FAITH NO MORE — The Real Thing (review)

FAITH NO MORE — The Real Thing album cover Album · 1989 · Funk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stooge
I didn’t care for Faith No More when I first heard them. Like many people, my introduction to the band was through watching their music video for “Epic”. While I initially found Mike Patton’s high pitched vocals hard to take, their rather odd music video and hybrid of different styles kept the band in my mind. A few years later, I revisited the band, and The Real Thing became a really good thing (Like that hasn’t been said before :) ).

The band’s sound on The Real Thing runs the gamut from party rock (“From Out Of Nowhere”), to thrash metal (“Surprise! You’re Dead!”), to the somewhat soulful (“Edge of The World”) and they go into cover band mode with Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. Fans of the Chuck Mosley era should be pleased that they still maintain much of their funk inspired sound from previous albums.

As previously stated, Patton’s whiny vocals found on tracks such as ‘Epic” got on my nerves, but they eventually grew on me. However, I’d still say that on Patton’s debut with Faith No More, his vocals still needed some work and he would literally find his own voice on later releases. Patton showcases his most impressive vocals on the album during “Zombie Eaters”, “The Real Thing”, and “Edge of The World”. A taste of things to come.

Each band member has their chance to shine on this album. Guitarist Jim Martin plays a rather “Epic” solo on their hit single, with some strong metal riffing on tracks such as “Surprise! You’re Dead!” and “Woodpeckers from Mars”. The bass presence is consistent throughout the album, with “The Morning After”, “Falling To Pieces” and “Woodpeckers from Mars” being some of Billy Gould’s bright spots. Mike Bordin shines on the drums on the album’s title track and gets practice for his future Ozzy gig on “War Pigs”. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum provides much of the melody to tracks “Falling To Pieces” and “Epic”, and provides the main foundation to the album closer “Edge Of The World”.

My personal favorite tracks on The Real Thing are “Falling To Pieces”, “Woodpeckers from Mars”, the title track, and even “Epic” grew on me after my initial uncertainty.

The Real Thing is an excellent album that would fit nicely into the collection of the average metal fan. However, I can’t say that this is my favorite Faith No More album.
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