55 Songs in 55 Days - "The Real Thing"

"Cherish the certainty of now, it kills you a bit at a time..."

(click here for the story behind this little project)

Man, the chokehold this album had on me when it first came out. Whew. If people know anything from them they know the two songs they had on MTV, “Epic” and “Falling To Pieces”, but even with all that exposure the album itself didn’t get near enough attention which is a crime. Their sound was a little ahead of it’s time but distinct. Each song has a completely different style but yet you can tell they’re all Faith No More. I don’t remember who stumbled over this album first, me or my buddy, David, but we obsessed over it for the longest time. Mostly over singer Mike Patton’s vocals who was also the band’s lyricist. He is one of the weirdest dudes on the planet but we thought he was a musical genius for these lyrics.

I saw them live for the first time not long after, opening for Billy Idol. After their opening set, Billy should have made the choice to not take the stage. Even on a big stage with a huge crowd who was clearly there for Billy, they were crazy good. The next time I saw them was at a little hole in the wall in Oklahoma City called The Samurai Saki House. It was about as big as my living room. Mike Patton shattered his mic stand thirty seconds into their first song, “From Out of Nowhere”, and the crowd went berserk and never calmed down. Easily the only time I was terrified to be near the front of the stage at a concert.

Dave and I both have continued to be huge fans of whatever Mike Patton does, music wise from his original band, Mr. Bungle, to all his side projects and collaborations. And I still listen to this album on a regular basis.