Although the politics behind their new material might seem intriguing, almost noble even, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around a new Faith No More album being released. I mean, step away from the plate for a moment and realize something. This band is important to me. They are not Mr. Bungle important. Still, they were an already killer band made into something so stellar and unique, with the addition of one Sir Michael Patton, that it was almost cosmic.
This band was like a ride. The coolest ride for those of us who were there on opening day at the amusement park.
Then-
the ride stopped-
people got off-
and most of the band members faded into obscurity.
Except for Mike Patton.
The other members showed up here and there.
Most visible would be drummer, Mike Bordin.
He joined Korn and got to overdub drum tracks on the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums, as part a deranged agreement with resident wench Sharon Osbourne to discredit and disrespect original drummer, Lee Kerslake.
He even showed up as a contestant on "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"
But Mike Patton has stayed active ever since with a cavalcade of musical projects. If anything, for a while at least, he became even cooler after the band broke up.
What this man contributed to my existence is something that words alone can never truly convey.
I was Bungle Grind damn it!
I still am.
Patton's legacy can be attributed to a list of projects and guest appearances too lengthy for a proper role call. Arguably he has projects that are
far more experimental (Fantomas)
monstrously ambitious (Mondo Cane)
way cooler (Lovage or Peeping Tom)
and even more epic (Mr. Bungle)
But Faith No More will forever be known as the band to put this Mother Fucker on the map. They are his commercial juggernaut.
Bands split up all the time. Many stay gone, as they should. Some fathom themselves starships and launch new campaigns in efforts to reclaim something that is just not possible.
Their glory.
You see, glory is not just about some cool tunes. Glory is about a lot of things. For many bands glory is something achieved as a result of an era. Many of the most important bands of the past were made so partly by simply being a product of the times. Sure, the music may have kicked ass. But what made the appeal of certain bands so monumental was demand. They were needed.
Bands like The Doors.
Bands like The Smiths.
Bands like Rage Against the Machine.
Bands like Mr. Bungle.
Bands like Faith No More.
Bands can do reunion tours or one off shows and hereby relive a simplified, more concentrated, moment of this glory. It's hard to pull off though. Still, it can, and has, been done.
Releasing new material is an alternate beast. If there is any method known to constrict, and even annihilate completely, a creative flow worse than an extended hiatus I don't know what it is. Such matters are only to be more so complicated by the doings of time. Bands such as the ones mentioned, along with many others, have the luxury of recording songs that not only helped define the lives of people who were there the first time around, they helped to define the fabric of the very time itself. Era's such as the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's are remembered more for their music than most other common occurrences. Music is a universal language that speaks to and for us all. Even a one hit wonder can somehow manage to stay relevant forever.
So then the idea that such a band is going to record new material, material that will sit on the shelf next to classic albums such as "The Real Thing" and "Angel Dust", is a perplexing one. Especially since the band, at one time, seemed to poo poo even the thought of such material happening in the first place. Interviews suggested they were done once their live flow had been spent.
Now, the fans know the truth. New record, new tour.
Maybe it's a challenge. I mean, the band seemed to approach the concept of a live reunion with the very same hideous reluctance. Then, "From out of Nowhere", they came, they played and they kicked ass. I guess it only seemed a natural progression in the thought process to ask "What is next?" for a bunch of guys with nothing better to do. Even Patton on his own seems bored these days.
It is thoughts like these that make me cringe. A band that said they would never record new material is now recording their first new album in 18 years because they are bored.
Oh joy. Sign me up.
As long as the material is shrouded in secrecy all hope is not lost. I admit that I was filled with flame flavored bile upon hearing of the original reunion plans. I felt like Patton was so above this at that point in his career. When I saw the clips from that first show I swallowed all that flame right back down because the band sounded refreshed and tighter than ever.
Things seemed to be just like the chorus of their opening cover song stated.... "Reunited and it feels so good."
As with life, so it shall be with bands, things change. People change. Times change. A few shows overseas turned into a few shows in the US, which turned into more shows overseas and then.... well, what exactly? At the later shows unfamiliar material began rearing its ugly head. Covers, maybe?
Patton once sang in Tomahawk that "the cats in the bag and the bags in the river." Well, the cats out of the bag and ready to piss all over eardrums everywhere. This new album and tour seem much more like a real thing with the arrival of the bands first new single. A tender experimental little ditty called "Mother Fucker."
In the modern technological age nothing is shrouded in secrecy any longer. New songs don't have to be only rumors for long when everyone with a cell phone can upload them onto yourtub and before we all know it, we're all special because we've all heard the new shit that is being spoken of and nothing brings out the freshness and accentuates the highlights of a brand new song from one of your favorite bands quite like a shitty clip shot from the back of a dark concert hall, or in the parking lot of a festival, with a cell phone.
Faith No More seemed to be a band on the verge of achieving the impossible. I swallowed my pride in admitting their reunion wasn't such a bad idea after all. Especially when I got to see them myself on one of those few precious shows with the love of my life on the night before my birthday. What could be more perfect than that? Certainly not their new material.
When I first heard "Mother Fucker" a younger, more emotional and eager, me would have cried enough tears to fill a last cup of sorrow. The adult me was pretty much expecting the new material to range from "eh" to "they should have broken up again." The song sucks. This is not exactly a surprise.
But things change. People change. Times change. That was weeks ago, after hearing a shitty yourtub clip. The single is being released on Black Friday so it is now posted everywhere in its proper state, which is my preferred way of experiencing new material.
Allow me to explain why this is so.
Sure, we all want to be special. We all want to be able to say we were there the first time one of our favorite artists busted out that new song that is someday going to ask fans all over "Do you remember where you were the first time you heard this?" A query that those of us who think too much are going to respond with dueling answers.
"Uhhhh, do you mean the first time I heard the song in a drunken stupor with stage divers smashing down on my head and the amps so loud I could barely comprehend the idea that I was actually hearing a song I had never heard before?"
or maybe it goes like this-
"Yeah, I was cruising with the windows down, the wind through my hair making me so wild that even my groin wanted some, and the dj blasting that new song from so and so with such excitement that I almost wrecked."
But then again-
"I can recall every detail about the day I raced up to Zia Records and grabbed the record off the shelf, took it home and threw on my headphones so that I could hear every single nook and cranny of sound, even the subliminal messages that surely will have some people talking while causing others to do unmentionable things in the streets."
I think too much. I won't apologize for that though. I just don't see things like regular people do. I also like what I like and those are the rules of being me.
I listened to "Mother Fucker" again today.
The clarity almost was enough to make me feel as if I were hearing it for the first time. How do I feel? The song is okay I guess. I don't hate it, which was how I felt the after the first few listens of those yourtub clips. Still, the song is nothing to spank ones monkey over. We all know what "The Real Thing" is and this sure ain't no real thing. After actually hearing the song though, some random thoughts floated through my head.
I have heard two other apparently new songs, via those pesky clips, and they sound way cooler.
If this were a b-side or a hidden track I would probably want to buy it a lobster dinner and croon to it.
It's only a single and singles are rarely the best tracks on the album. At least, that's how it is these days. Gone are the mammoth singles like "Immigrant Song" or "Smoke on the Water." A single today just says "Hey, the few radio stations still around need something accessible to cuddle the general public." The real fans will buy the album and discover themselves grooving to the "Real Thing" as their ears bend around the throwaway track/tracks. One, or all, of which are to be released as singles.
Most importantly though, the song is not really THAT bad. Amongst all the experiments and rocking fare it might actually fit like a delicious piece of the puzzle pizza pie. From looking at the comments on the song, as well as the other new tunes so far only making their rare concert appearances, a lot of people seem to be upset that the band is being so damn experimental these days.
Come on now!
Really?!
Faith No More experimental?!
Get with it, people. This was a band born of experimentation.
They evolved into something more radio friendly for about five minutes and then stepped right back into some funky weird shit until their demise. In fact, you know what? Fuck you. That is probably why the band broke up in the first place. Because assholes like these peoples parents wanted them to just regurgitate "Epic" after "Epic" and when they didn't the crickets came chirping.
Okay, I don't really believe this scenario for a second. My guess is that Patton just wasn't feeling it. In fact, when I saw them on the "Album of the Year" tour, though the band was great, I could not help but think that Patton wasn't feeling it. So ease up a little. They're gonna do what they're gonna do and right now they're gonna release the first new music they've recorded in seventeen years. The album makes eighteen and then a tour and then.... well, who knows?
I know Patton juggles his projects around like he's a circus act. Only time will tell the truth here.
This band said they would never reunite and they did.
They said they would never record new material and they have.
Lots of other bands have stayed dead because it just seems like the right thing to do. Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, Mr. Bungle. Face it, nothing those bands could do would possibly live up to the names themselves. Hell, if you want full on proof that some bands are just meant to stay dead and blow legacy on the winds of musical abstinence look at that Black Sabbath reunion album. Better yet, don't and just go listen to "Never say Die" and tell yourself the Sab machine was destined to become a junk pile after that.
Times have changed. People have changed. Music has changed. Bands reunite or don't for whatever reason. Some pull it off nicely, give music lovers who crave substance a thrill, and then fade into the night. Others just flat out embarrass themselves and their fans by not holding a little thing such as legacy with as much might as they probably should have. In the end, it's all a matter of opinion. Experiments that work for some are deemed failures by others. When a band matters to one as much as Faith No More matters to me, one simply can not help but take every step as if they were a literal step of their own. I am not Mike Patton, so I can not walk in his shoes, sing in his voice, or know whether or not this bands moves are drawn from the hearts of five guys who are ready to take on the new world and conquer it or whether they're just bored and need some beer money.
Bands that are "The Real Thing" tend to be nothing more than a product of their times. I once felt that witnessing the rise of a band like Jane's Addiction was every bit as exciting as watching a modern day Zeppelin in flight. Then they broke up, came back and now.... who knows?
Better yet, who cares outside of those who frequent cut out bins?
Reunions are like talk. They're cheap. Some have managed to pull it off and so far, Faith No More have done everything right. Though my expectations are hardly to see history repeat itself I have been known to eat crow from time to time. Hell, I have trouble choosing which concert was more awesome, the "Angel Dust" tour in their prime or that last reunion experience I witnessed a few years back.
The band says their new material is reminiscent of "the Cramps" and "Siouxsie and the Banshees."
Many people will probably groan at those comparisons.
Still others are hoping the band will release "The Real-er Thing" or something else equally as "Epic."
I'll just wait and see what happens and if I dig it well, then I dig it. I have to admit, that at this point, I am curious to the point of peeing a little from excitement. Hell, they are even releasing their new material on their own label, affectionately named Reclamation Records.
How cool is that?!
Faith No More is a band that has always been about experimentation. All their albums are great and stand on their own creative legs for the most simple reason. They all sound different. If that is not experimentation, then I don't know what is.
When it drops in 2015, we'll know whether this is an experiment that has continued to work or whether they should have headed for the dung heap to keep Black Sabbath company. Until then, I, Bungle Grind will be one anxiously waiting Mother Fucker.
