Even today, there's no one quite like Faith No More. From their snotty "We Care a Lot" salad days, to the epic peak of The Real Thing, to their inevitable, 'too-good-to-last' breakup, they defied convention, being as much alternative show 120 Minutes to rock-lovers Headbanger's Ball. The band used a multicoloured palette like no one had in popular music, always surprising listeners by mixing pop, metal, rap, techno, country, soul, and even a film score. It should have sounded like spam, but worked perfectly and signalled the rise of alternative rock into the mainstream. They were the single most exicting thing to happen to music in the late eighties and early nineties, lighting the way to change until their breakup in 1998. It's a shame they haven't recorded a new album, there were dozens of imitators in their wake, prompting the most recent lineup to reunite for some live dates a few years ago, before all reverting back to quiet since then. Faith No More weren't as accessible as Jane's Addiction or the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but they were far more interesting musically, the vanguards of the avant garde. We'll even forgive them for inspiring nu-metal if they can just put out one more album.
Check out "The Champ" by my alter ego, Greg Forrest, in Heater #12, at http://fictionmagazines.com.
I used to do a mean Glenn Danzig impression. Now I just hang around and co-host The Workprint podcast at http://southboundcinema.com/.
