Faith No More

Album Review: Faith No More- Sol Invictus

faithnomoresolcdcoverMost of the time when a band announces their return after a very long hiatus, it is usually met with great excitement. At the same time there is always hope that the reunion brings new music from the band. Sometimes it works out for the best and other times it fails miserably like it did with the latest Soundgarden album King Animal. One of the most anticipated albums of 2015 has been the new album from Faith No More. At first when they released their first singles “Motherfucker” and “Superhero” those songs weren’t anything special. If anything they seemed like just fun songs they came up with and released them to just wet the appetite of their fans. I can honestly say that the album itself is quite good. It could be taken as the logical followup to their 1997 swan song Album Of The Year. The band themselves have not lost a step at all during the 18 year gap between albums. If anything, Faith No More seems reinvigorated and ready to take back what should have been theirs to begin with. Songs like “Cone Of Shame, (my personal favorite on the album)” “Sunny Side Up,” “Black Friday,” and “Matador” are all outstanding tracks. Even the first two songs the released fit in the scheme of the album better than they do on their own.

I wouldn’t say this is a perfect album, but it does hit the mark. One of the best things about the Sol Invictus is that it leaves you wanting more. Faith No More really delivered the goods on this one.

Scale of 1-10: 8

Faith No More-Sol Invictus:

By: Brian Lacy

Cover Thursday: Faith No More- War Pigs

Real+Thing

Faith No More is one of the most underrated yet influential bands of the past 25 years. Back when they released their album The Real Thing in 1989 they had a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” This is one of the best Black Sabbath covers I’ve ever heard. Mike Patton’s delivery on this song is unbeatable and dareI say better than Ozzy singing it! Obviously the original is still great, the arrangement that Faith No More made for it just took it up a notch!

Faith No More- War Pigs

Album Rank: Faith No More

Faith-No-More

 

To coincide with 2015 being the year that Faith No More will release a brand new album, why not rank all their previous efforts! Note: I’m only ranking the Mike Patton albums and not Chuck Mosley.

 

5. Album Of The Year:

 

4. Sol Invictus:

 

3. King For A Day…Fool For A Life Time:

 

2. The Real Thing:

 

1. Angel Dust:

Underrated and Influential: Faith No More

The great thing about Faith No More is that they always did what they wanted to do. Their music was never easily classified, it ranged from metal, jazz, funk, rock, psychedelia, new wave, and then some. The band with Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould, Mike “Puffy” Bordin Jim Martin and Chuck Mosley released one album Introduce Yourself featuring the song “We Care A Lot.” When Mike Patton took over for Chuck Mosley, everything fell in to place. Their success took hold when The Real Thing was released. Featuring the songs Epic, From Out Of Nowhere, Falling To Pieces and the great cover of War Pigs. That album plus play on MTV garnered them plenty of exposure. Their follow up album Angel Dust was a departure from their previous effort. Songs like Midlife Crisis, Caffeine, Land Of Sunshine and Jizzlobber to name a few were far more experimental. After touring that album Jim left and was replaced by Trey Spruance (Mike’s bandmate in the great band Mr. Bungle). They would go on and record the album King For A Day… Fool For A Lifetime. The album stepped up the experiments venturing into the world of bossa nova, country, and gospel. Songs like Evidence, Digging The Grave.  Their final opus Album Of The Year was released in 1997 and featured Jon Hudson on guitar. Ashes to Ashes, Last Cup Of Sorrow amongst others highlight this piece of work.

The individuals of the band are quite influential to many people in their own right. Mike Patton especially. His vocal style is undeniable and his ability to hit certain ranges is incredible. His numerous other projects including Fantomas, Tomahawk, Mr. Bungle (R.I.P.), Peeping Tom, etc are all influential and quite awesome. Billy Gould’s bass tone is copied by many in the heavy rock community. Mike Bordin is a beast behind the kit. After the break up of Faith No More, he would go on to play for Ozzy. Roddy Bottum is a mater of the keys. His arrangements and effects really helped to make Faith No More substantial. Their guitarists Jim Martin , Trey Spruance and Jon Hudson all different helped to shape the sound of each album they played on and it shows.

Faith No More reunited for a bit between 2009 and 2012. Sadly they have said that is it for now. Hopefully they change their minds.

By: Brian Lacy