Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 4:00pm by MetalSucks
August is out of days on which to discuss Faith No More, but hey look we just can’t stop. Check us all into a clinic for FNM madness has overtaken us all. This August, as our Anso DF devoted 31 days of precious summer to documenting one FNM super-fan’s experience, the rest of MetalSucks’ staff and cherished friends stood aside, eyes closed, shaking their heads, and muttering: How could he disclude all Chuck jamz? Where is “Midlife Crisis,” a supremely newsworthy song? What, is he kidding with this Ansometrics?
Well, if we’ve learned absolutely, positively nothing else from 31 Days Of Faith No More featuring Anso DF, at least it’s now out in the open that we know a lot FNM super-fans. So we invited our pals — be they writer, editor, writer/editor, editor-writer, awesome band dude, “label fuck-o”, or person not named Anso DF — to write about a FNM jam’s importance and excellence and personal relevance. It’s everybody else’s turn now, commenters too! (Can some mellow dude write about “We Care A Lot” cuz none of us did! Jesus!) And now we call Faith No More back to the stage for freaking day 32 of 31 Days Of Faith No More featuring Anso DF.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicated every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we proved that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revelled in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dipped into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we surveyed the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. So we did it. Thanks for reading!
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Just A Man”
Written by Gould, Spruance, Patton (L); Gould, Bottum (M)
Released 1995
Appears on King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”And every night I shut my eyes/So I don’t have to see the light/Shining so bright/I dream about a cloudy sky.”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”What A Day”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Spruance (M)
Released 1995
Appears on King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”‘Kill the body and the head will die.’”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”King For A Day”
Written by Patton (L); Gould, Bottum, Bordin, Patton, Spruance (M)
Released 1995
Appears on King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album duhhhh
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”Don’t let me die with that silly look in my eyes.”
Single? No. But I heard it on college radio once. I was about to phone the DJ with compliments until he came back on air to say that he’d played the longish “King For A Day” only to enable a bathroom break. Compliment retracted.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Absolute Zero”
Written by Patton (L); Patton (M)
Released 1995
Appears on ”Digging The Grave” single; some Australia and Japan editions of King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”The clock is ticking/You have no authority here.”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”The Last To Know”
Written by Patton (L); Gould, Patton, Bordin (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”Where it grows on trees/But never blooms/Where it hurts the least for whoever/Saw it first.”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Malpractice”
Written by Patton (L); Patton (M).
Released 1992
Appears onAngel Dust album
Produced by Matt Wallace
Guitars by Jim Martin
Key lyric ”The crowd roars/The pulling and the probing/The rest you know/Ten lovers violating.”
Single? No. “Malpractice” closes the whirlwind side A of Angel Dust.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Ugly In The Morning”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Spruance, Gould (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Digging The Grave”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Spruance, Gould (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”I know you have a reason why/That knot is better left untied/I just went and undid mine/It takes some time.”
Single? Yes, King‘s first and a thematic continuation of “Midlife Crisis” and “A Small Victory.”
The climate Released four weeks ahead of its host album, “Digging” ended what seemed like ages of tense anticipation for FNM’s follow-up to Angel Dust. What better way to enter a new music era than with lotsa screaming, a drum solo, and no trace of FNM’s trademark keyboards?
Awesome song elevated to supra-awesomeness by chemistry shared by Mike Patton and his Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance. Where Patton shouts pitchlessly [sic], Spruance unfurls big, yawning broken chords; alternately, Patton’s measure-long tones often sit atop slamming Spruance downstrokes. Tasty.
Didja know? There’s a third harmony part down low in the second and third choruses’ ”comf-ter-bulllllllllllll”. I didn’t detect it until like 1999.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies”
Written by Patton (L); Gould, Bordin, Patton (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”If you don’t make a friend now/One might make you.”
Single? Planned and scrapped, according to Wikipedia. But “Enemies” went out to commercial radio. I heard it once srs!
The climate One of FNM’s hardest-rocking jamz, “Enemies” represents another FNM theme: No matter where you are, or whose company you keep, or how well you think you’ve succeeded at life, no matter what … there might be someone hating you from across the room. Worse, it’s like the someone wants to hate your guts. “Happy Birthday, fucker.”
Awesome song elevated to supra-awesomeness by cinema, for at least the second time already here on 31Do’FNM on MS.net. For example, imagine this in your brain: Right around 2:38, Patton’s vocals rest, and a new, competing guitar lick is introduced and plays against the main riff, right? So, assign each of those two guitar parts to a shot in your imaginary brain movie: the main riff (the triumphant one) is you toasting champagne with friends, laughing gaily in a turtleneck; an instant later, the descending riffs accompanies a cut-away to Mike Patton standing just beyond the head of your table, clenching his fists and staring at you. The shot goes back to you being all super-thrilled to be you (duh-duh-duh-DUHHH duh-duh-DUHHHHH); back to him, sweating and thrilled to be near the time of your punching (Dehhh-deh dee-dee doo-doo doo-doo). You: A winner. Him: On the move. The song ends just when you notice that he’s upon you, fist cocked. Smiling.
Didja know? I’ve discovered a new and horrible way to break terrorists. I got the idea when I was listening to “Enemies” on my stereo on repeat, and then the youtube above started playing exactly one beat behind the stereo. I listened to the entire song all echoing itself this way and it was insane. I learned that, truly, you don’t do heavy metal in doubly. Everybody knows that.
Am I crazy or does World Painted Blood suck? Is Slayer moving forward or caving to the post-Slipknot shitty production trend? Am I a fossil who can’t deal with a classic band’s evolution? I love serial killers and hate religion, so what’s the deal? Why did critics splooge all over this record, and do fans agree?
During a recent plane trip, I played about four hours of Slayer pinball on my mobile tablet device — to the dismay of my westerly neighbor, who frowned from behind her religious-themed novel presumably at the game’s huge glowing pentagram — and it got me thinking about World Painted Blood. Like 2006′s mehtastic Christ Illusion, the 2009 record arrived amid a rush of acclaim — as though a spiteful metal media corps had a chance to bestow retroactive cheers upon a critically spurned but iconic band. Or maybe the album is awesome, and therefore deserving of warm reception even from fancy music writers at The Onion and All Music Guide. But I don’t think so.
“Biffy Clyro” always sounded like some kind of degenerative vaginal disease to me, but in fact it’s the name of an awesome 3-piece heavy rock band from Scotland. 2007′s Puzzle was something of a masterpiece; I loved the way it sounded and I loved the songs, and I listened to that album a whole lot that year. Axl and I saw them play live shortly after the release of that album and the band absolutely fucking smoked. News of a new Biffy Clyro album isn’t exactly “news” to those in the UK, but Only Revolutionswill finally receive a U.S. release on March 9th, exclusively on iTunes.
According to SMNnews.com, Only Revolutions was produced by GGGarth Richardson (Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and BC’s prior album Puzzle) and mixed by Andy Wallace (a bazillion great bands), so you know it’s going to sound great. The album also features the orchestration of multi Grammy-winning composer David Campbell; the orchestrations on Puzzle were part of what made it so special so I’m glad to see they’re keeping that element of their sound intact.
Can any of our UK readers tell us what to expect from Only Revolutions? Is it a worthy successor to Puzzle?
Here’s the video for “That Golden Rule,” the album’s first single. Check out Biffy Clyro on MySpace for more. After the jump, peep a list of Biffy Clyro U.S. tour dates scheduled for March and April.
Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 4:41pm by Axl Rosenberg
If you’re not familiar with Continuum’s 33 1/3 book series, you should be. Each entry is written by a different music critic and/or journalist, and each one is devoted to the study of a single, seminal album. There’s a wide range of types of music covered by the series – everything from the Beastie Boys to The Velvet Underground – but metal hass, up ’til now, been criminally unrepresented. There are entries for albums by Guns N’ Roses and Nine Inch Nails, but those aren’t metal bands in the strictest sense and, obviously, both groups have been wholly accepted by the mainstream; there was a book covering Sabbath’s Master of Reality recently, but, weird though it may be, at this point Sabbath are pretty much as accepted and unrebellious a metal band as we’re likely to get.
So D.X. Ferris’ recently release tome on Slayer’s Reign in Blood is the series’ first honest to God (or honest to Satan?) book covering a metal album. And it’s an AWESOME read – fascinating, intelligent, informative and insightful, you’re likely to blow through it record time, and then feel depressed as you realize you’ve reached the last page. Ferris not only takes a critical look at the album, making astute observations and pointing out little musical nooks and crannies you might have never noticed even after your gazillionth spin of the classic record, but he also managed to interview everyone and anyone who was involved with the album – from the band members themselves to producer Rick Rubin to engineer Andy Wallace to cover artist Larry Carroll and a few hundred other people I’m forgetting about – as well as loads and loads of musicians and artists who are fans of the album (Henry Rollins, Tori Amos, Gary Holt, and Paul Romano among them).
After I wrote this blog about Slayer and their continuing relevance in the metal world back in June, Ferris actually e-mailed me basically just to say “thanks” for the shout-out to his book. I asked him if I could shoot him some interview questions, and luckily for us, he agreed. After the jump, read what Ferris had to say about the process of putting the book together, things he learned about both Slayer and Reign in Blood while working on the book, and the state of Slayer today.
