Tell me more!:
We were all so excited for this album. A few leaks of a couple of WAV files of what turned out to be Last Cup Of Sorrow whetted our appetites, and a leaked, terrible quality tape of the whole album only increased the excitement. My memory of those leaks are that they were slightly different from the final album, but I can find copies of neither these days, so I can't know for sure.
The album divided fans, but ultimately it was well received, especially after the incredible world tour that supported it. I really enjoyed it, but it ranked pretty low of my list of favourites. Part of that was probably due to over exposure from collecting too many bootlegs from that 1997 era, but when my favourite album was King For A Day, these throwbacks to the keyboard driven The Real Thing era didn't appeal as much.
I think I've been unfair to it over the years though. I really enjoyed these relistens. There are a still a number of songs I still don't really enjoy (Ashes To Ashes being the main one), but most songs are excellent.
I enjoy Collision now. Originally I thought it was a bit too sludgy, a bit too rough, but it works now. The final repeated "head on" still seems out of sync with the rest of the song to me. I'm sure on the leaked tape it was "in time" but again, I've lost that tape now, so I don't know for sure.
Stripsearch is fantastic. At the time it didn't sound like Faith No More to me, but that's what I loved about the band, that they could come up with songs every album that didn't sound like them. It's the best demonstration of the keyboard heavy mix on this album, written by yet-another-new-guitarist Jon.
Last Cup Of Sorrow is perfect and I still adore it, even if the riff is stolen from their own song Kindergarten. The keyboard riff, and vocals, make the song of course, the guitar not being particularly exciting.
The guitar driven Naked In Front Of The Computer could have been left off King For A Day, as could have Got That Feeling. They're some of the only demonstrations of any real riffing on the album though.
Helpless is the kind of epic song I wanted along the lines of King For A Day, and I darn near lost my mind when they played it live (for the first time ever) at the second Festival Hall gig in Melbourne. It holds a special place in my heart now.
Mouth To Mouth received a lot of comparisons to Mr. Bungle, if only because of the "middle eastern" keyboard riff. That's lazy, but whatever it sounds like, I love it to death, it now being one of my favourite FNM songs. It's fantastic live too.
I really don't like Ashes To Ashes. It just doesn't work in any way for me. The chorus lyrics sound forced, the guitar riff is dull. I like the keyboard/guitar interplay and that solo, but the whole thing doesn't work at all. I know it's one of their most loved songs but why would I care about that?
I originally hated She Loves Me Not, and I still find it very strange, but I like it now. It's so cheesy and bizarre. They've never played the song live, and I can't imagine them pulling it off if they ever try.
Home Sick Home wouldn't be out of place on a future Tomahawk album, and provides a much needed sleaze element to the album.
Again, I originally didn't think much of Paths Of Glory or Pristina, but now I think they're incredible. Originally (on the promo release) the album closed with Home Sick Home, Got That Feeling, Paths Of Glory and Pristina. I think Paths and Pristina would have worked well together, but I think putting Home Sick Home between them gave Pristina the bit of extra power it needed.
I'm far too biased to say anything useful about this album (not that I would dare describe any of my silly posts as "useful"), other than to say that despite my love for it, it still sits very near the bottom of my favourite FNM albums list, which as at this moment, after this re-listen, is:
- Introduce Yourself / King For A Day
- Angel Dust
- Album Of The Year / The Real Thing
- We Care A Lot
... and with that, I'm still shocked they only have six albums.
7/10
