Faith No More played a special request rendition of Land of Sunshine at their 23 June show in Hamburg for New Zealand fan Rena Sciascia, who has an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Best wishes Rena – Faith No More fans everywhere are thinking of you and hopefully many will lend their support to the fund-raising drive for alternative treatment.
Another top 10 album placing for Sol Invictus with the Faith No More album going in at number 6 in Portugal.
It is the only anglophone record in the top 14 on the chart and testament to the hardcore support the band have in the country – as anyone who saw them at the Optimus Alive festival in 2010 will testify.
In other chart news, the album slipped to number 35 in the official UK album charts in its second week, number 10 in Australia and number 11 in New Zealand.
But in terms of peak positions and opening week placings, Sol Invictus has hit the top 10 in 18 countries (if you include the proper US chart)
#1 in Finland
#2 in Australia
#2 in Czech Republic
#2 in Norway
#3 in Switzerland
#4 in Belgium (Flanders)
#4 in Germany
#4 in Poland
#5 in Scotland
#6 in Denmark
#6 in UK
#6 in New Zealand
#6 in Portugal
#6 in US album sales
#7 in Austria
#7 in Netherlands
#9 in Canada
#10 in France
#10 in Ireland
#15 in US Billboard chart
#15 in Belgium (French)
#20 in Italy
#23 in Spain
#27 in Sweden
Two Kiwi posts in a row! Public broadcaster Radio New Zealand today featured an almost 10-minute interview as Faith No More’s Bill Gould speaks to Sam Wicks. It is definitely one of the better interviews of the 100s that we have read and heard in the past few weeks.
Listen below.
Faith No More’s Sol Invictus has gone in at number 6 in the official New Zealand charts.
It is the highest new entry but still behind wannabee Foster and Allen Mumford and Sons and, unbelievably, the real Foster and Allen. What’s up with that Kiwi fans?
Another long list of positive reviews for Faith No More’s Sol Invictus.
US rock magazine Outburn has given Faith No More’s Sol Invictus a perfect 10 review in their latest issue. They say:
“…They have delivered one of their very best collections of songs. Like a continuation of early 90s classic Angel Dust (which many fans of the band consider their finest moment), Sol invictus has some of the most inventive guitar riffs, vocals, drumming and songwriting Faith No More has ever produced, and that’s really saying something.
And:
“”By the sounds of Sol Invictus, the band hasn’t skipped a beat, and its amazing to have a creative, daring act, like Faith No More back and doing their oddball, glorious thing again.”
As a companion to their B- site review, here is a video review from Consequence of Sound:
Two reviews from Bravewords and both 7/10. Here’s the first:
“I had only one song that I just had to have in my life and reminded me why Faith No More is one of my favourite bands ever, and that was “Sunny Side Up,” prolly because of singing and melody and piano, against an insidious prog beat. Now I’m liking two or three more but there’s no big hugs. It’s cool in a way—this is exactly how we all were eventually seduced by Angel Dust. And no question, Sol Invictus positions like that record, i.e. the hip, cool, non-commercial album. But yeah, not only is there no bright, hooky metal here, there’s very little metal at all (not that that’s necessarily a problem) or hooks.”
And the second:
“Sol Invictus (which definitely sounds more like Album Of The Year than any other of the band’s output) was definitely, and admirably, written for the band and the band only (these are not songs that care if they impress anyone), but it sounds more like the warm-up for the mind-melter the band is capable of, the one I’m keeping fingers crossed they deliver next time.”
The Canadian paper is a little harsh on Blur while lauding FNM’s return:
” Blur’s first album in 12 years, The Magic Whip, is a messy return, while Faith No More’s first in 18 years, Sol Invictus, is much more cohesive (yet still eclectic), and therefore, captivating.
“Sol Invictus may not sound as pioneering as Faith No More’s earlier work — like 1989’s Real Thing or 1992’s Angel Dust — because they’re no longer a new band, but at least Patton and his generals are still trying to soldier into new sonic territories.”
The UK music site has given Sol Invictus a 4/5 review. Reviewer Dan Smith says:
“It’s not that rock music hasn’t moved on during this hiatus, but rather the current offering from FNM has the uncanny ability to sound just as fresh and relevant as it did when they where bouncing on MTV in the late 80s.
“The album is punctuated with great tunes, with highlights ‘Superhero’, ‘Cone of Shame’, ‘Rise Of The Fall’ and ‘Black Friday’. Each track, as you would expect, is unique in sound and influence, but inherently Faith No More.”
The New Zealand-based blog is mostly positive:
“Refusing to be pigeonholed, Sol Invictus sounds diverse yet familiar. It’s uncommon enough to have rock music led by piano and not guitar, but FNM have deliberately cultivated their own recognisable sound. Part operatic, part spaghetti western, with plenty of avant-garde and slick, dark rock to boot. There are definite nods to earlier albums, almost to the point that the album seems too same-y, but at 40 minutes long, the album is too short for repetitions to bore.
Trying to analyse it too hard is futile to attempt. I’m sure that there is some social commentary going on somewhere, but I couldn’t specify what exactly. The whole thing feels like a big in-joke from the band. Is this a magnum opus that they are proud of, or a social experiment to see what they can pass off as art to sell to the mindless masses?
Sol Invictus has grown on me with each listen. It’s weird, slightly unhinged rock music played by talented musicians. It’s the same Faith No More, just as they left off. If you’re a fan, then you’ll know what to expect, and you’ll probably like listening to more of the same. I wouldn’t call Sol Invictus vital, but it’s certainly not a disappointment.”
The full lineup for Sonisphere Italy has now been confirmed. Meshuggah, Gojira, We Are Harlot and Hawk Eyes will join the San Francisco giants Metallica and Faith No More on the bill for the one-day event on 2 June in Milan.
A trademark labour of love from fnm4ever – Evidence in 5 languages across the universe and across time. Kudos for how well this was put together:
Some wonderful artwork here from Leon Taylor. FNM as they were at WestFest:
Also from WestFest, a very nice gallery from 13th Floor.
This one from Widebeach is worth more than the one listen:
The Noonday Tune is Superhero. Check out the site here.
Well realised trailer for a fake documentary on Faith No More by @StaceyRace
On her site Stacey writes: “The current trend of band documentaries inspired me to create this fun ‘movie’ trailer”.
Apart from Superhero, I’ve been listening to a lot of Antemasque lately after discovering them supporting Faith No More in Tokyo and loving their previous work in At the Drive-in and The Mars Volta. Drummer Dave Elitch tweeted some nice words about FNM last night:
If I didn’t already say this – Thanks so much to the band and crew of @FaithNoMore for being such awesome dudes.
— Dave Elitch (@DaveElitch) March 5, 2015
Reviews for Superhero have been conspicuously absent in the main UK media tracks of the weeks features from the likes of Q, NME and the Guardian but popular freebie paper quickly turned Tube trash Metro did give the single a mention – and a bizarre Spandex reference: (hat tip Faith No More Followers)
@FaithNoMore @MetroUK pic.twitter.com/63NMOP5ekl — FaithNoMoreFollowers (@FnmFollowers) March 4, 2015
Still no Cone of Shame but here’s two more YouTube uploads from MsKatana83
Superhero and Sol Invictus are sliding somewhat on iTunes but still showing up strongly especially in Poland.
Contrary to what we said in a recent Links… this is the original Superhero cover which was recorded within a week of the song’s live debut. (Hat tip Richy in Comments)
Hmmm….is it wrong that I like this?
DJ Rozroz – Under Midlife Crisis Pressure (Faith No More / Queen&Bowie) MASHUP from rozroz on Vimeo.
Mute no more. Faith No More continue their impressive media blitz around their 2015 tour and Sol Invictus and Superhero releases with three interviews in New Zealand and Australia and this time we have video and audio.
First up is a video of the Music Feeds interview – complete with charming 12 year-old interviewer – with Roddy, Mike B and Jon.
Next up – just ahead of their Auckland show was an interview with Roddy and Bill with Hauraki TV.
And finally and audio interview where Puffy gets the chance to wax lyrical for a full 30 minutes with Auckland’s Rip it Up Radio.
Faith No More‘s promo push for Sol Invictus continues today with two major interviews.
The first with Metal Hammer entitled “Faith No More: rebirth of the Real Thing” is arguably the most revealing and high-profile so far. In the interview on the subscription Team Rock site and presumably also in the latest issue of Metal Hammer, Bill Gould speaks extensively about the new record.
He elaborates on the dark theme of the record and the creative tensions within the band and a little on the band’s music per se: ““Sure, it sounds like us at our age,” shrugs Billy. “I can speak in colours. There’s a touch of colour from the first album, a little Angel Dust, a little King For A Day… on there, and some stuff we’ve never done before. We have a song that’s like a blues song, which we’ve never done before! It’s just stuff that excites us.”
Meanwhile, Roddy Bottum has given an interview to the Time Out section of the New Zealand Herald.
Roddy also spoke about the sound of the record: “The consensus among the band is it sounds like the way that we started. It has some really sombre tunes, some really high points of energy, lots of peaks and valleys, some lyrics that I’m really fond of, and lots of piano.”
The interview also had some interesting news on the band tensions and also the tantalising prospect that there will be 15 unreleased songs: “Tensions arose when it came time to whittle down their 25 songs to a more manageable 10 for the album. “We wrote a lot of songs, and a lot of songs never made it on the record, a lot of decisions were made and they’re really painful to make. A lot of people had songs they wanted on the record that didn’t make it on the record.”
Another day, another Faith No More interview. Roddy Bottum gave another illuminating interview with New Zealand’s online music bible The 13th Floor.
My favourite quote is Roddy’s tribute to Bill Gould’s role as producer of Sol Invictus:
“You know, honestly that’s his role in life, that’s what he does. He’s very proactive and he’s got a really high work ethic. But he’s really kind of always been that way in the band, that’s always the sort of relationship we’ve had.”
And Roddy gives a telling comparison of Faith No More 1.0 and version 2.0:
“We were a lot more high-strung back then. We were a lot more immature and we were a lot brattier and a lot more into sort of pushing buttons. We’re still in that space where we’re pushing buttons but we’re doing it in a different way and we’re sort of working with each other rather than against each other. We really used to push our own buttons quite a bit and get a rise out of each other. These days we’re sort of more into working together and giving each other space. A lot more mature I guess. That’s an ugly, ugly word, but there you have it.”
And he reveals that Sol Invictus and From the Dead are his favourite cuts from the album:
“I really like the first song on the record and the last song on the record, and I really like, I don’t know I like them all. I like ones where you can hear the piano a lot and where there’s singing a lot. I really like Mike’s vocals. He’s Just gotten better and better at crafting lyrics.”
Finally, Roddy confirmed what the Tokyo shows have suggested – that the band will be playing just 3 or 4 songs from the new album on these Australian and New Zealand dates.
(Cheers to FNM Followers for alerting us to this one)
