Sing and Rejoice: Faith No More Angel Dust

On the wings of their quirky, psycho-rap hit single Epic, Faith No More’s third album, The Real Thing, flew past the platinum mark. So what do they do for an encore? They create what is probably the most uncommercial follow-up to a hit record ever. [i]

 

Before June 8, 1992, if someone said Faith No More, you automatically would have thought, did the fish die? It was the MTV generation and the California band with new lead singer Mike Patton had found fame with their two biggest hits to date, Epic and Falling to Pieces. Beyond that, not many knew the sound or songs. While their third studio album, The Real Thing, put them on the map, it would be their fourth album with Mike Patton sharing creativity and writing credits for the first time that would give them their most respected album to date. Think Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain when you want to try to categorize each song on the album. If the album cover yin yang of a blue egret and a butcher shop doesn’t forewarn you about what’s to come, shame on you.

For those who tuned into Headbangers Ball to see and hear the most anticipated
follow up, they would not be disappointed. Some were confused. And the band took the biggest gamble getting away from safe songs that would make the airwaves and MTV’s top 10. Midlife Crisis was as if someone took the video for Epic and handed it the design over to Danzig. It was darker, creatively palatable with blurred shots, closeups, and varied palettes of texture. And the song? It was a kick to the more simple sound of Epic. Patton’s vocals were both harmonious and demonic, layers of sound, samples, with that driving Faith No More sound (think Real Thing and Epic).

The album was creatively applauded and to this day still received high honors. In reality, the album was holding up a mirror to society. “I drove around a lot in my Honda,” Patton says, “Drove to a real bad area of town, parked and just watched people. Coffee shops and white-trash diner-type places were great for inspiration.” [ii] It would be the last album with Jim Martin and possibly the best Faith No More gave us.

The early 90’s were a weird time for bands. You made it on one or two videos and then the world expected you to keep churning out the same hits. Faith No More chose artistry, pushing back against what labels wanted, and took a risk. What we got was an album that reflected more of who the individual band members were and a lasting album that was more than the sum of its parts. 

Land of Sunshine

If this was the first song to be released (via or airwaves) it would have disappointed many who would have immediately recognized the throwback to From Out of Nowhere. It’s a great song, and maybe the slow peeling of the band aid, transitioning from the last album to this. Okay, down to the bass, it sounds very similar. But it’s catchy damn it, so pat yourself on the back and give yourself a handshake … cause everything is not yet lost. This song was written while sleep deprived and inspired by personality test questions and fortune cookie fortunes. [iii]

Caffeine

Sleep deprivation in a song. This is so how it feels when you’re just trying to stay awake, maybe with animal sounds.

Midlife Crisis

Otherwise known as “the Madonna song.” Hey it was the 90’s and Blonde Ambition was the rage, Madonna was wearing pointy cone bras, chasing JFK jr., and shooting her book, Sex. They called a spade a spade.

RV

Time to slow it down. This sad song makes me thing of a washed-up Elvis impersonator who lives in a trailer park, drinks too much, and speaks in stream of consciousness.

Smaller and Smaller

This is a beautifully written tragic poem – with a great bass line.

Drought makes the workers dream

Muscles and fields of green

Shovel the last few crumbs

Of generosity

Open heart, open mind, open mouth, open vein

Drain

Someday the rains will come

My blistered hands tell me

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow

Everything’s Ruined

Everything about the video is ruined, don’t watch it. It’s a wonderful song about the evils of money. Again, with the classic, driving Faith No More sound.

Malpractice

Not sure if this the song where they sample from The Wizard of Oz, but it sure feels like we’re not in Kansas anymore. It is, however, a song about a woman who loves getting plastic surgery.

Kindergarten

A brilliant song written by an angry 5-year-old. Seriously, the lyrics are brilliant and sad, the angry questioning possibly born within.

Drinking fountains are shorter than they used to be

The swings on the playground don't even fit me anymore

Folklore: Nobody's supposed to believe in the next grade

Write it a hundred times

Kingdom

Kindergarten

Waiting

Bell's not ringing

Held back again

Be Aggressive

If my mother hated that underwear poster, she really would have hated this song. Nothing like cheerleaders and aggressive fellatio, right?

 

A Small Victory

Yet another sad song about learning that there is a lot of pressure on youth to win. The video is a psychological look at that pressure of winning. They also should have saved some of the video budget on this song for Everything’s Ruined.

 

Jizzlober

Heavy, angry, ""It's written about some porno star, but I don't remember his name," he said. "I'm not the porno expert in the group!" Billy Gould. 

 

Midnight Cowboy

I watched the movie because of this instrumental. Thank you, Faith No More, for introducing me to a beautiful movie.

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[i] Garza, Janiss (July 10, 1992). "Angel Dust". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 9, 2008.

[ii] Circus Magazine 1992; Patton Enjoys the Diner Things in Life

[iii] Reflex Magazine Issue 25, June 1992; Faith No More: Angel Dust in the wind by Jem Aswad

 

The Importance of Stranger Things to the GenXers and Music Lovers

This is music! ~ Eddie Munson

If you grew up in the last breaths of the Cold War, the Netflix series Stranger Things is a nostalgic lifeline to the fond memories we collectively share about our youth. There are the unique characters, the bond of friends, the alienation of being different that creates those cliquish, the varied music that was our therapist, the constant threat of world annihilation, the roller rinks and arcades, and the pop culture references to items that sustained us.

We can all associate and name someone that reminds of us the characters on the show. Each of us has a Nancy, Lucas, Max, Will, Mike, Steve, Eddie, Dustin, or Joyce and Hopper that they can refer to from their childhood. The scenes of houses with bikes piled up in yards, going home at dark, wanting to fit in, and joining forces to save the world … these scenes so accurately depicted it’s like watching a VHS tape of our own memories.

While the show uses a lot of music, it is season 4’s use of music to save those from the evil forces of Vecna. The importance of music on the show is what I relate to most. Music is a character – let’s face it. When you hear the opening chords of The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go, Dusting and Suzie singing Limahl’s Neverending Story theme song, or Eddie summoning the demobats with Metallica’s Master of Puppets, you know associate those songs with specific scenes and characters just as many of us do with music throughout our lives.

There was something incredibly fantastic and magical about music in the 80’s. GenXers were on the cusp of freedom from the Cold War, technology was giving us cool music videos and computer games, but we still relied on our imagination, a curfew of “when the streetlights come on,” and much of our activities revolved around music. While the global world order is passively referenced (using the Hawkins lab for work against Russia or the shenanigans of Enzo and Yuri around the gulag), the plight of saving the world moves from fiction (D&D) to fact (Demogorgon, Mind Flayer and Vecna). The use of music moves from background (Twist of Fate – Olivia Newton John) to life and death (Running Up that Hill – Kate Bush). Music was just always there thanks to radio and MTV/VH1. We had a soundtrack every waking moment of our days. Music was also different in that its accessibility was either on the radio, on the TV, or in the record stores. You had to wait for albums. You had to fast forward through cassette tapes. For God’s sake you had to memorize and guess lyrics.

There's a parable to Eddie's story, really, that is poetic, powerful, and beautiful
~ Joseph Quinn

The Duffer Brothers were too young to recall the years in which the first four seasons of Stranger Things took place (they were born in 1984) but they did a fantastic job capturing the feelings of the time. From social cliques to the fear of metal music and Dungeons and Dragons, the undertone of world demise (Russians or the Upsidedown), and the importance and constant presence of music, Stranger Things is a portal for the GenXers to reminisce and bask in the glory of complex, but simpler times. 

Season 5 should take us at least two years possibly into the future which means a post-Chernobyl and Live Aid, U2 releases Joshua Tree and George Michael releases Faith to the world.

Paula’s Upside Down, Save Me From Vecna Playlist (1980-1986)

Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

Unforgettable Fire – U2

Orion – Metallica

Love Twist – Culture Club

Harden My Heart – Quarterflash

Listen Like Thieves – INXS

Let’s Dance – David Bowie

Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears

Love Don’t Live Here Anymore - Madonna

Raise Your Hands to Rock – Motley Crue

Private Dance – Tina Turner

Safety Dance – Men Without Hats

No Myth – Michael Penn

Overkill – Men at Work

Witness – Cyndi Lauper

**All images credit of Netflix**