REVIEW : Faith No More, King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime (Warner)
- Martin Bate
Faith No More are back in business. After a sticky period where they fired long-time guitarist Jim Martin, then waved goodbye to his replacement, singer Mike Patton's Mr. Bungle playmate Trey Spruance (who plays here on the album), they've welcomed good friend Dean Menta into the fold and are back firing on all cylinders.
Every time you think you've got FNM pinned down they surprise you. Following on the heels of the slick modern metal of The Real Thing and the twisted, difficult and quite superb ball of conflicting sounds that was Angel Dust comes possibly their best album yet. King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime is nothing less than 14 addictive, wildly varying songs juxtaposed together to create one of the most complete albums you'll hear this year.
Starting with the skewed pop-metal riffs of "Get Out" with Patton's lyrics hinting at where they've been since we last saw them ("What if there's no more fun to have ?...Cut my losses and get out now!"), you immediately notice the change in producer. Out goes producer (since the start) Matt Wallace and in comes Andy Wallace who's worked with Rage Against the Machine, Slayer and Nirvana. The sound is drier and more live. On the down side, Roddy Bottum's keyboards seem to be pushed back in the mix on much of the guitar-oriented tracks, where FNM were often characterized by the keyboards being offset against the guitars. But on the positive side, Bill Gould's bass is thick and high in the mix, in some places sounding like another lead instrument.
And then there's Patton, possibly the most versatile singer around; he's let loose to scream, roar, soar and soothe all the way through.
From "Get Out" out, the ride is a rollercoaster : the soaring pop chorus of "Ricochet" which could have half the western world singing "It's always funny until someone gets hurt and then its just hilarious!"; the smooth laid-back funk of "Evidence" where Patton croons "You didn't mean a thing a thing/I didn't feel a thing" like some bastard-smooth heartbreaker; the barely restrained venom of "Gentle Art of Making Enemies"; the Tom Jones style James Bond theme of the horn-led "Star A.D." - it's about now when you realize how dizzying this album can me, making you smile and sing along.
Then comes the fucking *brutal* "Cuckoo for Caca". Vicious tribal drumming and Slayer-heavy guitars and Patton screaming like a maniac about the relationship between man and shit (!). When they open with this, stand back and watch security drag the bodies out. The final confirmation of genius comes when this is immediately followed by the bossanova rythyms of "Caralho Voador" with Patton cruising behind the wheel of a sleek car whispering in Portuguese and warning with a sexy croon that "My lips are moving but there's no sound/Someday somebody's gonna get run down..."
And so it goes on : the frenzied and frightening "Ugly in the Morning" with Patton sounding completely unhinged come the end; the pop-punk-metal of first single "Digging the Grave"; the country tinged balladeering of "Take This Bottle" which is only a few short steps away from being "Every Rose Has its Thorn"; the epic pull and release of "King for a Day" which loops out on an accoustic groove with Patton whispering "Don't let me die with that silly look on my eyes" like a mantra; the concrete heavy slab of "What a Day"; the quite quite beautiful "The Last To Know" where the guitar crucnches and shimmers while the vocals and keyboards just soar; and the big finish of "Just a Man" which grooves in one door on a Boney M bass-line and sails out the window with a big camp cabaret gospel ending to end all endings. Each song is self-contained and to the point. There's little of the obtuseness and difficulty of Angel Dust and there's huge hooks at every second turn. This should see them both climbing the charts again *and* consolidating their fans confidence that Faith No More are always shifting and rarely disappointing.
Am I allowed to nominate my album of the year yet ?
