THE ALBUM OF THE DAY IS…
FAITH NO MORE, ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Here’s a statement I’m sure I’ll be crucified for: Faith No More were their generation’s Queen. No insofar as musical style, perhaps, but in terms of diversity of output: few bands can do so many different styles of music on one album and not only get away with it, but somehow always still manage to sound like themselves. Keep this in mind as you re-visit this, the band’s final release (not counting the various greatest hits collections that have followed). I’m not sure if the band intended the title as a joke or they were just rightfully arrogant enough to make a declaration, and I’m not sure why the hell there’s what appears to be a scene from some kind of foreign film (Italian, in my imagination) on the cover, although it appears to be a farewell, which is fitting.
But I digress: back to the issue of musical diversity. Album opener “Collision” is a soaring, King for a Day… hard rocker; “Stipsearch” is a mournful, moving techno-ballad; “Mouth to Mouth” is Mike Patton at his snottiest over Roddy Bottum’s Middle Eastern-flavored keyboards; “She Loves Me Not” is faux doo-wop; and “Naked In Front Of The Computer,” even more so than any song from Angel Dust, may be the single most influential track for nu-metal ever recorded. I haven’t even mentioned “Helpless,” which features Patton whistling in lieu of a guitar solo and ends with him repeatedly and breathlessly screaming for “HELP!” after he’s confessed “I even tried to get arrested today/ But everyone looked the other way.” And single “Last Cup of Sorrow” (the video for which re-created Alfred Hitchcock’s classic masterpiece Vertigo with Patton and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, of all people)… well, it just really, really kicks ass.
I love this album, and could write about it forever. Vince and I often debate whether or not a FNM reunion would be awesome or ruin the band’s legacy; but this disc will always make me selfishly feel like I want them to come back and school every shitty imitator they ever had.
-AR
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