FAITH NO MORE-the real thing-FUNK-hip-hop-SAN FRANCISCO

 This audio tape is ORIGINAL - NOT A COPY. It comes in the original tape's case in excellent condition, no slots or holes drilled in case.

 11/SONG SELECTIONS SEE BELOW-______________________________________________________________________________________________________

REVIEWS-

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  Two full years before Nirvana made "alternative rock" the buzzword that it continues to be to this day, Faith No More produced one of the genre's defining moments in "The Real Thing." While this album was among the first to mix rap and rock elements, you definitely shouldn't let that fact scare you. While today's would-be genre benders like Limp Bizkit and (to a lesser extent) Linkin Park seem bent on combining the most meatheaded elements of rap and rock for a sound that only a mook could love, Faith No More brought rock, rap, and funk together with more creativity and intelligence than anyone would have a right to expect. With the phenomenally versatile Mike Patton at the helm and a crack team of musicians backing him up, "The Real Thing" is a clinic in bringing together genres in perfect harmony.
Although there's a bit of a Bay Area thrash influence on display, "Master Of Puppets" this is not. The band's sound may have been ambitious from the outset, but few albums in my vast collection are this fun to listen to.

Even coming from songwriters as prolific and imaginative as Patton and co., it's almost alarming how much high-quality stuff is here. Just look at the first four songs and you'll get an idea of how far ahead of the game Faith No More were. The opening "From Out Of Nowhere" and "Falling To Pieces" bring together Patton's piercing, in-your-face vocals, the band's razor-sharp musical attack, and generous doses of punkish aggression. The head-banging rhythm and explosive rapping of "Epic" made it a justified hit. "Surprise! You're Dead!" brings a menacing, thrash-derived sound into the mix, but it's clearly all in good fun.

From there, the classic songs just keep coming. "Zombie Eaters" starts out with a couple minutes of gentle acoustics (!), then stops on a dime and turns into a pulverizing slab of metal that's all the more effective for the calm that preceded it. The eight-minute title track is a hard-pounding, constantly-shifting epic that makes my jaw hit the floor no matter how many times I hear it. The atomic bassline and neck-snapping dynamics of "Morning After" bring to mind the Pixies, while the instrumental tour de force "Woodpecker From Mars" provides convincing evidence of the virtuosity at the foundation of the band's schizophrenic sound. And as if the original material here wasn't enough, there's also a note-perfect rendition of the Black Sabbath classic "War Pigs."

Listening to this album, it's clear that the fusion of rap and rock did at one point have real potential. It's just too bad that the radio schmoozers of today lack Faith No More's talent and vision. But that's beside the point, as "The Real Thing" was, and is, a classic album that marks one of the high-water points of alternative music. I like to think that along with Soundgarden's "Superunknown" and Jane's Addiction's "Ritual de lo Habitual," this album formed a sort of alt-rock holy trilogy. So get them all!

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BIOGRAPHIES-

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 With their fusion of heavy metal, funk, hip-hop, and progressive rock, Faith No More has earned a substantial cult following. By the time they recorded their first album in 1985, the band had already had a string of lead vocalists, including Courtney Love; their debut, We Care a Lot, featured Chuck Mosley's abrasive vocals but was driven by Jim Martin's metallic guitar. Faith No More's next album, 1987's Introduce Yourself, was a more cohesive and impressive effort; for the first time, the rap and metal elements didn't sound like they were fighting each other.

In 1988, the rest of the band fired Mosley; he was replaced by Bay Area vocalist Mike Patton during the recording of their next album, The Real Thing. Patton was a more accomplished vocalist, able to change effortlessly between rapping and singing, as well as adding a considerably more bizarre slant to the lyrics. Besides adding a new vocalist, the band had tightened its attack and the result was the genre-bending hit single "Epic," which established them as a major hard rock act.

Following up the hit wasn't as easy, however. Faith No More followed their breakthrough success with 1992's Angel Dust, one of the more complex and simply confounding records ever released by a major label. Although it sold respectably, it didn't have the crossover potential of the first album. When the band toured in support of the album, tensions between the band and Martin began to escalate; rumors that his guitar was stripped from some of the final mixes of Angel Dust began to circulate. As the band was recording its fifth album in early 1994, it was confirmed that Martin had been fired from the band.

Faith No More recorded King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime with Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance. During tour preparations he was replaced by Dean Mentia. Mentia only lasted for the length of the King for a Day tour and was replaced by Jon Hudson for 1997's Album of the Year. Upon the conclusion of the album's supporting tour, Faith No More announced they were disbanding in April 1998. Patton, who had previously fronted Mr. Bungle and had avant-garde projects with John Zorn, formed a new band named Fantômas with Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. Roddy Bottum continued with his band Imperial Teen, who released their first album, Seasick, in 1996. A posthumous Faith No More retrospective, Who Cares a Lot, appeared in late 1998.

In 2009, after eleven years of dissolution, Faith No More announced plans for a European tour featuring the group's original lineup.
 

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