Faith no more: with “angel dust” a slap to the mainstream
“The only way to truly progress is to be ashamed of what you did”. (Mike Patton – Faith No More, 1992)
It would seem unlikely, pronouncing their name, not instantly associating the Faith no more with the eclectic figure of the frontman Mike Patton, a multifaceted artist who has always been known also for his many experimental projects, ranging from Mr. Bunne to Fantomas, passing through Tomahawk, world dog and peeping Tom (not to mention, then the innumerable featuring with the most names with the names disparate on the international scene they call it into question). In reality, the Faith no more, evolved in the San Francisco area by a project called Faith No Man (and before still Faith in No Man), had already matured two albums with the singer Chuck Mosley, before his arrival in the late eighties: the immature made of 1985 ‘We care a lot’, and the best structured ‘introduces yourself’, published two years later. In Faith no More Patton came to us in time to record the amazing ‘The Real Thing’, released in 1989 to remain a fundamental step, if you look at the more alternative side and “crossover” in the history of rock.
In fact, ‘The Real Thing’ sanctions the first real commercial success by Faith No More, a success due in part to the strong rotation of the video clip of the single “Epic”, implemented by a medium like MTV. In any case, the album combined an unpredictable variety of styles, with Jim Martin’s Thrash Metal guitar, Roddy Bottum’s electrical plan, Billy Gould’s slap-bass and Mike Bordin’s virulent battery (future member of the Ozzy Osbourne band), to form a sound cooperation that lent itself magnificently to the interpretative uniqueness of Patton. Thus leaving the critics to be reinforced in their stubbornness aimed at finding at all costs a category within which to put on the disc, the band committed to promote live and widely ‘The Real Thing’, so much so that when he found himself in the studio to develop a new group of unpublished songs, he did it only after a long – very long – break: a period of reflection that gave Patton to concentrate on his mr. Bunlet.
In this case, to compose ‘Angel Dust’, or the sequel to ‘The Real Thing’, the quintet chased the intention of producing something even more unconventional, free in the form and above all “less rock” – Billy Gound said without hesitation in the English press. The new musical direction, however, disconnect the guitarist Jim Martin, already suffering from a series of personal problems; Nonetheless, the inspiration, thanks also to the contribution of the producer Matt Wallace, was such as to guarantee ‘Angel Dust’ to immediately place himself as one of the most complex and disconcerting works ever published by a Major Label (the Slash Records, the group’s label, was a “parent” of the Polygram with Warner/Reprise distribution). The first single, “Midlife Crisis”, insinuated in the mainstream charts allowing the Faith no more to obtain prominence with a magnificently enveloping and atmospheric song. The piece actually did not refer to any “middle -aged crisis”, since Patton had written the text inspired by the figure of the pop star Madonna (not for nothing the original title of “Midlife Crisis” would have been “Madonna”). Years later he had the opportunity to explain why: “I think that was a particular period in which we were bombed by his image (of Madonna), on TV as in magazines. Perhaps his way of acting was born in me the impression that she was crossing a difficult life phase; it actually seemed a little desperate, to observe it”.
“Midlife Crisis” contained a loop extracted from “Car Thief” of the Beastie Boys, plus another sample taken from the song “Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel. The “malpractice” track contained a four second sample of the second movement of the string quartet n. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich, performed by the Kronos Quartet, while the intro of the exuberant “caffeine” contained animal sounds, including verses of monkeys and wolves. From Diamanda Galás to the ‘Wizard of Oz’, however, the goods “sectioned” by the group was actually different, to the point that a certain record management began to worry about the breadth of the material of others employed by the band on ‘Angel Dust’.
The texts written by Patton for the occasion were born from rather unusual inspiration sources: the fortune biscuits, the questions of the personality of the goose (Oxford Capacity Analysis), as well as the television programs of the night band. The singer, of which the particular predilection for our culture is known today (also speaks a fluent Italian), also said that to write both “caffeine” and “land of sunshine”, the mocking and sarcastic number of opening number of ‘Angel dust’, even attempted an experiment of sleep deprivation: “I went at night in a really ugly area of the city where I lived”, he said; “I parked my Honda and started to observe people, the cafés and the premises of the ‘Diner White-Trash’ type, which proved to be fantastic for my inspiration”. Patton’s imprint, however, was likely to be traceable in the genius of “BE aggressive”, “Everything’s Ruined”, a written trace together with Billy Gould, as well as in the ravenous “Kindergarten”, composed instead of Bottum. The disc was then displayed by other emblematic passages such as ‘MalprascoTice’, ‘Crack Hitler’, and a composition like the afflicted “Jizzlobber”, before ending with a bold renovation of the theme of the film ‘Midnight Cowboy’ (in the reprint of the album, however, a melancholy cover of “Easy” of the Commodores was also included. parts of the world – more in evil than for good – became the greatest success of the band).
A slap to the mainstream
For how it presented itself in the eyes of the public, moreover with a somewhat bizarre title and cover, it might have seemed from the outside that angel dust ‘prefigured as a voluntary self -sabotage act by the group itself – otherwise said, a commercial suicide. Indeed, against all expectations, released on June 8, 1992 the album reached the second position in the United Kingdom and had the Faith no more in the top ten USA for the first and only time (at number ten). It should be noted that the work came out in a historical moment of epochal changes in the context of record “big companies”. The Nirvana and the bands of Seattle were already an incontrovertible phenomenon, but at that time the two most successful commercial formations – we speak of the purely rock/metal area – were the Guns n ‘Roses and the metal, and many cheered when the Faith no more were called to accompany the first in their world mega -tour in support of’ Use ‘. Having an opportunity to make a stop in Turin, at the then Stadium of the Alps, for what was in fact the very first Italian concert of the Gn’r. The opportunity – those who write witnessed with the ecstatic eyes of a pre -adolescent – served Mike Patton to make himself memorable before the over sixty -six thousand thousands, and when the singer shouted in the microphone from the stage the Italian translation of the expression “Fuck Off”, the roar issued by the public detonated for the stadium.
School with Axl and Slash
Seen from the outside, the fact of promoting ‘Angel Dust’ in front of an audience accustomed to the Hard Rock of the Guns N ‘Roses could appear as a typically opportunistic move, even more when Patton and the others took advantage of it further grabbing an additional slot for what was a sort of “tour inside the tour”, a concert cycle of twenty -six dates that the Gn’r to the metal (both in headliner mode). The “Guns n ‘Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour”, this is the name, began in July of that same year, 1992, and was surrounded by a series of accidents, including a bad burning against James Hetfield, singer and guitarist of the metal. The Faith no more never gave too much eye, but when Billy Gould criticized the Guns in an interview, the thing triggered the ire of an increasingly susceptible Axl Rose. The astiose words of the bassist, who underlined how the organization of the show resembled more to a “circus” than to a concert, or something similar, led to a direct confrontation between the parties, precisely in the dressing room of the Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, in early September. Slash was also attended by the scene (Gound himself remembered at the “Loudersound” newspaper), who failing to his usually attached style, he ended up advising the Faith no more to choose definitively whether to stay on the tour or, alternatively, “get up from the balls”. (Many years after the incident, however, someone like Mike Bordin said he was grateful to the Guns n ‘Roses for the “wonderful opportunity” offered to the Faith no more throughout that period.)
A band that will be remembered, beyond any unreasonable doubt
The phase connected to ‘Angel Dust’ ended with the departure of Jim Martin by Faith no more, but in his place Patton immediately arrived Trey Spruance, a member of the Mr. Bungle. In the following five years, despite a certain drop in sales, the band persisted in keeping the level of popularity acquired enough sufficiently high, thanks also to the irrefutable quality of two albums such as ‘King for A Day … Fool for A Lifetime’, from 1995 (the same that included the single “Digging the Grave”, then appeared also in the Italian film ‘Jack Frusciante came out of the group’), and the subsequent “Album of the Year “, from 1997. Subsequently, between a dissolution that lasted an eternity, the release of a collection (or perhaps more than one), and a series of live performances, a record return on name Faith no more would have arrived only in 2015, with the discreet ‘Sol Invictus’. Without getting lost in unnecessary Byzantinisms, however, we could conclude by saying that the Faith no more will continue to be listened to and loved by many, and if there is a lesson that they have been able to give – and ‘Angel Dust’ represents a confirmation – is that after all it is still possible to be totally possible and have at the same time successful.
