31 DAYS OF FAITH NO MORE: “LAST CUP OF SORROW”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song “Last Cup Of Sorrow”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Gould (M)
Released 1997
Appears on Album of the Year album
Produced by Roli Mosimann (Swans, Wiseblood), Billy Gould
Guitars by Jon Hudson
Key lyric “This is getting old and so are you.”
Single? Yes, after lead single “Ashes To Ashes” and before final AotY single “Stripsearch.” I heard it for the first time on the radio; I was in Minneapolis and it came on as I was turning west off 15th onto Como early on a Sunday. So thank you for that, radio! But fuck you for everything since.
The climate I don’t pretend to understand Faith No More’s expectations with “Sorrow,” the dreary, occasionally threadbare second single from a record called Album of the Year. And is that album title an ironic commentary on the set’s unsexy, sad tone? An expression of dislike for the project? Anybody help me out here?
Awesome song elevated to supra-awesomeness by one of history’s awesomest choruses. Lyric + harmonies = Mike Patton rulz.
Didja know? The video for “Sorrow” co-starred a super-hot Jennifer Jason Leigh and referred to Hitchcock’s Vertigo? Well, I didn’t know that until the internet. Thank you for that, internet!
–ADF
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METALSUCKS’ 31 DAYS OF FAITH NO MORE
7 “Last Cup Of Sorrow”
6 “The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies” (read)
5 “Caffeine” (read)
4 “Falling To Pieces” (read)
3 “Stripsearch” (read)
2 ”Ricochet” (read)
1 ”Land Of Sunshine” (read)
