these years, because it's darker and Patton seems to be more aggressive and less shapeshifting in vocals, though he certainly still does alot of that on "Angel Dust".
To me, the band stopped being Faith No More when Jim left. "King For A Day..." is a nice record in itself, but you can tell that Jim was really, REALLY the Sabbath guy in the band. What I like about Faith No More is that Jim always made it way more metal than it otherwise would have been, because if they'd had anyone else, Roddy and the funk bass player (name escapes me right now) would have been much more prominent than they already were. Sometimes I wish they Chili Peppered it up a bit less on those records.
Jesus Cosmo,
I know I'm prolly last in a long line of folks saying this, but I couldn't disagree more. People who love FNM REALY FUCKIN' LOVE FNM! It's the deepest thing in the world to us!
I wouldn't say those things on the street to FNM fan is what I'm getting at.
And yes, Angel Dust is the best album.
FNM is the only metal band in my opinion to actually need keyboards.
(most people think epic is about masturbation, not lap dances.)
And to the above poster, the bass player is named Billy Gould, and he can play a lot more than funk bass, he was in Brujeria for christ(satan)sakes!
Ok, rant over
The Real Thing, as an album is about trying to find transcendence through love. As to what it says about that concept, well, it ends with Edge of the World, a song ostensibly about a 50-year-old pedophile trying to nab a little girl. So, yeah.
I really dig King for a day, fool for a lifetime.
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