I never expected Faith No More to get back together. So the six years on and off of reunion shows were a beautiful bonus. I never expected a new album. I really wasn’t sure I wanted one. I had succumbed to the fallacy that says that reunited (and it feels so good) bands habitually besmirch their legacy. So when the reunion looked to be petering out in 2012, I accepted it with a mix of resignation and relief.
Sure, Matador had sounded magisterial since the first time it was played in Buenos Aires in November 2011. I had the great privilege of being side stage when they played at the Belgrade Calling festival in June 2012. It allayed any doltish doubts that this band would not deliver amazing new music but it also seemed merely an epilogue to Faith No More 2.0.
Fast forward to August 2013 and I got word that new music might be in the offing. Work had begun,. Things were happening. It was time to resuscitate this site. The excitement rose, the impatience and the need for instant gratification of a true 21st century boy swelled and then…Finally I heard Superhero and Motherfucker in Hyde Park last summer and Bill confirmed that the album was in progress. The 17-year wait would become an even longer 9-month one – a pregnant pause until Sol Invictus.
Motherfucker served as a perfect – foie gras? – taster, pleasing on the palate despite the profanity but leaving us wanting more. That came with Superhero – an adrenaline-fuelled multi-layered out-and-out rocker that confirmed that the band remain energised and relevant if not repugnantly current with all its Cowellesque connotations.
I’ve been lucky enough to have had a preview stream for a little while and have listened to the record non-stop for weeks. So much so that my little boy now demands that Faith No More to be played in the car and occasionally shouts out “Buy it” from Black Friday when he feels like it.
And make no mistake, this album requires and rewards repeat listening and almost total immersion. It gives up delights and pleasures and shock and awe with each new listen. It’s fresh but redolent of the band’s best work; dark but with trademark humour and a resurrection theme; energetic and even pummeling in places but considered and calm where you least expect; epic in scale and conception but short at less than 40 minutes; dominated by the chameleonic and highly skilled vocals of Mike Patton but a truly group effort helmed by Bill Gould and featuring sublime but never showy musicianship.
Sol Invictus
Roddy’s keyboards signal the band’s return (just as his vocals and lyrics did chronologically with the Motherfucker single) before Mike Bordin’s martial beat comes in. A whispered opening from Patton and those lyrics! The band have deigned not to publish lyrics with this album which makes sense given that Patton has often said – and repeated again recently to Hard rock France – that the sounds of the words matter more than the meaning. And of course lyrics can look denuded and dry and sometimes ridiculous when written down. But here the lyrics declare that Faith No More mean business.
I’m coming lord, I’m on my way
Worshiping at the alter of no-one
Can’t remember which god is my one
Can’t repent at the wrongEmpty rituals, trinkets and fossils
And now lord, I’m on my way…
Amen
Immediately we have the key themes of the album – faith and lack of it, death, the sun, resurrection. The song has an almost choral quality and is underpinned by a nagging riff (reflecting Patton’s doubt? – “Wheres my faith?/ We ruined today /I believe in something, I think/ Where’s my faith?). A statement of intent in every way. We’re on our way; we still have faith (no more), we’ll go at our own pace. The track also serves as a wonderful bookend with From the Dead. It’s not for nothing that the opening words on the album are “I’m coming lord, I’m on my way” and the closer is “I can see the end/ Welcome home my friend”.
And the songs ends with that isolated piano – knowingly or not referencing the band’s biggest and best-known song.
Superhero
The segue between that piano outro and the much more uptempo piano intro into Superhero is tantalising as the second single and second track goes right for the jugular. Roddy’s keys dominate, the melodic focus but Jon Hudson’s Batman redux riff here is sublime and Marvel-ous. I’ve tried and failed to decipher the lyrics here a few times so won’t go into great detail but the song appears to be a thinly-concealed critique of the world’s only superpower – the leader of men/get back in your cage – as it tries and fails to be a superhero?: “Put the the S on your chest, You’re feeling like a God/ An order of animal/ With that divine right”. Are we setting ourselves up to be false gods? And the sun and resurrection offers redemption: “Ain’t no grave going to hold this body down /The sun rises here to save us now/ Its all erased”
On a purely musical note, the song is driven by some Roddy’s best lead keyboards in FNM history but also features a searing solo from none other than Bill.
Sunny Side Up
“I’ll be your leprechaun/ Shamrock, a lucky charm” I’ll readily admit that I cringed when I first heard this lyrics – maybe an oversensitive Irish reaction to the shamrock reference. The song also seemed too sugary and sweet at first listen and took time to reveal its hidden depths and duality. Patton’s vocals are at his most soulful here. It seems like a light-hearted pop ditty but the chorus vocals which kick in at 55 seconds are vicious and the lyrics take a turn from bubblegum pop to the vulnerability that makes underpins most great pop songs: “I am just a grain of sand on your beach/ With all of my heart/ Cut out my heart/ A drop of rain through your hands”. Then some classic soul with the gorgeous couplet “Rainbows will bend for me/ Curvy/ Honeybees will sting for me/ Stingy, stingy”. A day when everything is perfect – but still thoughts of worthlessness, significance creep in. or maybe as Mike Bordin says – it’s just about having sex in the morning. “Come on ride my wave” indeed.
Separation Anxiety
I almost cried when I first heard Separation Anxiety for the first time. It was the confirmation I needed that this was going to be a classic album. All the elements I’ve loved were here in abundance starting with that bassline. This was Angel Dust updated and tweaked and twisted into starting new shapes. There is menace and swagger and crawling, creeping fear. Never before has such an accurate portrayal of, well, separation anxiety been recorded: the neediness, the fear, the self-loathing, the growing terror. This is the kid from Zombie Eaters is all grown up and even more clingy, needy and helpless than before.
It’s like when your mind
Has a mind of it’s own
Please take mine
Don’t leave me alone
Capture me
Then at around one minute in, guitar comes in and panic turns to terror. It is a disturbing and stunning character study of a mine getting more and more unhinged:
I can’t let you go
Cause you’re a part of me
Not apart from meYes a little sign for me
Well, It’s good enough for me
I can not separate
From this anxiety
This hits home on a visceral, emotional and intellectual level and Patton is at his menacing and soaring best. The distorted vocal heightens the tension before the leveee breaks at around 2:33 leading to quite a bit of in-car head-banging from FNM 2.0 on several occasions. Patton’s “Gouging/Closing my eyes” manic pleas and Hudson’s frenzied solo take over as the song comes to an all-too-early conclusion.
Cone of Shame
The pace slows briefly for Cone of Shame and the Link Wray style guitar that Bill Gould had foreshadowed in interviews. It is certainly a new sound for Faith No More and again suits the cinematic scope of the album. This is Jon Hudson at his finest, never showy but showing what a brilliant technician he is as he gets just the right tone for this Morricone-style opening. There are now two distinct periods in anyone’s life. The time before 2.13 seconds into this song and the time after. When Patton shouts boom and the song metamorphoses into a brutal beast. Rock music does not get better than this:
I’d like to peel your skin off
So I can see what you really think
Or if there is anything
Under that cone of shameI’d like to strip the bone off
So I can see how you’re really made
And see how you really take
Your special pleasureI’d like to pull your wings off
Read your lines like a gypsy
Just as lonely as anything
So infinite
A relationship disintegrates and explodes into aggression and mutual loathing, the pay-off from 2.13 set up by that glorious guitar and Patton’s almost spoken-word introduction to a wild west duel.
If Sol Invictus and From the Dead are the complementary bookends of this album, Separation Anxiety and Cone of Shame are its meaty heart and only the most disciplined listener will resist the urge to rewind, repeat and revisit these thunderous tracks.
Rise of the Fall
The bouncy Rise of the Fall is certainly a new departure for Faith No More but the UK new-wave sounds that influenced early FNM are writ large. In fact, the song is almost full-on ska and two-tone in places. It would not be FNM if the song’s buoyancy was not set off by some edgy guitar and Patton screams and some downright disconcerting imagery that seems to evoke a post-apocalyptic world.The song is insanely catchy, unlike anything the band have previously conjured and has not been played live for some reason – maybe because of the multiple guitar layers that give the song real texture. To be honest, there is more going on in this song along that in all the songs that have featured in the Billboard top 100 for the past year put together.
Black Friday
The groove continues for Black Friday, the album’s seeming critique of consumerism. There are some great couplets in this stop-start ebullient rocker.
Step right up, donate a memory
To the bank of love who could loan your daydreams…Buy me a future regret
A shrink-wrapped fantasy that I won’t forget
And that urgent Buy it! refrain comes right at you backed by aggressive buzzing guitars. And some more great lyrics – All the zombies warm to black Friday, It’s a riot at the salad-bar – before the aggression really kicks in. The overall theme of the record is also evident just below the surface – “This ]life] is only a test”. For those taking a very literal interpretation of the theme of the album as the band’s rebirth, it is worth noting that Faith No More released their comeback single on Black Friday – “only a test”.
Motherfucker
The lead single sounds richer and Roddy more sinister in the album cut and makes a much clearer impression within this set of songs that in isolation. The first verse can be explicitly interpreted as an indictment of mass over-consumption or over-the-top mass consumption. The final lines suggest an escape from this cage but only after embracing a nemesis; by getting the motherfucker on the phone. Alternatively the lyrics could be self-referential. The band, under the previous record industry paradigm, were force-fed to produce. They were products of their own MTV-fueled epic success. The second stanza can be seen as the band’s return. They are setting aside their scruples, picking at their bloody scabs and getting immunised against being once again exposed. As Benrun mentioned in Comments, the titular Motherfucker could well by the record company that FNM had to get on the phone to escape from their contractual obligations before their rebirth could begin in earnest: “Hello Motherfucker /My lover /You saw it coming /Goodbye Motherfucker/ My lover /You had it coming”.
Matador
The band are now reborn, free to produce such bold multi-part Miltonian masterpieces as Matador. Of course, the song can be seen as a spiritual rebirth after the decline and fall and over consumption of the previous two songs in the cycle.
This initially sounds less meaty on record than in the familiar live version but again it offers fresh pleasure, especially Jon Hudson’s guitar from about the 4:15 point. It also includes some of the best lyrics on the album:
“We will be when you will be no more
No more
…
We served you well
Now we’re coming back
Hudson’s solo from 5:35 is simply stunning and adds a whole new dimension from the live version and symbolises fittingly the band’s rebirth – “And the dead live /What more can we give?”
From the Dead
Matador is the album’s climax and thus From the Dead serves perfectly as the record’s closer. We want more but we’re slowly coaxed down from our high by this soothing and heartfelt celebration of being back. A song to put a smile on your face while tears run down your face.
I defy you not to get inappropriately emotional as Patton croons: “Coming ’round the bend /Welcome home my friend /Cos I’m the only one weeping like a canyon gorge /Hear your lion roar
Any other band would have started with this but FNM perversely by being welcomed back:
Homecoming parade
Welcome home my friend
Billy’s slide guitar adds a real emotional kicker just as Patton intones one final “Welcome home my friend”. Thematically, our character has risen and returned to the fold, in the afterlife. More prosaically, Faith No More have risen From the Dead.
Overall impression
Personally speaking, this is my favourite Faith No More record since Angel Dust. But that’s always going to be subjective. Certainly, it fits perfectly into the Faith No More canon. Put simply, it is better than most diehard fans and more impartial critics expected and certainly nowhere near as bad as we sometimes feared.
It is a holistic record, one that harks back to an almost bygone era before shuffle play and playlists, when albums existed as cohesive collections. Thus, it is more than the sum of its parts but what parts they are – from the insanely catchy in Sunny Side Up, the brutal in Separation Anxiety, the bitter in Black Friday, the redemptive in From the Dead and the Miltonian in Matador.
Thematically, it can be interpreted as an examination of the rise and fall of an empire or civilization; an examination of life, death and rebirth; of artist death and rebirth or a series of slightly connected but only obliquely connected series of small fictions, as Patton himself has said, like a David Mitchell novel.
It is, of course, not as pioneering as Angel Dust and KFAD were at the time but it breaks new ground and shows that rock music can still be pulled in new directions. Some critics have argued that the sound has not been updated to reflect modern trends in music. But in a world where Mumford and Sons, Imagine Dragons and Coldplay are alternative rock, what exactly should Faith No More be learning from contemporary acts? I’m not sure there is a whole lot new in metal that they could be incorporating either.
Some have also argued that there is not enough guitar up front and that’s true but Roddy’s keyboards largely take the role of lead guitar. In any case, Faith No More have always been built on the rhythm section of Gould and Bordin, and the fact that they and Roddy worked on the song structures first is clearly evident. Rather than being over-the-top or over-produced, I also find Patton’s vocals nuanced and in context here.
Overall, the album packs so much in 40 minutes and is more than even the most demanding FNM fan could have dreamed of. It is full of rich lyrical imagery and clever musical ideas and directions.
Now, being the demanding ungrateful bastards that we are, we want more. And what this album illustrates more than anything is that Faith No More still have so much more to give as a potent. creative and dynamic musical force.
We served you well
Now we’re coming back
Really nice write-up, admin. Great job on the site, too. Can’t believe how many interviews they’ve done; haven’t had time to read even half of them yet.
Love the album, and hoping for more material in the future. 25-30 songs came out of this recording session. Wow.
Lance, great you got to see them at Malibu. We’ll probably never see them play small venues like that again. My sister still can’t believe they are going to play MSG, and I told her, There’s a lot more goodwill towards this band in the USA than we know of. Because the media chose to focus on GNR and Metallica. And then the Seattle bands. But FNM is doing great work now without the problems caused by the Scott Weilands of the world. I mean, you look at David Lee Roth today and it is not a pretty sight.
The Sol Invictus tour is like the perfect storm between the album, the tour, and the health of the players. Some people here said Patton is croaking live, can’t hit the high notes. He sounds good to me. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. The guy has an iron voice. All these years of shredding and he can still tour like that. Rob Zombie, meanwhile is retired.
Yeah todd I remember that show it was from a radio station with the nixons, hum and some other bands never got to go to that one. In 95 I saw my favorite fnm show at Malibu in lido beach Long Island the place was tiny and they destroyed the place literally. I remember during ricochet mike whipping the mic around in circles and putting holes in the low ceiling and then cracking the glass off a spotlight. I couldn’t believe they played that place I almost drove off the road when I saw their name on the billboard outside the club.
As far as matador goes I think it’s some of Patton’s best vocal work ever. When he sings the “let us retrace every step” part it sounds amazing. It actually feels like in that song the music takes a backseat to the vocals. It feels like an opera performance.
Almost perfect.
That’s my feeling on this album. I think MP got a little effects happy on this album to the point of distraction for me. His natural god given voice is sorely lacking especially on Matador. For anyone who hasn’t seen it check out the Melbourne encore performance of it. Way more powerful without all the vocal effects.
Also the endings to Superhero and Separation Anxiety drag on a little to long especially Superhero. But both kicks as much ass as any FNM song but would have been a lot better songs if MP’s natural voice made more appearances.
Sol Invictus was the perfect way to start the album. Completely set the table and the way Superhero kicks in after sent chills up my spine.
Sunnyside up and Cone of Shame are instant classics and this to me is where MP’s voice production worked the best.
But from start to finish i loved how these songs flowed in an out of each other. They’re are all really good or completely amazing songs. And it would’ve been a perfect album if Patton’s vocals weren’t so over produced.
But what a comeback! I have a feeling their next album will be their best.
“All zombies WALK ON Black Friday, surely?
Sorry. Pedantic trousers on this morning.
Lance, good stuff! We really are lucky to have them back. I will be at MSG, too, to see the band for the 6th time live. Best show ever was seeing them at Irving Plaza NYC on Halloween Night 1995, KFAD. The whole crowd was in costume for this radio show. Most of the crowd left, and then FNM gave a few of us real fans an encore to remember. Patton split his head open bleeding and still tore through the set. They played lights out, even Dean Menta!
Bitte!
These are really great times for every FNM fan. I remember how exited I was, when KFAD and AOTY came out back then. The last weeks/months I had the same good feeling again. Got my copy and my vinyl last friday ( I live in germany). And I’m ging to see FNM live in munich on 31.05. So: happy days for a 40 years old german fanboy 🙂 Thank you for this amazing site, admin!
Thanks for your comments Lance…that was real nice to read…we’re all thinking something pretty similar (although most of us aren’t as lucky as you to A) get to see them so many times! and B) get our copy of the album yet, but it’s nice to read what we’re all thinking put so well. It’s great that FNM now feels that they can do whatever they want…and I hope they do. They always could have in my book (I love Das Schutzenfest!)…I feel sorry for a band like Metallica where simply by cutting their hair they lose at least a few fans.
It’s great to see that other people feel the same way I do about this album. Great review, I pretty much agree with everything. I never feared that they would “spray diarrhea over their entire body of work”, but the album surpassed my expectations. Admin, congratulations and thank you for doing such a great job with this site.
This is my first comment I wanted to say I visit this site at least 10 times a day. The job your doing on this site is phenomenal the amount of info is amazing. This is just an amazing time to be a faith no more fan. I live on Long Island and I gotta say every time I see them play I still can’t believe that all this is happening. This was some week for me I saw them at webster hall Wednesday and Thursday and the shows were just amazing. I had preordered the album thinking I would get it some time next week and out of nowhere it came Friday. So of course out of sheer excitement I immediately put it on full blast and immersed myself in it. I was able to hold out and not listen to the new songs except for the two singles and what I heard live at webster hall which ended up being 7 of the new songs. Oh yeah and I knew Matador from the older shows, but let me tell you holding out was not easy!!
Back to the album I saw some reviews saying it was a grower but I fell in love with it on first listen. I also read some people having trouble getting into Rise of the Fall which I think is just amazing I feel like I’m walking the streets of Italy when I hear it. I gotta say my favorite right now is Black Friday it’s such an up-tempo song. I love how it stays acoustic then you get hit with heavy guitar parts from time to time. I just wanted to share without talking about every song that when I first heard Matador at their shows I knew it would be huge. It seemed like they had problems with it live at first it kind of seemed all over the place but I knew when they tightened up the screws it would be a masterpiece. On the album it’s exactly that it is the fastest six minute song I’ve ever heard. Most songs that reach that time start to get tired and your like ok just end it, but with Matador it just grabs you and you don’t realize that six minutes just went by. All in all this album is just amazing I love every song. As far as too much Mike Patton I just don’t agree the guy is such a ridiculous talent he did a stunning job vocally and lyrically. He uses so many different vocals that are backed with an equally talented band behind him that these songs take the listener to different worlds. I realized especially with this album the imagery that is created with these songs you really just don’t find this from other bands. Everything on this album has purpose even down to the sequencing of the songs.
All in all the thing that sets Faith No More apart from everyone else is when you listen to other bands albums the songs take you to different spots, Faith No More songs take you to different worlds. I mean sometimes I think people take them for granted because its what we are used to from them. If you take a step back and look at them from the outside looking in you realize that no other band can do what they do. They mix so many genres together sometimes in the same song!! It’s because they have a frontman that can sing anything and a band that is so talented they are not afraid to go in different directions. I mean can you imagine Metallica doing a jazz song or Mariah Carey doing a metal song. They would be laughed off the stage but Faith No More gets away with it and to us it’s so natural. An example at webster hall they did Caffeine everyone was screaming and headbanging and then they drop into Evidence and everyone is snapping their fingers like we were at a jazz club. And I’m thinking to myself what other band can pull this off so effortlessly the answer……no one!!
So enjoy this for all it’s worth because this is such a special time. I never thought this band would get back together let alone play in front of me 4 times so far ( plus I’m seeing them at madison square garden which is unbelievable that they seem more popular now then 25 years ago) Then we are blessed with a new album which is some of their best work ever. These are good times people very good times. Sorry I’m rambling but I am just so happy that this is happening. For years and years there was nothing going on with this band just great memories and now all this news is flooding in like an avalanche. Just enjoy the ride because you are witnessing the rebirth of by far and away the single greatest band of all time.
Excellent review. Thanks for your insights. I concur pretty much 100%.
Oh, and I had precisely the same experience with Separation Anxiety. As soon as that kicked in, goosebumps everywhere. It changed my entire perspective on the album.
Thanks for this brilliant read admin. Great job.
As for the record company thing, well, the story was that the record company wanted FNM albums post TRT to sell a certain amount and tour exclusively in the US, whereas FNM were quite happy touring in Europe and Sth amerca but because there was no interest from the US as far as sales, the record company basically sooked it up and weren’t prepaired to support FNM’ s last two albums! FNM were prepared to keep touring and promote the records properly but felt let down and got tired of back and forth crap they had to deal with the rec co. Straw that broke the camels back was KFAD! FNM were really happy and proud of that record and even had ‘What A Day and Gentle aRt ‘ as the next singles but got shunted down. Same with She Loves Me Not from AOTY. So now, FNM have everything in front of them to do whatever the hell they want without answering to anyone!
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this, but I can tell it was a labor of love! Yeah, I couldn’t believe that when I read that in an interview…the long reach of the record label could still be going on decades later?? I guess they weren’t sure so had to clarify before they could proceed, then said goodbye to the motherfucker b/c they had it coming…but it also seems a little harsh…they got their albums out and heard and got to make the records the way they wanted to.
Great review Adrian.
I’m only drip feeding it at the moment, I don’t wanna over do it which can lead to a sub conscious resentment.
Matador for me incites delusions of grandeur except there is no delusion. I shed a tear on first listen.
separation anxiety feels like that one horror movie that had you enthralled and scared shitless at the same time.
I never thought for a second the album wouldn’t be good before it was released/leaked but I don’t think I was prepared for how it exceeded my expectations.
A modern masterpiece? Well, we are a little bias. 😉
stereosi, thx tor the link to the lyrics stab. Its so funny how blasphemy sounds like vasoline and gasoline. Tap dancin on the lawn, take you to the Sugar Bowl. Half the time my lyrics are off, but so dang funny.
Thanks. Great review
Cheers Si. Yes I referred to moto for the lyrics – the ones I wasn’t sure of. So thanks!
Yep, I’d like to reiterate what the others have said and say thank you for the fantastic work you do on this site. Your passion for the band is clear in the review, which was a great read by the way! I’m not so happy on the coverage of most of the world getting the album before me though!!! (I live in the UK).
A few of the members and I over at MOTO have had a stab at the lyrics. They still need some input though… http://mouthoftheocean.com/forum/index.php/topic,36.0.html
Savage album, savage review, thanks admin, Agree with all points and mostly same experience.
Just wish Superhero was 1 minute shorter, and still getting used to Sunny Side Up, but man, what an album.
Thanks for your great review and for all your work you put in this site, admin. It’s my everyday habit to be here.
Nice, well said review… I like that you cited the lyrics at times. It would be great if you had a full lyrics page on here. It would also be great if Patton did us all a favor and released the lyrics like they used to.
You’re right at the end; we want more FNM music. I think the guys in the band all see that this is their greatest project that strikes a nerve internationally. If we can get 2 more albums from them, awesome. I like Patton’s other stuff, but this is his best work. He seems to be really enjoying getting huge attention again, extrovert that he is. They all seem happier than ever on stage.
Excellent review! Couldn’t be more precise, it’s gonna be hard to make a proper review after this one. Really great job, mate! 😉
Yeah really great review Admin, and big thanks for the brilliant site! I’ve only played SI a few times so far, but I love it! Can btw tell you that the 3 leading newspapers in Sweden (Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens nyheter) are all rewarding Sol Invictus with 4/5 reviews!
Thanks for the kind words Bob.
Belgrade. i don’t know. I was so caught up in the moment of being so close to them that I didn’t really notice anything like that. They were certainly very up for it. My other abiding memory is that the singer from Ugly Kid Joe was sied stage and he was like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert – so excited to see them. nice guy though.
Really great review admin. Glad you enjoyed it. I was the same with Separation Anxiety. I think in time SI will be regarded as highly as KFAD but for me, not quite at the moment. Just enjoying the experience.
And amazing work on this site. It’s fantastic. There’s a lot of FNM related pages out there, but this is by far the best. Thank you.
I wanted to ask, what did you think of the Belgrade show? I’ve watched it a few times on youtube, and it seems like FNM were surprisingly really sloppy on that night.