Faith No More - Album of the Year
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Free Music Notes for Album of the Year
Free Music Review: .....But sadly not of their career.
Hit: 4 Stars
This is probably the weakest of the Faith No More albums which feature patton on vocals. This does not,however, make it a bad record. Topping their 1992 'Angel Dust' opus was never going to be easy, and they seemed to regress slightly with 1994's 'King for a Day..', which had many great tracks but lacked the consistency and effortless experimentation that 'Angel Dust' was absolutely crammed full with. 'Album of the Year' is a fine album, but flawed, with the inter band tension very evident in places, seemingly a fixture of bands on the verge of breakup. The strongest thing about this record is the presence of some wonderful singles: 'Ashes to Ashes'is the most commercially viable and melodic ('Easy' notwithstanding) tune since the days of 'The Real Thing'. Both 'Last cup of sorrow' and 'Stripsearch' are examples of that smooth and harmonious keyboard edged rock that only FNM can pull off so well. 'Stripsearch' I might add, is like nothing the band have ever attempted before: haunting and eerie, light and dark, gentle and fiery. The album is also pleasingly diverse and in places plain odd: 'Collision' and 'Naked in front of the computer' are two of the heaviest and fastest numbers the band produced, while 'Mouth to Mouth' and 'Got that feeling' display Patton's at times bizzare influence on the bands sound. 'Pristina' is my standout track: it seems to manage to be overpoweringly dark and uplifting at the same time.Theres enough great music on here to merit 4 stars easily, but I still feel Faith No More were capable of so much more, even in the twilight stages of their career. Fans will of course want to pick this up instantly, but newcomers are recommended to go via 'The Real Thing' and then 'Angel Dust' instead.
Free Music Review: Fantabulous
Hit: 4 Stars
Faith No More's last studio recording has a lot going for it, and even a couple of weak tracks can't hinder the overall joy that is Faith No More. This band is a true original. They seem to have no reference points- or maybe they have too many to count- but no one has ever quite sounded like Faith No More. They blend a truly awesome array of textures, tones, and styles, and spent their entire career defying categorization. Are they metal? Are they rap/rock? Trip-hop? Alternative? The answer, of course, is yes.
Bordin (drummer, founder) has an obvious love of dark, Sabbath-esque metal, and is a big part of FNM'S "heavy" sound. But the true genius in this band has to be Mike Patton. His vocals are genuinely odd. He seems to be able to do just about anything he wants with his voice, from whispy to gutteral, maniacal to soulful. Patton is the only singer who can pull off what he does, so much so that I often think of him as metal's Freddie Mercury.
Album of the Year isn't Faith No More's best work, but there are a handful of "best-of moments." Last Cup of Sorrow causes shivers, as do Naked In Front of the Computer, Mouth to Mouth, and She Loves Me Not. And like all Faith No More's work, the songs that don't seem so strong at first listen, start to grow and grow on you, and eventually your raving mad about everything they've ever committed to tape.
Strongly recommend this album, even if it's an ambitious title. It almost lives up to it.
Free Music Review: UNDER RATED!!
Hit: 4 Stars
Currently Faith No More's last studio release the wonderfully titled Album Of The Year was a fitting swansong. Its packed full of quality tracks and showed a band that despite the cracks that had developed over the years between the members could still deliver a quality album.
By calling your album 'Album of the Year' you could be setting yourself up for a critical battering so it says a lot that it was generally well received if a little underrated as the years have gone on. It starts with the brilliant Collision which continues the trend of Faith No More as starting their albums with a cracking quality tune and sets up the album. Other standouts are Stripsearch, Last cup of Sorrow, Helpless and the brilliant Ashes to ashes. It also feature a song called Naked in front of the Computer which probably applies a lot more now than it did then! But that's Faith No More always that bit ahead.
It also feature John Hudson on guitar for the first time and while he will never replace Jim Martin hes well able to hold his own. Also returning is keyboardist Roddy Bottum who missed most of the last release (king for a day fool for a lifetime) with some well documented problems.
So while nothing will ever top Angel Dust, Album Of The Year was a good way to go out.
Free Music Review: May Take A Few Listens
Hit: 4 Stars
Most folks didn't even know Faith No More was still around when this album came out. They had long since stopped being fashionable and the American public had gone on to worship someone else for about a week. Well, Faith No More continued to put out good albums, gain many fervent fans and influence many other bands to come out since. Album Of The Year is their swansong, as you may already know. It's probably the least enjoyable of their Patton-era albums, but it's by no means bad-not a bit. They may have went out with a whimper in terms of mainstream media, but this is a pretty solid album. I remember being extremely ticked off when Rolling Stone reviewed this upon it's release and bashed it because they couldn't determine which genre this music fit in(!). That's not what they said word for word, but that was pretty much the message. If that's not the most shallow thing you've ever heard! Why is it always open season on an artist or band when they fall out of the limelight? Regardless of what the Be All End All of musical journalism says, this is very good. If you like the previous albums, you probably already have this-but if you're curious, you won't go wrong.Free Music Review: Compelling and unique
Hit: 4 Stars
A return to form for the uniquely talented Faith No More which turned out to be their last record before breaking up. Although not reaching the dizzy heights of 1992?s ?Angel Dust?, there are a fair share of classic Faith No More tracks on offer. Opener ?Collision? sets the mood for the album with its unpredictable and jerking metal. Second track ?Strip Search? goes into a completely different direction to confuse the listener even more with its space-age landscape. The album?s greatest strength is that the songs are so diverse and compelling you never know what to expect, something that many US alternative bands should do more often. ?Last Cup Of Sorrow? continues this trend with what sounds like a cowbell as it?s main hook line. At times the album can be frustrating, witness ?Home Sick Home? which goes nowhere and ?She Love?s Me Not? sticking out like a sore thumb. The production sounds flat and uninspiring at times but the quality of the songs shine through, resulting in the most consistent and enjoyable album Faith No More have released in years. Faith No More still prove to be one of the most influential and genius bands of the last 10 years.