Why?: FNM
Tell me more!:
I can't. Not about the album. There is nothing more to say...
A friend of mine doesn't like listening to Angel Dust, despite enjoying the songs. He thinks the production is "weird". The production is weird. Matt Wallace decided not to put much compression on anything when he recorded it, aiming to put most of the compression in while mastering. That's unusual, but it meant the recordings have a lot more dynamics that might otherwise have occurred. It also means the remaster that was recently released also sounded weird, because they didn't apply that post-mix compression, so the heavier songs didn't sound chunky enough, but the quieter parts sounded amazing.
For me, it's odd to think of this album without Easy tacked on the end, but it was released without Easy for a long time. Nor can I think of this album without thinking about the amazing b-side, a Patton vocals version of "As The Worm Turns" from the band's first album, a b-side that has so far remained hard to get, available only on some Midlife Crisis singles, and the Japanese release (available for $35 via ebay if you're interested). It seems they recorded the cover too "hot", and it crackles. I don't know if that's why it hasn't been re-released since, who knows. Some members of the band forget it even exists.
Then there are the non-album tracks, that have leaked out over the years. The elusive "The World Is Yours", nicknamed "Sample Song", at first only available as a crappy live recording from a couple of gigs in 1991, but then finally released in full when the band broke up. And "Seagull song", which has recently been leaked in part to YouTube, but first discovered in the MTV Angel Dust in studio footage.
But none of that is the album. The album is Land Of Sunshine, and Midnight Crisis, and Kindergarten, and RV, and Caffeine, and the lovely subtle Midnight Cowboy cover. Caffeine, a favourite of mine live, where the band extend the middle bass riff as long as they can, where Bill says he sometimes zones out and freaks out he'll miss the kick back. It's the "gay disco" or Small Victory, and one of my favourite FNM songs, Everything's Ruined. It's the probably never to be played live ever Smaller and Smaller, although there is a new tour coming up... maybe next year is its year. It's Jizzlobber, it's Be Aggressive, it's... Crack Hitler.
Jim wasn't that interested in the album, with rumours that Bill wrote a lot of the guitar parts. It was the first time Patton extended himself, writing the messed up Malpractice, screaming, singing low.
The new album due next year will be the first time FNM have worked on an album with everyone 100% engaged. Chuck was always a bit out of it, coming up with lyrics in the studio. Patton wrote everything for The Real Thing in weeks. Jim hated Angel Dust. Roddy was out for the count during King For A Day, and Patton wasn't all that interested in the beginnings of Album Of The Year. I'm fascinated to hear what a fully engaged band of professional composers will come up with. Maybe a mess? Maybe Album Of The Year 2. Maybe genius.
8/10
