Faith No More: most underrated rock band of the 90s?

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like lots of artsy metal bands to hit the radio in their peak year of 1990 (jane's addiction, kings x, living colour, maybe soundgarden, maybe queensryche), they felt the need to act like (or at least SEEM to act like) eclecticism in metal was a REALLY BIG DEAL.

Hm...did FNM actually spawn System of a Down, then?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 24 July 2004 21:32 (nineteen years ago) link

I also like System of a Down.

Wooden, Saturday, 24 July 2004 23:31 (nineteen years ago) link

Actually it was the Armenian Genocide that spawned System of a Down. DUUUUUUUUH.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Saturday, 24 July 2004 23:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Anyway, the word "eclectic" I don't think is very appropriately used for them, as almost all of their most unconventional songs weren't so because of juxtaposing conflicting musical cultures (as the word "eclectic" generally implies), but moreso on sonic and structural strangeness. They really weren't throwing all sorts of influences in their, it has been for the most part a really distinct hybridization of funk, metal, and new age (all those would've-otherwise-sounded-tame Roddy Bottom synth/string pads). Their most weirdo moments have almost always been thematic in nature ("Jizzlobber", "Zombie Eaters"), whereas their most "eclectic" moments have almost always been really genre/style-specific in nature ("The Edge Of The World", "RV").

nickalicious (nickalicious), Saturday, 24 July 2004 23:45 (nineteen years ago) link

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I find it pretty entertaining to see a band with such a specific, homogenous sound as FNM described as "eclectic" so often by people who should know better.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Saturday, 24 July 2004 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I mean, for fuck's sake, they had songs with titles like "JIZZLOBBER".

Oh I know, just look at how gross and offense song title have held back Tool.

j.lu (j.lu), Sunday, 25 July 2004 00:03 (nineteen years ago) link

Kimberly, you're just like, totally wrong. FNM were mainstream-ish on The Real Thing, but even then they were out of step.

As for "rap/metal" fusion, I can only assume you've just heard Epic and are basing everything on that. While Patton did staccato "rap" sections, that was hardly the epitome of their band, a fusion of "rap" and metal.

Name me one group who sounded like them on "Angel Dust" and say they were a mainstream act. Note that accessibility doesn't equate to mainstream sound, either. I consider many of King Crimson's songs "accessible" too.

uh (eetface), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Uh, King for a Day was all over the place. "STar AD" was like Vegas lounge music, and "Evidence" was almost like a neo-take on film noir set to music.

uh (eetface), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:17 (nineteen years ago) link

Kimberly, I have to say you look really silly with some of your comments. You sound like every little kid who has heard "Epic" and based their opinion on that.

You missed James' (very correct) points time and time again. No wonder he said "good riddance" to you.

bobby (eetface), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:18 (nineteen years ago) link

"But you got to respect that!"

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:18 (nineteen years ago) link

What universe was Angel Dust a huge hit? Sure, it had radio/air play, but that doesn't equal sales or Billboard chart climbing.

It did debut at number 10 on the Billboard album chart, but that was entirely due to coming off a hit record (which may explain why this album was a staple of used CD stores in the 90s). It might have sold better had that Guns n' Roses/Metallica tour they were on when it was released not run into so many troubles.

Vic Funk, Monday, 26 July 2004 15:29 (nineteen years ago) link

"Mike Patton has written lyrics in seven languages".

Mike Patton speaks a fantastically fluent Italian - his Italian swearing being particularly good.

Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Nick OTM. The Faith No More that I knew and liked (which really only existed for two albums)(as far as I know)(which isn't very far) wasn't terribly eclectic - their guitar/bass/keys sound was fairly distinctive. Not earth-shatteringly original in itself, just fairly ordinary elements combined in a unique way. For eclecticism taken to ludicrous extremes, there's Disco Volante, if you can bring yourself to listen to it. (Too exhausting for me most of the time.)

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:42 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...
Listening to Angel Dust straight through for the first time ever at the moment. Currently on 'Crack Hitler'.

Now, much has been said that you won't 'get' this album until after a few listens. I'm not sure about this. It's severely awesome after just under 1 IMO. It's not a mindblowing record, not a 'new experience in sound', but it's kept me listening, entertained and thoroughly satisfied with my purchase. And it's got some REAL awesome, unconventionally-written songs. Best so far = probably Malpractice, or maybe Midlife Crisis.

Scourage (Haberdager), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 01:10 (seventeen years ago) link

WHOAH. ok, I never read this thread until now. that Kim was NOT me by the way. and I've had this registered since 2001, how the hell??

Kim (Kim), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 03:57 (seventeen years ago) link

Maybe you had "Yes" checked under "Allow messages to be posted with my name or email address without my password:" in settings. That Kim wasn't logged in.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 04:48 (seventeen years ago) link

OMG it's kim deal lol

aaron d.g. (aaron d.g.), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 06:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Hm...did FNM actually spawn System of a Down, then?

-- Ned Raggett (ne...) (webmail), July 25th, 2004. (Ned) (link)


I was trying to say to this friend of mine who's a big System of a Down fan, that SoaD kinda sound like the first Mr. Bungle album. I even lent the album to her, but she refused to believe me. But I still think they do sound like it.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 06:43 (seventeen years ago) link

They at least ripped off Patton's vocals. I remember getting in a fight with an old girlfriend in 2002 where she claimed the System of a Down singer was the greatest evah, and was known as the man of a thousand voices. I tried explaining to her that moniker had been applied to Patton years earlier, and SoaD had obviously taken notes.

cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 07:10 (seventeen years ago) link

I immediately thought of Patton in Mr. Bungle when I heard SoaD's first album. I like them, though. A lot. Got all their stuff.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 07:15 (seventeen years ago) link

two weeks pass...
def lep...who mixed prog and rap and punk and pop much in much less clumsy ways than faith no more -- by which i probably just meaned they rocked harder and had a better singer and prettier melodies.

sorry, I know I'm about two years late to this party, but I just had to mention that the above comment might just be the single most inaccurate stream of words ever recorded in the history of human communication.

that is all.

guanoman (mister the guanoman), Friday, 8 September 2006 10:19 (seventeen years ago) link

This thread recalls something that really annoyed me in an indie monthly like Vox or Q or something several years ago. They described FNM as being "A band who were too busy having 'piss-fights' to learn any other style of music other than Funk-Metal". The band on the front cover of the mag was the Lightning Seeds. Probably the single most stupid line of music journalism I ever read.

wogan lenin (dog latin), Friday, 8 September 2006 10:46 (seventeen years ago) link

A band who were too busy having 'piss-fights' to learn any other style of music other than Funk-Metal

I stand corrected. THAT was the single most inaccurate stream of words ever recorded in the history of human communication.

guanoman (mister the guanoman), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Vox was a pile of shite. Never understood the love for Select round here either.(Though I did buy it occasionally so I suppose there was some good issues unlike Vox which was UTTER SHITE)

I love Faith No More still to this day.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

as all wise and sensible people do.

guanoman (mister the guanoman), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:31 (seventeen years ago) link

I quite liked Select up until Liam Gallagher was their cover star every single month circa 1998-99 when it died. It had a fairly well informed dance section and a diverse reviews section, despite it being an indie/britpop mag at the end of the day. They did a wicked Blur document one time.

wogan lenin (dog latin), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:32 (seventeen years ago) link

The only album I know by heart by FNM is King For A Day, which I think is hugely underrated and perhaps justifiably eclipsed by Angel Dust (which I liked but got round to listneing to way too late to really appreciate). Apart from that, I have their Greatest Hits which is pretty good. I really like FNM's comedy ballad covers. Easy and I Started A Joke are wonderful and although they're supposed to be ironic, manage to actually improve on the originals.

wogan lenin (dog latin), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:35 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm never quite sure how much comedy and irony there is in those covers...probably less than you'd think. just because a band plays some pretty abrasive metal doesn't mean they're farting around when they play the softer stuff. but one of the (many) things I like about FNM is their impenetrability (not musically, but in terms of attitude), their solipsism almost. you can have a guy squatting and screaming like a burning hog one second, and out-balladeering sinatra the next. it shouldn't make any sense at all, yet once you step into their world then it does. there aren't 'serious' and 'jokey' songs, just songs.

they do give good schmaltz though - 'this guy's in love' and 'spanish eyes' are fantastic.

guanoman (mister the guanoman), Friday, 8 September 2006 11:46 (seventeen years ago) link

"I quite liked Select up until Liam Gallagher was their cover star every single month circa 1998-99 when it died."

what with oasis not released any new music in this period, i am surprised you say this. perhaps it's bollocks?

a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Friday, 8 September 2006 12:12 (seventeen years ago) link

def lep is a rap and punk group that has been around since the beginning of rap punk!

bendy (bendy), Friday, 8 September 2006 12:40 (seventeen years ago) link

what with oasis not released any new music in this period, i am surprised you say this. perhaps it's bollocks?

No, I'm quite certain, and that's why I was fed up with it. They really floundered in the post-Britpop years, which was a shame really cos it had a really good format.

wogan lenin (dog latin), Friday, 8 September 2006 13:00 (seventeen years ago) link

I think I had given up reading any uk music press by the second half of the 90's/

Not trying to one-up Dog Latin here but while (imho) the effects of Britpop were pretty cancerous for UK music, it's impact on the quality of music journalism was more akin to a flesh eating virus.

But then I remember when Smash Hits would have one page completely devoted to dance/indie/rock etc charts. That kind of broad approach is unthinkable even for Plan B anymore it seems (ok ok, counter argument could be that the charts have become far more irrelevant in the mp3 age BUT I have the notion that more awareness of their machinations and trends in general among indie people would be a better alternative to the current state of affairs than throwing Ideological Popism at them and hoping they die (or at least stop fooling around with retro guitars and seeing every Arctic Monkey record sold as a victory of real-ness).

This isn't the direction things are going to go in though quite clearly. That idea was lost a long time ago. Youtube > TOTP/MTV and iPod > Radio. In all probability not a bad thing, a changing culture is better than a dying one, but it makes me wonder if rock bands like Faith No More are going to be a thing of the past. Maybe Slipknot are the closest equivalent these days... Or Lordi.

just say no to individuality (fandango), Friday, 8 September 2006 14:09 (seventeen years ago) link

"Listening to Angel Dust straight through for the first time ever at the moment. Currently on 'Crack Hitler'."

Ah, Marion Barry, how we loved thee.

Faith No More's Epic was one of those albums my dad brought home only to have me play the living shit out of when I was around 10ish (I think that's when it came out. We had the cassette and the liners fell apart from being opened again and again). I loved Angel Dust, but had a friend who bought King For A Day and declared that it sucked, so I gave it a pass. Ah, youf. I liked Album of the Year a lot (I still think it's underrated), and probably would have rated it eponymously then.

I do remember catching them on that tour and seeing a young Limp Bizkit open up for FNM. LB kept saying "Who likes Rage? Who wants to hear some Rage?" and played not one, not two, but hree Rage Against the Machine covers. They were booed off the stage. (And thus, I can say that I hated LB before they got big).

js (honestengine), Friday, 8 September 2006 14:53 (seventeen years ago) link

wierd...yesterday I got "Midlife Crisis" stuck in my head and had a burning desire to hear Angel Dust!

I haven't heard that in probably 10 years....I remember it being really "wierd" but I bet it's not so wierd now.

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 8 September 2006 14:55 (seventeen years ago) link

two years pass...

if martin was playing, I'd go (maybe)

akm, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 15:48 (fifteen years ago) link

Was that really Kim Dowsett posting things like this?:

word, ma nigga!

― Kim, Thursday, 22 July 2004 01:12 (4 years ago)

Sundar, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link

Oh, just read the rest of the thread and I see it wasn't. nm.

Sundar, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:34 (fifteen years ago) link

see you in europe, everyone!

gtfoer spurlock (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:38 (fifteen years ago) link

I thought hell would freeze over before patton would reform FNM

Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 16:38 (fifteen years ago) link

Don't care in the least.

ilxor, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link

if you notice me calling you a dumbass, then you care at least as much to open this thread twice!

gtfoer spurlock (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link

No word yet if iconic “Epic” guitar-soloist (and primary guitar player for most of the band’s existence) Jim Martin, or original singer Chuck Mosely will be involed.

lol that would be worth seeing

fwiw (rockapads), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 21:41 (fifteen years ago) link

Just because I opened the thread again doesn't mean I care about the band/reunion, merely that I'm interested to see what ILM has to say about it... xpost

ilxor, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 22:56 (fifteen years ago) link

Nice try! ;-)

ilxor, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 22:56 (fifteen years ago) link

I SUGGEST it's a good thing this BANd is reforming.

King Boiled Potato (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 22:58 (fifteen years ago) link

if the sad old pixies can do a karaoke tour and pay rent for 2 more years, why not these guys.

to be honest, if someone had asked me, in 1994, whether these bands would do this 15 years later, I would've said no. but i don't know why. every generation thinks it had a bright burning moment?

paulhw, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 00:57 (fifteen years ago) link

three months pass...

Sorry to disappoint you Sundar, did you really have to ask?! but I guess I should thank you for having this thread now come up under my real name on Google? man alive... :P

Kim, Thursday, 28 May 2009 18:13 (fourteen years ago) link

two months pass...

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