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RE They were true rock subversives and are back to blow our minds. Doug Johnstone reveals all about the perverted genius of Faith No More
Singles like ‘We Care a Lot’ and then later, ‘Epic’ and ‘From Out of Nowhere’ from 1989’s album The Real Thing were genuine hits, alongside the likes of ‘Been Caught Stealing’ by Jane’s Addiction. These were bands savvy enough to play the media at their own game and yet still confound expectations. Witness Faith No More’s virtually straight cover of ‘Easy’ by The Commodores, which went on to become their biggest hit, managing to be both brilliant yet utterly unpredictable at the same time.
And Faith No More continued to confuse people. 1992’s Angel Dust album was a difficult, experimental listen at times, but also included several commercially viable hit singles, and even a reworking of the theme to Midnight Cowboy.
When this journalist saw the band live at Glasgow Barrowland around that time, singer Mike Patton pissed on the crowd and shat in his shoe onstage. Not necessarily the actions of a great revolutionary, I grant you, but evidence that the band were never going to play the sanitised their predecessors. rock’n’roll game of
And so it transpired. Faith No More disbanded in 1997 after six albums and a fair amount of acrimony, to work on solo and side projects. Jane’s Addiction broke up and reformed several times, Perry Farrell using the time in between to launch the now colossal alternative American music festival Lollapalooza. Only the Red Hot Chili Peppers bit the bullet and finally delivered the ultra- mainstream rock record they had always promised, blanding themselves beyond all recognition in the process.
THEY PAVED THE WAY FOR THE MAINSTREAM SUCCESS OF NIRVANA AND RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
But all three bands left a huge legacy, changing the face of rock music over the last 20 years. What Faith No More and their contemporaries did was that they made rock both credible and successful, paving the way for the mainstream success of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot. The list goes on and on. OK, they also accidentally inspired the now insipid sound of nu-metal, and potentially even paved the way for emo and nu-goth, but hey, you can’t get everything right, right?
You could argue that the recent reformation of both Faith No More and Jane’s Addiction goes somewhat against the ethos of both bands, that commercial considerations were much less important than artistic ones. Then again, anyone who witnessed either Jane’s Addiction’s impressive recent showing at T in the Park or Faith No More’s ecstatically received set at this year’s Download Festival would be extremely hard pushed to argue that either band failed to kick ass as well as in their heyday. Which is all that really matters in rock music, isn’t it? Well, no, it’s not, but in that and all other aspects as well, Faith No More still demand our respect.
Faith No More, Corn Exchange, 08444 999 990, 25 Aug, 7pm, sold out. 20–27 Aug 2009 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 49