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Faith No More > Angel Dust > Reviews
Faith No More - Angel Dust

Everything is too much - 84%

gasmask_colostomy, February 11th, 2018
Written based on this version: 1992, Cassette, Slash Records

Today it's round two of the charity shop cassette series, which will probably reach a conclusion next week with another extreme metal delight like Napalm Death (it's not Napalm Death, but death does come into it), though I'm a bit disappointed I can't review the Alice Cooper, Guns 'n' Roses, and Pearl Jam cassettes I've got. Rest assured, I'm putting my family through the paces of Ten later today. Anyhow, this is the turn of Faith No More's heron-song album Angel Dust, (not to be confused with their swansong album Album of the Year) which is arguably their most definitive work in a career that hasn't stayed still for very long and certainly can't be called symmetrical. I've never been terribly sure that Faith No More were a metal band in the strict sense that this site demands, especially as they are rather more alternative metal than other comparative groups like Soundgarden and Melvins, although I guess they always had their own sound.

Then again, I'm hit by listening to this again that people often downplay the role Jim Martin had in driving the Californians' sound, blowing up some big riffs on songs like 'Caffeine', 'Smaller and Smaller' (where - get this - he nicks an idea from Candlemass), and especially the semi-extreme closer 'Jizzlobber'. His bold, decidedly un-classic metal riffing is quite a factor in separating this from any bands who were more established at the beginning of the '90s, though an excellent mixing job that pops Martin warmly up at the front and bassist Billy Gould in a similarly comfortable position makes this seem a lot fresher than its 25 years would suggest. There are a few things that attach this to the time in which it was produced, notably the heavy keyboard presence and hard rock eclecticism of the West Coast, though it would be difficult to say that Roddy Bottum was taking many of his synths from the playbook of other bands, especially when he crafts such a cannily skittering bridge in 'Midlife Crisis' that Rob Zombie would later steal on several occasions. To finish out the quintet, Mike Bordin obviously has a riot of fun drumming on songs like the energetic opener 'Land of Sunshine' (on which everyone seems to be rocking the fuck out to the marching rhythm with tongues firmly in cheek along with the fortune cookie/Scientology lyrics), while Mike Patton is just about the vocalist that everybody says he is, a dominant crooning baritone one moment and a hostile mental patient the next. The lyrics are not exactly sane either, with 'Crack Hitler' (excellent title aside) boasting one of the finest examples:

Sink the eight ball
Buy the lady a drink
And nobody knows my name
Bodies float up
From the bottom of the river
Like bubbles in fine champagne

What some people will definitely love about Angel Dust is just the same thing that others will certainly hate: there's a lot of stuff going on. Certainly, Faith No More are a great rock band (I wouldn't quite say this is metal) pushing the envelope from riffs and rhythms to all kinds of atmospheres and scenarios, as well as into some lighter and heavier areas, as epitomized by 'A Small Victory' and 'Midnight Cowboy' in the first instance and 'Malpractice' and 'Jizzlobber' at the darker end of the spectrum. For all that people have written about this being a dark album, I find a lot of joy and exuberance in the band's sound, particularly when Bordin is bashing his toms to keep the pace steady and Patton is singing in clean style. Barring the previously mentioned 'Land of Sunshine', 'Everything's Ruined' and 'Be Aggressive' are both a great deal of fun, the latter getting a sort of cheerleader chant into a song about oral sex, which is a little subversive perhaps but certainly not very serious.

In my eyes, there is a slight downside to the lack of seriousness here, which is that the two songs 'RV' and 'Kindergarten' are slightly too full of their humorous concepts to actually make enough effort in becoming great songs too, even if there is some decent surf rock guitar on the former and the same sort of soliloquy that would turn up in later Oxbow releases. I really dig the odd lyrical takes on the subjects though, so kudos for Patton for putting so much thought into the words here. There are a couple of other songs that I'm not totally sold on, though that's more with the musical style than the band's approach, those being 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Easy', neither of which are album tracks proper seeing as they are cover songs. I guess the soundtrack number is an alright way to wind down the album, while 'Easy' appears on my version despite coming from another release entirely and is a mildly straight attempt at the Lionel Richie standard, though nothing like as interesting as Faith No More's own output. Cutting those two songs from the album - plus maybe another song like 'Kindergarten' or 'A Small Victory' - would have made sense, especially because the frequently challenging nature of the compositions requires some concentration to get the most out of the experience. I feel that 11 songs in under 50 minutes would have made Angel Dust a really tight album, but then again this was the '90s and everyone had too many songs on their albums.

My conclusion is that Faith No More made one of those albums of the time that were packed with all sorts of ideas and experiments, yet didn't really have enough of a fine touch to make sure that all the great ideas were used in appropriate ways. The songwriting is in fact very good and there's barely a poor cut on the record, though a slight overdose of creativity is a shame when the material would have stood out more impressively without the overkill of 13 (on my version, 14) songs. This is undoubtedly an interesting and high quality album, but Angel Dust certainly can't be called a perfect release.

Not the be all end all of either Patton or FNM - 70%

Primate, January 9th, 2018

Let's get one thing out of the way first, it's almost impossible not to respect what Faith No More were setting out to achieve with this. They were absolutely determined to shed the bizarre MTV boy band image The Real Thing had helped manifest, by creating a sludgier and unabashedly weirder album.

Perhaps this honourable back story is what makes your average 90s alternative fan put this on the same pedestal as something like Nevermind or Dirt. But, no matter how many times I listen to this, it always sounds like a concisely unfocused mess and awkward fusion of ideas and moods, even more so than some of Mr. Bungle's more questionable work from around this period.

Opener "Land of Sunshine" has a tedious, mid-paced tempo and monotonous riffs that make it painful to listen to. While the debut of Mike Patton's new deep voice is enjoyable, the only truly redeeming factor of the song is the synth brilliance of Roddy Bottum. The following song "Caffeine" has the same tempo and ugly monotonous, drone-like riffs, but also a complete disregard for melody. This and the depressive atmosphere of the song make it something I find difficult to relisten to.

The album picks up ever so slightly with the upbeat and melodic arena synth-rock song "Midlife Crisis" and the quirky country comedy "RV", but later tracks such as "Smaller and Smaller", "Everything's Ruined" and "Malpractice" revert to the sluggish and unpleasant monotonous drone.

This is not to say there isn't anything else of merit on this record, "Kindergarten" is in fact one of my favorite Faith No More songs. It actually has a decent groove to it (stemming from a faster tempo and rap-like delivery from Patton) in addition to an exceptional display of keyboard prowess from Roddy Bottum. Here, Bottum's synthesizers manage to play up the emotion of the music around him, unlike on other songs (such as "Smaller and Smaller") where he tries too hard to make them be like 'epic' orchestral film music.

The beautiful cover of "Midnight Cowboy" is a rather nice way to end this mess, but still, if you can see past the hype, then you will find that Angel Dust is definitely not something that has much staying power when compared to the likes of King for a Day, Introduce Yourself or nearly anything Mr. Bungle ever did.

As Strange And As Strong As You Get - 100%

psychoticnicholai, August 4th, 2016

Faith No More was at the top of their game during the years in between The Real Thing and Angel Dust. The climate of alternative music had gotten much darker and more serious since its more playful and glam-stained period in the late 1980's and this shows in Angel Dust. Faith No More go for heavier and more involved songs, Billy Gould adds a deeper thump to his bass playing, Roddy Bottum gives a much more regal and symphonic performance on his keyboard, and Mike Patton sings in a much lower voice, appearing more adult and serious as opposed to his higher, more childish vocals on The Real Thing. Atmosphere is also emphasized in addition to pure groove while more experimentation takes place. Angel Dust is Faith No More becoming a more capable and multifaceted band while still being able to write a killer tune.

Some of the killer tunes involved include just about every song on Angel Dust. Land of Sunshine lays down a funky marching groove while Patton sings out a sarcastic ode to televangelists while the keyboards add an extra deranged edge to the song. Angel Dust overall goes for a more intense sound, particularly Midlife Crisis goes for darker territory with more stern riffing and creeping drums to lead into a driving chorus complemented by dark power chords. Jim Martin's guitar is heavy and makes itself known with as little as one strum. Darker territory is also explored through much of the album with prominent, ominous keyboards and Patton's imposing and terrifying vocals with him switching between clean melodies, shouts, and ever so rarely, straight up shrieking. Jizzlobber probably contends with Malpractice for being the darkest song here, even going do far as to include shrill screams, thundering guitars, and jolting synths a black metal band would find impressive. The themes of experimentation and mores serious and dark melodies and subject matter just floe forward the strongest from these songs. But that doesn't mean there isn't some lighter moments and humor. RV is a piece that makes me laugh every time I hear it, as I do know people who live like the mumbling man Patton portrays, lots of antisocial trailer trash with plenty of opinions and not a thought in their heads with eyes permanently glued to a screen with a lardy back stuck to a sofa. You then go into a more avant-garde sounds with songs like Crack Hitler going for full funk where slapping bass is deployed to its fullest and heaviest for a truly banging rhythm. Angel Dust ends with it's most experimental and bizarre pieces to drive home the point that they mean business when making heavy music that intrigues as much as it confuses. Every single song hits home hard without exception.

In truth, this is where I believe Faith No More hit their peak. This is their darkest, most ambitious, and most varied and intense album ever released. Angel Dust takes all the elements of Faith No More and fully realizes every one of them and their potential. All the songs are memorable and sound great even after many repeat listens. Patton sings at his best, Gould thumps his bass at his funkiest, Bottum plays his keys at their most atmospheric. This is truly a divine listen and anyone with any sanity left to lose should hear this at least once, I fully recommend this.

The Perfect Soundtrack to a Movie - 100%

TimJohns, November 29th, 2015

After several experimental, original and unfocused efforts before the arrival of frontman and lead singer Mike Patton; Faith No More gained widespread recognition with the release of 1989's The Real Thing. Featuring an unlikely and unmatched combination of funk, alternative rock and metal, Faith No More established themselves as being the most well-known act of their unique craft during the time. Angel Dust is an overall and obvious improvement and musical expansion over the Real Thing in many ways. Mike Patton's ultimately diverse and distinct vocal range is as chaotic and over the top as ever. The lyrics are silly and the entire album is filled with laid back humour, such as on tracks like: Everything's Ruined, Kindergarten and Be Aggressive. The whole album would be an ideal soundtrack for a movie because of the insanely addicting and catchy riffs along with overly epic and larger than life sound. Even the homage and cover of the 1969 movie "Midnight Cowboy" theme song shows why Faith No More should be taken in consideration to do soundtracks for a variety of films such as Trent Reznor and many other composers. Even the unusual album cover of a crane is already an indication of the frenzy and constant entertainment that will be packed throughout the album. The title "Angel Dust" captures a sense of urgency and desperation within most of the songs. The unremitting adrenaline and energy also gives the impression of being high on crack cocaine.

Faith No More is also able to execute a perfect western style theme on the track "RV" and seems like the type of song that would fit perfectly in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Even the slightly progressive metal influenced "Malpractice" would prove to have an important impact on the progressive metal and deathcore band "Between the Buried and Me" as they would later do a cover of that song. The theatrical tunes such as "Land of Sunshine" and the oriental inspired "Smaller and Smaller" and "A Small Victory" would be ideal for a road trip through the desert or mountainous landscapes. All in all, the riffs are surprisingly heavier on Angel Dust and Faith No More definitely demonstrate and clearly emphasize their metal influences more so than on the Real Thing. Furthermore, the bass is another important addition to Faith No More funk influenced sound and Billy Gould's bass slapping is reminiscent of the great metal and rock bassists such as Roger Patterson from Atheist, Sean Malone from Cynic and even Geddy Lee from Rush. It is also quite interesting how even though Faith No More were quite popular during the early 1990s, their mainstream success was only recognized for only a handful of their tracks, most notably: Epic, From Out of Nowhere and Midlife Crisis. They are often compared to the counterparts Primus for almost having the same level of success and respectively known for their high level of talent and clever and unique sense of humour in their songwriting.

Although Faith No More do not take themselves seriously one bit, their music is of greater quality, musical vision and has better production than many of their contemporaries. Even though they have a profound and triumphant sound on some songs, they are overshadowed by humourous and light hearted lyrics. Mike Bordin's drumming also plays a key role on Angel Dust as he is definitely an underrated drummer by all means. He has a complex style that sometimes mixes odd time jazz signatures and even throws in some of his Caribbean drumming influences at times. The avant garde, experimental and bizarre themes that Faith No More consistently use, work to their advantage most of the time. Their one of a kind art has proven to be stepping stone for bands such as the nu-metalers Korn, who constantly borrow from Faith No More's heavy riffs, sturdy bass lines and technical drumming. Faith No More also embrace their Californian roots by playing most of the time with a carefree attitude and laid back approach.

Overall, Angel Dust is a must-have for any music or metal fan. It is a worthy asset to anybody musical collection and although Faith No More's sound is an acquired taste, listeners will be surely pleased with the refreshing humour throughout. Also there is truly no other frontman like Mike Patton, his on stage antics and live performances make him one of the most interesting men in the alternative rock and metal scene. Although quite well-known and popular, Faith No More are quite the mysterious and secretive collective as they went on a nineteen year hiatus before getting back together and released a brand new album in 2015. With an immense cult following, Faith No More are an extremely talented bunch of individuals who rarely seem to dissappoint even their most loyal fans. If there is one album to be chosen out of their entire discography, it should be Angel Dust because after all it is their unquestionable masterpiece and highest achievement.

Angel Dust, a difficult to swallow masterpiece - 100%

enshrinedtemple, October 31st, 2015
Written based on this version: 2015, 2CD, Slash Records (Deluxe, Digipak)

Faith No More’s Angel Dust is one of those masterpiece albums that come along every blue moon. Hot of the success of Epic, the band would delve into musician diversity and my God did they reach nirvana. This album is about as diverse as it can get and for me this ranks up with classics like Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper. Angel Dust was made in the 90’s but really it is one of those timeless releases that will never go out of style.

Faith No More is never going to be considered a straight up metal band but obviously the influences are there. If you are looking for a lethal metal attack, it is not going to be found here. Songs like Jizzlobber are obviously metal but Faith No More have too many influences to play just one way. There is a good amount of funk, rock, metal but thrown into a blender and put all over the album. It's really not as thrown together as Mr.Bungle would have been, but there are all kinds of different ideas being thrown around.

Now, when you look at the band, you get a bunch of well seasoned musicians. Mike Patton should go down in history as the most diverse singer the world has ever seen. Seriously, he can do death metal, easy listening, rapping and everything else. Literally every singing style can be found on his various projects, but Angel Dust is a good place to learn about what he can do. Then we have the other solid musicians including Jim Martin, Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin and Billy Gould. Jim and Roddy are especially solid on this album. From doom metal riffing to memorable alternative rock, Jim Martin delivers in all categories. Roddy supplies the keyboards and diversity like carnival inspired music from the opener Land Of Sunshine. Mike Bordin is one of those drummers who can do it all. Yes he keeps the beat but it really takes talent to be able to keep up with the different styles without sounding out of place. Billy is where the funk comes in. Songs like Crack Hitler really bring the funky bass lines.

The bottom line is every musician contributes to making this masterpiece work and not fall into disaster. It is controlled chaos that works from start to finish. Putting on this album and listening in its entirety takes a lot out of you and is emotionally draining. It is almost too much to listen to in one sitting. While there were never hit singles like what came out of The Real Thing, the album was still a success. This band is full of true artists who didn't try to cash in, they made the album they wanted to do. Every song has its place and each song fits into the context of the album. It ebbs and flows from light to dark to heavy to soft. The album cover tells the story. There is a beautiful bird in from and a ugly scene of disgustingness in the back. It's Faith No More's masterpiece but it is also the most unconventional and uncommercial effort they could have done after their brief MTV hit.

Schizophrenia in album form - 75%

YonTroper, November 13th, 2010

Most bands, when they had a bizarre (for the time) yet accessible hit of the caliber of "Epic", would focus in on that sound, clean it up a bit and push towards mainstream success. But nope, Faith No More did exactly the opposite, creating an off-the-wall fusion of metal, jazz, funk, progressive rock, and pretty much anything else they could think of (and still managed a hit with "Midlife Crisis"). The difference is probably best shown by the fact that on The Real Thing, they covered "War Pigs", and on this album they covered the Midnight Cowboy theme. It's decent, but it comes at the cost of making a cohesive album.

Firstly, Mike Patton's vocals are WAY improved over The Real Thing on this release. Since most songs on The Real Thing were written for Chuck Mosley, Patton really gets to show off his range here - how many other vocalists do you know who could switch between death growls, rapping, falsetto crooning and screams so easily? His clean vocals don't have that annoying nasal whine either, deepening and sounding much smoother and more powerful.

The other members' performances, however, are a mixed bag. Billy Gould's pounding slap bass and Mike Bordin's powerful tribal drum beats make up one of the best rhythm sections in metal, and both put in solid performances here. The main driver of this album is Roddy Bottum's keyboards, and this is where it falls apart. Bottum is a fine keyboardist, and they were used excellently and subtly on The Real Thing, but here every song is drowned in synthesizers, much to the detriment of the guitars. Jim Martin was never the best guitarist on the block, but some of the excellent riffs he displays on this album make it pretty sad that he gets buried like this. Sure, there are still some good keyboard parts on this album (witness the elegantly doomy organ intro to "Be Aggressive" or the chiming piano part of "A Small Victory"), but the overuse gets annoying.

The main problem, however, is the schizophrenic mood. The album can never make up its mind about what it wants to do, with the funky, twisted circus dance of "Land of Sunshine" giving way to the aggressive, griding "Caffeine" and the bizarro-prog metal of "Jizzlobber" followed immediately by the lazy, dusty Midnight Cowboy theme. It happens within songs too - "Caffeine" and "Smaller and Smaller", two of the more aggressive songs, are ruined by gratuitous samples (the monkey noises opening "Caffeine" and the Aboriginal chant in the middle of "Smaller and Smaller"). The contrast between crunchy hard rock ("Be Aggressive", "Malpractice"), outright weirdness ("RV", "Land of Sunshine") and more relaxed, jazzy/poppy moments ("A Small Victory", "Easy") happens a lot throughout Angel Dust, and it's not progressive or avant-garde at all, it's just a mess.

They still manage some damn fine songs, though, with a few highlights. "RV" is simply hysterical, with Patton narrating the weird problems of middle-aged trailer trash in a slurred, distorted monologue over a jazzy piano line. I can also see why "Midlife Crisis" was a #1 modern rock hit - the thundering tribal rhythm, airy layers of synthesizer, oddball half-death-growl-half-rap vocals and tasteful, restrained metal guitar all work together rather than clashing like in most songs, creating Faith No More's most catchy and accessible song since "Epic". "Malpractice" and "Jizzlobber", definitely the two heaviest songs on here, also work excellently. The former's synth-and-clean-vocal breaks give extra surprise and power to the massive guitar riffs and Patton's terrifying roar, while the latter twists its way through six and a half minutes of fantastic instrumental parts and Patton showing off every vocal style he has.

So, to sum up, this is an album which contains a lot of good songs, but doesn't work as a cohesive whole and is marred by too much failed experimentation. It's good, but if you're new to Faith No More, start with The Real Thing.

A musical migraine - 0%

MercyfulSatyr, July 30th, 2009

It escapes me how a band as talented as Faith No More can release a legendary album and then immediately afterward come out with something as crappy as this. Granted, they have a penchant for sounding completely different on every new release, but the other Faith No More albums as well as quite a lot of Patton’s other bands all seem to be strange and wildly original and at the same time kick serious ass. Angel Dust just doesn’t.

The production smothers everything, making it all come together in one bludgeoning wall of noise. Most of the songs are drenched in synthesizers, and despite the band’s previous accomplishments with synths, this album seems to use them just for the sake of doing so. The music is uniformly infested with the mallcore bug, not to mention the often annoying babbling of Mike Patton, who somehow manages to dispose of all his talent, replacing it with generally insipid shouts, wheezes, and other obnoxious sounds. The guitars tend to employ uninteresting “melodies,” while the bass attempts to stake out its territory but fails because of the overpowering synths.

Gone are the oddly disturbing and imaginative lyrics of The Real Thing. Instead we are subjected to odes to lazy slobs and old guys too stupid to even reach first grade. There’s no real variation between genres, which is usually Faith No More’s trademark, and the only actual deviation from primordial mallcore is “RV,” an even more irritating bit of rambling boredom. There’s even some bothersome angst going on. Such works of lyrical genius as “You’re my flavor of the week / I swallow” and the children’s sing-along chorus of the blatantly homosexual “Be Aggressive” leave a pungent aftertaste, while inspirations toward the awful modern version of alternative metal manifest in the Three Days Grace precursor “Everything’s Ruined” and the typically nü metal-like “Malpractice” (which, by the way, also includes infant-soothing lullabies). There’s the occasional good moment, like the very beginning of “Land of Sunshine,” but such parts are so outnumbered by the bad sections that they seem almost nonexistent.

“B–E–A-G-G–R-E-S-S-I-V-E!” If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t be listening to Angel Dust, now would I? Didn’t think so.

This album is probably what you’d expect from a cover sporting the title in a “pretty” cursive font, with an elegant swan and a parental advisory sticker both appearing at once. By that I mean crap – merciless, take-no-prisoners crap. How this came after The Real Thing I’ll never know, but apparently Faith No More realized this wasn’t the way to go (I hope), because after this they put out their most eccentric and eclectic album, one that managed to be the complete opposite of Angel Dust in terms of quality. King for a Day had a noticeable lack of synths, a more acceptable production, and no cringe-worthy missteps from Mike Patton. I’ll stick with the previous album and Angel Dust’s follow-up, thank you very much.

They still deliver after "The Real Thing"... - 90%

Wacke, January 13th, 2008

With three albums behind including their break through album "The Real Thing" which was followed by a world tour the band wrote "Angel Dust". This time Mike Patton had time to write his part of the music along with the others. This album showed both good & bad things back in 1992. Good things was that FNM still could do great music at the same time as it had been a little weirder with Mike Patton´s touch to it. The bad thing was that Jim Martin did not contribute to more than one song, this one was "Jizzlobber" although Martin himself claims that he wrote a lot more of the guitar parts. If this is true or not we'll probably never know.

Like the two previous FNM releases "Introduce Yourself" & "The Real Thing" it's pumped up with some nice heavy guitar riffs so you can expect some nice guitarwork worth to remember. Overall, it's pretty much alike "The Real Thing" except for some parts in tunes here & there were you can hear the great composition gift of Mike Patton´s, possibly a little like his at the time other band Mr. Bungle. Of course there is a lot of nice basses, keyboards & drumming too aswell as Mike´s vocals. Mike also seems to have a found his way of how he is supposed to sing since almost non of the vocals are like the ones on "The Real Thing".

The biggest hits from this album was defenitely "Midlife Crisis" & a cover of the Commodores "Easy". Both were given a video, although there were videos made for "Everything's Ruined" & "A Small Victory" too. The most songs would probably worked out as a single since every track is good in it's own way. They could have used "Land Of Sunshine" or "Caffeine" as singles & "Angel Dust" would probably sold pretty good anyway. That's a great thing with this album, when all of the tracks are great but at the same time not repeating each other.

The production is great & sounds maybe like a mix of "We Care A Lot" & "The Real Thing" together. At least it sounds modern (for the time) & just perfect although I can miss that metallic-guitar sound from "The Real Thing". The band has also said that Jim Martin played pretty shitty on this album but I think everyone including him does a great job & together with the production it turned out to be one of the best albums of the 90's.

They had a successful tour for this album as foreband for acts like Metallica & Guns 'n Roses aswell as headliners all over the world. Unfortunetelly Jim Martin was fired by fax in November 1993 after the tour ended. The reasons should have been that he held them back for doing their thing & also that he overall had lack of interest in the new way the band took after "The Real Thing" tour.

Stand-out-tracks are:

All of 'em but my personal favorites are "Midlife Crisis", "Everything's Ruined", "Land Of Sunshine" & "Caffeine".

Just like "The Real Thing" this is a album that should be in everyone's collection, it's great all the way through & a musicial masterpiece!

Well…It’s Definitely Unique…. - 77%

erickg13, March 16th, 2007

Faith No More conquered mainstream success with their 1989 album “The Real Thing”, due to such hits as “Epic”, “From Out of Nowhere”, and “Falling to Pieces”. With their 1992 follow up, “Angel Dust” they make interesting, and often times schizophrenic listening experience, not to mention making a strong case for being the most fucked up band to be on a major label.

Maybe its biggest problem is that the album is supposed to be taken in as a whole, and not just as individual songs strung together. That in and of itself isn’t a problem, it is that there are many weaker spots that you rather just pass over.

There were many changes that Faith No More went through when vocalist Mike Patton joined, mainly giving the band the ability to write songs with more complex vocals. This worked great on “The Real Thing” which would have none of the power that Patton provides compared to the nearly monotone Chuck Moseley. Well on “Angel Dust” they go too far. They have nearly every type of vocal style you can come up with from operatic to grunts to piercing screams. It just gets too damn chaotic for the average person.

But there are some position developments within the band also. The individual instrumentalists seem to have even more freedom to explore what they can do, which makes for a more dynamic listen. Compared to early albums were nearly all the material was written by guitarist Jim Martin, where the guitar dominated the sound, this has a rhythmic attack driven by bass, drums and keyboards. That’s not to say the guitar parts are gone, they aren’t, they are just reduced.

There are, as said, bright spots some of which include “Midlife Crisis”, along with the quirky bass driven opener “Land of Sunshine”, along with “A Small Victory”. That said, there are many surrounding supporting songs, that are pretty damn good, and it isn’t individual songs that are the problem so much as it is sometimes things inside an otherwise good songs.

Overall, Faith no More’s “Angel Dust” is one of the most interesting albums you’ll ever encounter. “Angel Dust” contains moments of sheer brilliance, but it also has its share of blunders and flaws. Plain and simple, “Angel Dust” isn’t for everyone.

A Small Victory? Hardly. - 92%

CrowleyHead, April 22nd, 2006

The album "Angel Dust" is a bit of a stones throw from typical metal. Heck, maybe that's why it didn't do so well. You've got a bassist who can solo far better than the guitarist, keyboards floating through the entire songs, and a singer who borders on skilled and just plain ridiculous. The album itself seems like one over-extended joke. And it is, but rather than laugh at you, Faith No More is trying to get you to laugh with them.

Lyrically, Mike Patton is on point as always. There is a subtlety to it that not that many people can catch up on... First off, look at the track "Caffeine". Here, he presents some of the cliches of the typical, "oh, I hate my dad", attitude (too common a theme in rock and metal). But here, he's reminding us that we'll be in the same position when we become parents. Homophobia, cultural waste, sexual frustrations and shame, all subjects dealt with in "Angel Dust". You wouldn't know it at first glance, but if you focused upon it....

Next, you've got the musical range. These boys outdo themselves in trying to cram as much music into their album as possible. Funk, Classical, Death Metal, and world reigonal music all manage to find significant presence in this album. Roddy Bottum (keys) creates a dense atmosphere of sampling and instrumental, giving even the most banal metal tracks an almost epic feel. Percussion by Mike Bordin is well-preformed, and as a bassist, Billy Gould just seems flawless. As a vocalist, you'd have to be deaf not to hear Mike Patton's comical prescence all over every song. In my book, the only weak link in the band is Jim Martin, who merely uses dozens of overabused generic heavy metal riffs with such boring lack of soul. No wonder he quit.

Song by song, you've got an impressive album. "Malpractice" sounds like the predecessor of so many of the "Nu-Metal" bands that would grow to prominence. Hardly surprising, as Korn claim Faith No More to be one of their influences. Yet the influence seems limited, as Faith No More attempt to describe vivid paranoia from a victim of some sort of sexual anguish (once again, possibly homophobia), as opposed to Korn's eternal saga of "I HATE EVERYONE" songs. On "Kindergarten", Patton snarls the saga of someone educationally challenged, his mock-soulful ballad chorus making him seem cheesy. But you don't think he's aware of that? The stand-out cover of the Midnight Cowboy theme shows Patton's only absence from the album, in which the band comes together for an impressive instrumental session turning a simple movie theme song into a heavy metal anthem.

Granted, "Angel Dust" can become boring if you let it. But this is a band who takes all their talents, and instead of pouring it into some overly-pretentious prog-rock fest, (*Cough* The Wall *cough*) they try to make you laugh at their exploits. Giving an album of creativity and style, Faith No More's "Angel Dust" may be a bit of a failure in the band's career, but hardly in music.

Commercial Suicide - 85%

Uom, March 20th, 2006

It’s always difficult for a band to make another record following their critically and commercially acclaimed album. Expectations are high, and pressures from record companies to do their previous album would be in order. Tinkering with the band’s formula of success that made them popular would cause uproar and a nasty backlash from their core audience. Ultimately, if everything fails, or things come up short, they would most certainly fade into the forgotten realm of popular culture. Faith No More were able to do all of these in Angel Dust. Except fail, that is.

In reality, Faith No More are a hard bunch. They’ve had their share of good and bad times, but from this point, things just keep getting worse. The group hated each other’s guts with passion, which actually led to the firing of guitarist Jim Martin after supporting this album on tour, and the severance of ties by the other members of the group, particularly Mike Patton. However, strange as it may seem, their awful spat with one another is channeled through their ability of penning compelling music, something that science can never explain.

Angel Dust is, to a great extent, bizarre, and to a less extent, obnoxious. It is a frustrating listen at first, as the attempt to grasp the concepts involved within the songs would conclude to the removal of the album from the player. However, closer and repeated listens to the album would unfold its maniacal and thought-provoking genius. Simply put, the music is difficult to describe, not because there are many influences incorporated within the songs, but because it’s just too damn weird! ‘Land of Sunshine’ is an example of such, an oddly-structured, bass-driven, heart-thumping anthem with tasty sardonic delivery from Mike Patton. The instruments are all over the place; the keyboards providing a rich tapestry of sound along with the funky rhythm section, and Patton is just everywhere on this track. ‘Caffeine,’ ‘Smaller and Smaller,’ ‘Malpractice,’ and ‘Kindergarten’ follow the weirder-than-thou song structures with more inaccessible and uncomfortable instrumentations and vocal passages. By no means are the songs bad, but it feels distant in the sense of it alienating to those familiar with their accessible blend of funk-rock found on The Real Thing. The aforementioned songs are hard to describe; they must be listened in order to experience their sheer absurdity. However, with sheer patience, the rewards of discovering the inner beauty within the song’s insanity are great, just like the album itself.

Aside from the oddities, there are a lot of defining moments found on this album. ‘Midlife Crisis’ is the most radio-friendly of the songs, with great vocal lines, and less complex music structured under a memorable melody. ‘RV’ has Mike Patton singing, nay, bringing a trailer-trash-reckneck-whatever performance, with an almost-happy melody accompanying it. ‘Everything’s Ruined’ is the song where the band comes together; an amazing display of catchy yet melancholic hooks provided by rhythmic drums, great vocal delivery, awesome bass performance, faultless textures by the guitars and keyboards; just great. The band went to a more conventional and typical rock song with ‘A Small Victory’, which is about as safe as Michael Jackson is to children, by the way, but it never tarnishes its great Chinese-inspired pentatonic melody, which kicks off another great performance by everybody. ‘Jizzlobber’ is an ominous highlight; it begins with haunting keyboards, then progresses along heavy power guitar, followed by Mike Patton’s insane sing/shrieking/screaming using a vocal processor, then ends with a beautifully orchestrated choir.

The next few songs, ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and ‘Easy,’ are covers tracks from the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and an original by Lionel Richie, respectively. Interestingly enough, both of these tracks are great for two reasons; 1) The band molded the songs into their own, yet retaining the flavor of the originals, and 2) The laid-back atmosphere provides perfect contrast to the indigestible tracks prior to this one (or is it?). ‘Midnight Cowboy’ is an uplifting instrumental that slowly builds up to its amazing euphoric climax of guitars and orchestra, and then descends back to earth. ‘Easy’ is a song perfect for Mike Patton’s ability to croon and swoon into lounge territory. Just great singing.

It’s difficult to like this album, but for a band bent on ‘commercial suicide’, an artistic promise is fulfilled. Angel Dust is the quintessential Faith No More experience.

My favorite album. - 100%

IHateMTV, September 26th, 2004

It's true that this doesn't exactly fit the metal mold, but maybe that's why I like it so much. Out of all the albums I own, this has to be one of the most diverse. Every song is versatile, and genius in it's own right. To put it simply, "Angel Dust" is anything but redundant.

Mike Patton (vocals) - Patton's second Faith No More album, and I must say, his improved vocals are absolutely stunning. His vocal performance on "The Real Thing" was great, but nothing to write home about. At that time, his voice seemed a little nasally, and sometimes even obnoxious. A lot has changed since then. With "Angel Dust", Mike showcases a variety of different ranges, and I believe it was this album that garnered him the respect he now has.

Jim Martin (guitars) - There's not much to say here, as Martin rarely does anything of importance on this album. Yes, there are some cool riffs here and there, but they're rarely found. I know what you're thinking - "a metal album where the guitars aren't the main focus?". Indeed, it sounds crazy, but it works.

Billy Gould (bass) - I've always considered Billy Gould to be an underrated bassist, but like Martin, "Angel Dust" doesn't showcase his best work. However, unlike Martin, Gould does have a bigger role, and his bass is noticeable in almost every track. "Crack Hitler", in particular, is a nice display of his talents.

Roddy Bottum (keyboards) - Besides Patton, the biggest focus seems to be on the keyboards. Bottum added a nice vibe to the three previous albums, but he was never as dominant as he is here. The atmosphere portrayed by the synths is quite amazing. The best depiction of this would have to be the highlight of the album, "Midlife Crisis".

Mike Bordin (drums) - The drumming is stellar, like always. "Puffy" does a top-notch job on each record, so you know he won't disappoint.

Like I mentioned before, "Midlife Crisis" is a stand-out track, but it would be way too hard to recommend only a few songs. Trust me, when you have an album as brilliant as this, you'll want to listen to the whole thing.

It's all about the vocals - 95%

Ninnghizhidda, December 28th, 2003

A long, long time ago bands started doing a thing called cross-over. Some people showed some guts, decided to not give a shit about genres, and started mixing them. Faith no More was one of the first bands that started doing this, together with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Living Colour. For the biggest part it was a mix of funk, rock, metal and rap. So Faith no More was never afraid to do something different. They don't even mind being a little silly, they once made a german "schlager", das Schutzenfest. This album has some silliness going on with the Midnight Cowboy theme, chanting cheerleaders and indians, and the re-release has a cover of Lionel Ritchie's Easy on it.

The music on Angel Dust is rock/metal. Not really that extreme, but there is some metal there. It has nice clear riffs. There is a big part for Bordin's drumming, and his drumming is "loose". They wrap it up with some synthesiser parts and a bit of soloing.

But the main man on this album is Mike Patton with his vocals. He does whatever he likes, and he does it well. He freaks out in Jizzlobber, Malpractice and Smaller and Smaller. RV has lazy depression. He sounds sweet in Ritchie's Easy. Some parts are just odd sounds. The man just shows a lot of range and power. And he can live up to it on stage, I've seen him do it.

Special tracks on Angel Dust, well Easy and Midlife Crisis are nice songs and big hits. Be Aggressive has the sexy cheerleader vocals. And Jizzlobber and Malpractice are the most extreme songs.