Faith No More’s Sol Invictus features at number 2 on the Classic Rock album of the year list and number 11 in The Skinny‘s albums of the year – and it has made small dents in other lists.
Classic Rock
Classic Rock/Team Rock pull no punches and have included Sol Invictus at number 2 in their top 50, just behind Iron Maiden and ahead of The Darkness and Killing Joke in their top 10.
They say:
“2. Faith No More
Sol Invictus (Ipecac)
The key lyric comes during the propulsive Separation Anxiety, when Mike Patton, for so long so scathingly dismissive of Faith No More’s legacy, croons ‘I can’t let you go, because you’re a part of me, not apart from me.’
The San Franciscan band’s first album in 18 years surpassed the expectations of even the most hard-core devotees, adding a dark, gothic sheen to their maverick melange. From the playfully filthy Motherfucker to the perversely cheerful Sunny Side Up, it’s a stunning re-affirmation of FNM’s status as one of rock’s most deliciously idiosyncratic units. Shame they’d already used the title Album Of The Year back in 1997, because it would be entirely apposite here.”
The Skinny
The Scottish music zine features Sol Invictus just outside the top 10 in their list of albums of the year.
Across the Margin
Across the Margin feature Sol Invictus at number 49 in their list, stating:
Whereas many artists and bands seem to be deadlocked in a never-ending cycle of accumulation (press, contracts, management, record deals, appearances, social media presence, outside collaboration, product lines, etc.), Faith No More seems to be shedding the pounds that weighed them down in the 90s, and emerging all the better for it. Sol Invictus was recorded in about as much garage-band style as any band could hope to pull-off in 2015, with longtime collaborating producer Matt Wallace providing some post-production mixing. “Superhero” is that hard-hitting and nefarious-sounding song that will stand out as Sol Invictus’ defining single. It is the album’s “Epic,” and rightly so, proving that today Faith No More are back, and still at the top of their game.
The AV Club
Sol Invictus did not make the cut in the AV Club‘s final list but they do feature in a number of writer’s lists.
Jason Heller includes Sol Invictus in his “Best new albums by old bands in 2015” category:
There was plenty of reason to believe Faith No More would never make another album. Thankfully Sol Invictus finally arrived; not only does it reestablish Mike Patton and crew’s lust for perverse, brainy art-rock, it stretches their atmospheric bombast to wondrously weird new heights.
The album features at #7 in Josh Modell’s list:
1. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell
2. El Vy, Return To The Moon
3. The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World
4. Low, Ones And Sixes
5. Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
6. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly
7. Faith No More, Sol Invictus
8. Death Cab For Cutie, Kintsugi
9. Soak, Before We Forgot How To Dream
10. Ryan Adams, 1989
Loudwire website voted Sol Invictus no.5 in best rock albums and Mike Patton best vocalist
Good spot Bob. I had thought the RSD re-release had been canceled but just tracked it down myself after reading your post. To shine light on its existence the back cover reads ‘Under license from Charles Mosley to Manifesto Records Inc’ in type so small as to defy the human retina.
My assumption is that Chuck has the same degree of ownership on this one as Bill as it was pre-Slash, so presumably they can both do their own reissues. From the sounds of it the KoolArrow one seems worth holding out for if you already own WCAL on CD, but if you want a no-frills option this’d do as the 1995/1996 reissues are just as OOP these days.
I just don’t get how this band keep getting overlooked like they don’t even exist in the U.S.! I saw a Twitter feed with some sales updates a few weeks ago and the U.S. Sales are deplorable after the initial strong debut! This album was never going to be in too many lists from the U.S. And UK mags and lists. After the strong debut and strong reviews, I have heard nothing about this record at all. I blame both the ignorance of music media and the poor choice of singles! Even in today’s crappy market , 200k or so is a real low blow for the guys. Luckily people seem to be buying tix for their shows!
admin, not sure if you’ve reported this, but in uk seen newly release WCAL digipak. Apparently from RSD. Seen in HMV/Fopp. Just an exact rerelease-it’s not the deluxe one BG mentioned.