FAITH NO MORE — King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime (review)

FAITH NO MORE — King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime album cover Album · 1995 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Pekka
With the departure of the stubborn metal head Jim Martin and the acquisition of Mr. Bungle's Trey Spruance for these sessions Faith No More traded most of their down-picked metal riffage for a more rocking approach, even flirting with disco and lounge music, gospel choirs and whatnot. The result is a very eclectic blend of different styles, but judging by this album the band is comfortable in any shoes possible.

Around the making of this album Mike Patton also released Disco Volante as part of Mr. Bungle and the solo album Adult Themes for Voice, and as he got most of his avant garde ambitions poured onto those albums, his vocals on this one are surprisingly conventional. He does have the occasional freak moment like the vomit spree closing Ugly in the Morning, but most of the time he sticks to singing in a more normal manner, but with various styles as the music changes from the balladic side of Take This Bottle through the disco and bossa nova of Star A.D. and Caralho Voador to the heavy rock and punky metal filling much of the 14 tracks. Some of my favourites include the opener Get Out, from which I particularly enjoy Billy Gould's bass sound in the chorus, the brilliantly atmospheric but a tad overlong Evidence, the aforementioned wildly rocking Ugly in the Morning and somewhat similar The Gentle art of Making Enemies, the epic feeling title track and the gorgeous closing number Just a Man, which makes great use of a gospel choir and was the first song to do that in a manner of which I approve.

When considering the rating for this album I find myself battling with the descriptions behind each number of stars. Since it's considerably less metal than their previous releases I think of this one as an essential rock album with occasional metal moments. Very highly recommended.
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