Utterly Indescribable
"Angel Dust" the follow up to Faith No More's breakthrough "The Real Thing" sees the band making a quantum leap beyond the updated prog and proto rap-metal of that album into a rarified realm all it's own.The band's sound was already astounding,leaping between genres with impunity following it's own twisted muse with very little concern about mainstream acceptance.That's certainly true of "Angel Dust" evident from the acid-fried carny ride of the opener,"Land Of Sunshine",and it's ironic self-help manifestos festooned with insane cackling."RV" is positively Tom Wiats-ian,with a slyly dark first-person narrative from a burnt-out trailer park refugee."Be Aggressive" is a jaw-dropper: an organ-fuled funk stomper that features an irresistable half-time cheer chorus,with real cheerleaders! And on bruising,transcendantly intense tracks like "Midlife Crisis","Smaller and Smaller",and Caffeine",the power and brutal grace of the unit shines brightly:despite it's sometimes sopophoric dependence on shock lyrics and lurid,pulpy horror show atmospherics,this is a tight,accomplished and formally wrought band,capable of stunningly sweeping soundscapes like "Kindergarten" and "A Small Victory"(which resembles some miraculous duet between Elton John and Public Enemy).This album is highly recommended for those who like thier music to be challenging and completely original.
"You ain't never gonna amount to nothing..."
So I pick this album up having heard Midlife crisis and Land of sunshine and realize: 'Man what have I been missing?!'. Mike Patton is without a doubt a lunatic, but an extremely unpredictable talented lunatic. Angel Dust is right on the money, not completly off the Wall like Mr. Bungle (Patton's side project) nor as commercialy appealing as The real thing (Faith no more's previous album), this record falls somewhere in the middle of both.
Mike Patton's lyrics on Jizzlobber (I'm pretty sure the song is about self gratification) are insane: "I am what I do". This guy talks openly about giving head in Be Agressive (gotta love the catchy cheer leader chorus). His brutal honesty are some of the key elements which hold this album together. So many different styles, no songs sound like one another. The keyboards blend in well, heck even the back cover showing a cow's head and skinned chickens seem to fit in perfectly in some insane way. It's an album where everything, every note, every groove, every beat seems to fit in and even the insaness of the lyrics catch on after awhile.My personal favorites would have to be Kindergarden, which deals with outgrowing old habits I believe. For example when Patton sings: "Folklore: nobody's supposed to believe in the next grade, write it a hundred times." I usually hate when singer's rap, but Patton sounds so good I just give in.
Small victory with it's oriental sounding keyboards are just great as are the crazy lyrics in everything's ruined (soon our boy became a million?).
This album is completly worth your time and money. It will grow on you after the first listen, not because the songs are catchy they are just written in such a way that they are very memorable, credit to the band for writting such good songs.
Simple...
Best Rock Album Ever. Don't be stupid. Buy it now.
Untouchable.
It's funny how sophomore albums like this and "Paul's Boutique" are considered to be commercial failures, yet in truth are musically a couple of the best of all time. This is easily "Faith No More's" best release, and probably one of the greatest of the alt-metal genre. "Land Of Sunshine" and "Midlife Crisis" are both heavy, excellent, and ahead of their time, and "Everything's Ruined", "Be Aggressive", and "A Small Victory" are near-perfect as well. One of my favorites is the dramatic "Jizzlobber", and I'm just impressed that a band in 1992 put that out. "Midnight Cowboy" is a nice closer too. Though "The Real Thing" is also great, and is their big album, any real fan of the band must hear and own this one. Nothing will rock your world like "Angel Dust".
A better review.
(I previously wrote a very short and mediocre review for this album, so I took the time to make a better one).
One word can describe this album: brilliant. Is there a more versatile album out there? If so, I haven't heard it. Every song sounds completely different. Each song is genius in it's own right and this album is anything but redundant.
"Angel Dust" has everything you could ever want in an album. You've got your radio friendly tracks like "MidLife Crisis" (the best song on the album and possibly the best song Faith No More has ever done) "A Small Victory", and "Easy" (a brilliant cover of the Commodores song by the same name). Then we have other songs that are too brilliant to be categorized, such as the hilarious song about trailer park trash (no offence to anyone who lives in a trailer) "R.V.", and "Crack Hitler. If you're a fan of hard rock, Angel Dust also has heavier songs like "Malpractice", "Smaller And Smaller", and "Jizzlobber".
In my opinion, this is probably one of the best albums ever made. A strongly recommended album for fans of all types of music.
An amazing album, Angel Dust unfortunately has limited appeal, although perhaps "unfortunately" isn't the right word; the record's oddities are also what make it such a fascinating listen. "Land of Sunshine" is a rocker with a foot-tapping rhythm punctuated by insane laughter from vocalist Mike Patton, whose distinctive voice and frequently disturbing lyrics drive the album. To call it hard rock does Angel Dust a disservice; it's far more musically complex than such a label implies. There's the funk-influenced "Midlife Crisis," the ballad "RV" (a bitter monologue from the point of view of a middle-aged discontent sitting in his trailer), the hard-edged claustrophobia of "Smaller and Smaller," and the rock-married-to-electronic-organ "Be Aggressive," which includes positively inspired cheerleader chants on the chorus. Impossible to classify but incredibly entertaining (there isn't a single boring moment on this album), Angel Dust is well worth picking up. --Genevieve Williams
