The Real Thing

Can one judge a band for spawning a contemptible legacy? You know, if every band citing them as an influence turns out to be not just woeful, but hateful? Radiohead and landfill indie, or Nirvana and all those godawful mid-90s angsty alt-rock twats? One of the most acute examples of deleterous imitators threatening the original band's reputation is Faith No More. Practically a one-hit wonder in their home country of the States, they managed much more success in Europe and the Antipodes. Despite this, the lead singer Mike Patton has good (hah!) claim to be the godfather of an especially American genre, nu-metal. With The Real Thing's eclectic fusion of metal, funk, rap, and prog, Faith No More set up what would become the sorriest genre of music 10 years later. The line from Faith No More to Korn, Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach is an inch long with no deviations. Is The Real Thing to blame for the crimes of the future? Well, it's not as if it can't be judged for the crimes of its present. Funk metal and rap rock are hardly the most esteemed of genres for justified reasons: not only were the songs usually risible, they tried too hard to convince that they were the apotheosis of cool, making them the least cool music on the planet. Still, I was 6 when Epic was released as a single, and I remember thinking that the song and video, what with its rapping and its posturing and its special effects, was awesome and radical, a song worthy for the Bretts of the world. Thirty years on, I can't deny it still has an immature charm, even if the vision of Mike Patton frugging around like a numpty in Bermuda shorts invites a chuckle and not a whoop. It does remember to rock enough, and that's enough for it to work, if not quite excel. And you can extend that judgement to the rest of the album. It's a servicable rock album, diminished partially by showy gooning. Although Epic is the defining song of the album, I prefer the opener From Out of Nowhere, which is a fine, solid bit of 80s hard rock. The album peaks with its straightest rock numbers, yet chafes when they start slapping the bass and throwing gang signs. I should also mention that Mike's voice proves divisive; many will find it, like those of his nu-metal descendents, uninvitingly whiny. I empathise with that position, but I was able to forgive it. It's adolescent more than discordant. I acknowledge that I'm being generous, but there are far worse albums in the world. Every album claiming this album as inspiration, for instance.

Wait, you're telling me that Epic is the band's most popular song when it's the biggest dud on this album? I... I don't get it. The rest of the album bangs hard, but Epic completely kills off the early momentum. You slot it into spot four or five on the album, then maybe it works, but it's not a track two. No way. Five stars despite this ludicrous oversight.

Wow, this came out in 1989? Obviously a huge influence for nu-metal bands of the '00s like Disturbed, Godsmack, Korn, etc. Man, just seeing names like Atreyu and Ill Nino on the wikipedia is throwing me way back. For what they're doing, this sounds good. But it's not a type of music that I enjoy at album's length. Alex was always more of the nu-metal, headbanger guy when we were younger. I like the hits, but metal is the one genre that I have a hard time connecting with. I did like the "War Pigs" cover, that's the second Black Sabbath cover we've had on an album so far. Really looking forward to the day Paranoid actually shows up on this list. Favorite tracks: War Pigs, Epic, Woodpecker from Mars. Album art: I do dig this cover. What are we looking at, is that a bottlecap on fire? No, it can't be, it looks like milk. The text at the top is great, very bold. Also there's a vinyl cover shown on wikipedia that's an expanded, even cooler version of this. 2.5/5

An absolute masterpiece

In the no-man's land between metal, soft rock, and grunge. Utterly cringey in places.

Hatte ich davor sehr lange nicht gehört, und eigentlich sogar vergessen, wie faszinierend ich die damals fand. Mit Faith No More hab ich abseits von stumpfem Pogo die ersten Tanzversuche auf dem Indie-Disco-Dancefloor gemacht. Crossover war der Shit und plötzlich lag Funk im Metal. Mike Patton war dieser interessante Freak der angeblich auf der Bühne Pisse aus seinem eigenen Schuh trank (ich war nicht selbst dabei), der nett aussehende Billy Gould hatte nebenbei ne mexikanische Deathmetalband mit Fotos von abgetrennten Köpfen auf dem Cover, und Jim Martin hab ich überhaupt nicht verstanden. Und das war ja nur ein Einstieg in diese ganze faszinierende Welt. Ähnlich wie bei Blur neulich, aber ganz anders: plötzlich bekam man einen Eindruck, was alles möglich war. Und ein bisschen fühlte man sich eingeladen. Abgesehen von biographischem aber auch: super Platte. Metal, Pop, Funk, Freakshow und (hab ich aber erst jetzt gemerkt) Black Sabbath-Cover: alles da. Produktion bisschen dated und Cover-Artwork so schlimm dass man auch darüber schon fast wieder nostalgisch werden möchte. Ich geb da mal voll verdiente 4,5.

One of the most creative, sharp, and all-over-the-place works of metal from late 80s. It changed how this genre was understood back then and influenced a big deal go bands. Faith no more is one of those seminal bands (with Jane’s Addiction and Pixies) that shaped during late 80s what was to be defined as alternative music in the 90s. There was nothing like it. Some might say that they stole from the chili peppers, I don’t think so. Although they had some funk rock on their DNA, the peppers lacked the versatility, attitude that Faith had. They just released Mother’s Milk and we’re trying to build their style. That would come on 91 with Blood Sugar Sex Magic. (In this fight I’m totally team Faith no more) Well, super happy I got to listen this great record!

I may have tainted my listen a little by learning of Faith No More's relationship to the Chili Peppers as I began to play it. As I recently discovered, I'm one of the people who can't stand the latter band, and so as The Real Thing played I kept coming back to the idea "RHCP but good". At least, better. I'm still not a huge fan. The reasons for that seem pretty small, but they're consistent across the record. First, the electronic sounds come across as incredibly dated, and not in an endearing way. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that I've ever liked old synths on a rock record. The above point is also assuming that the strings are synth strings; They sure sound like it. Second, I'm not a fan of Patton's vocals. Besides those things, though, there's a high-energy blend of styles played pretty well. Not well enough to get over my objections on first listen, but my impression has already moved from the very low bar of the Chili Peppers to better-than-middling.

This sounds like what a teenage boy who flirts with goth girls but can never take the full plunge into wearing black all the time and eyeliner

I loved the punch this album had. Each song was different, Epic is still a banger but then right after you have Falling to Pieces which sounds like its out of a thrash band. The vocals are what keeps everything tied together and feeling like a band, but I loved this album.

Basslines are sick in this album, was not expecting that. The instrumentation and genre changes are fantastic. Thought they were less heavy than this, really enjoyed it.

Absolutely the best album of Faith No More and one of the best albums ever in my life.

I love this album. I loved it in 1990 and I love it now.

Die Sucht Teil 2. Noch vor Pearl Jam waren Faith No More mein Heroin. Ich konnte nicht genug kriegen, Japan Importe bereits bekannter Singles mussten her für den Kick was neues zu bekommen, ein frisches High, auch wenn die B-Seiten oft etwas schräg Zappa‘haftes hatten, wie bei dem herrlich bekloppten fake German äh Polka-Song „Das Schutzenfest“. Da sitzen Monty Python am Nebentisch in Bavaria, ja in Bavaria. Aber zurück zum wahren Ding, diesem immens kraftvollen, leicht am Rande des Wahnsinns trippelnden, elegischen Beleg einer wild schäumenden Kreativität. Woher kam nach zwei wenig aufregenden Alben diese Flut an Idee und Ekkletizismus Wut? Zum Großteil lag es an Mike Patton (you’re right, Guido). Wenn du ihn im Team hast, wird’s jedenfalls kein langweiliges Game. Die Verausgabung findet nicht nur zur Show, nicht nur auf der Bühne statt. Neben dem Touren hatte der Besessene genug Stoff für Nebenprojekte u.a. Mister Bungle - deren wichtigste Alben fallen mit der entsprechenden Entwicklung der Hauptband zusammen. Aus der Real Thing Phase geht bspw. das irre Crazy Clown-hafte Debut hervor und musste unbedingt zu den Importen und bootlegs dazu. Der virile Mike hatte ja so viel zu geben und ich war seine willige Bitch. Wie sehr hab ich ihn geliebt & nachgeeifert; das heutige HartzIV Abzeichen Augenbrauen Piercing hab ich mir damals nur wegen ihm zugelegt. *Seufz Auch später als unsere Beziehung etwas erwachsener wurde, habe ich nach Bands gesucht, die in etwa an die FNM DNA zu kommen vermochten. Alles Sackgassen, aber das Abklappern erweiterte die Ortskenntnis und so kann ich wohl diese erst ab „Angel Dust“ so richtig wahrgenommene Gang als Kompass bezeichnen. Zielgerichtete 4.7

Why haven't I listened to this more? This is a fantastic album. Has my second favourite cover of Warpigs, the first is by Cake.

Mike Patton has one of the most unique voices in rock. Faith No More must have really stood out from all the grunge and alternative of the era. Fave tracks: “From Out of Nowhere” “Epic” “Surprise! You’re Dead!”

Always

Enjoyed listening to the album alot. Proper rock this. One of the my personal fav rock albums from the list yet.

Loved this as a teenager and hadn’t listened to for a while. This and Angel Dust was peak FNM.

I was really happy to see Faith No More pop up on this list and thoroughly enjoyed this album. It's been many years since I last listened to them, but I should obviously start doing so again. They're rock solid in all of their versatility and their catchy, funky alternative metal mash-up is simply a ton of fun to listen to. Highlights: Falling To Pieces and the very good War Pigs cover

Amazing album! This is another formative album for me that I have been listening to for the last 20 years. Pumped this made it on the list!

It was new for me, but I liked it.

I’d be really curious to know what today’s young person thinks of Faith no More. Kinda silly but definitive of a time in music. Probably the silliest band I like.

3.3 - the image of the flopping fish from the “Epic” music video was seared into my 12 year old memory and it’s a song I’ve loved since. Finally having listening to this album, I’m not surprised that the supporting album to that single is a little thin on substance. Don’t get me wrong, the band and lead vocalist are oozing with skill and talent. When everything comes together, they sound like a more synth-driven metal rap rock version of early RHCP. But there are a few misfires with “Underwater Love” and “The Morning After” that sound especially sophomoric, as well as a forgettable “War Pigs” cover.

No. 277/1001 From Out of Nowhere 4/5 Epic 3/5 Falling to Pieces 3/5 Surprise! You're Dead 3/5 Zombie Eaters 4/5 The Real Thing 3/5 Underwater Love 4/5 The Morning After 3/5 Woodpecker from Mars 2/5 War Pigs 3/5 Edge of the World 3/5 Average: 3,18 Overall pretty nice listen.

Less ‘hard rock’ than I was expecting, though obviously there is some of that. Can’t decide if I like the vocals but they do help to create a rich, dramatic and somewhat cohesive sound, despite the mix of styles. It's definitely got something going for it but perhaps the style is stronger than the songs, which I'm struggling to recall after 3 listens (apart from Epic, which I've heard lots before and is also the only track with a really memorable hook).

WHAT IS IT ? IT’S SHIT (Well, most of it)

Shite. Shite voice. Shite version of RHCP, who are shite. Saved from 1* by the instrumental "Woodpecker from Mars" and the faithful recreation of War Pigs.

I really just didn't care for this album -- I didn't like the lead vocalist and the songs were just bland. They also couldn't seem to pick a lane musically...do they want to be a metal band, or a Red Hot Chili Peppers knockoff, or a whiny rock band?

Whoa, ick. Did not enjoy this at all. And somehow it got a combo of Epic and Tom Sawyer stuck in my head and that's just awful as you'd think.

Best song of the album is a cover from Black Sabbath...

Hi- From Out Of Nowhere, Falling to Pieces, Underwater Love Lo- The Real Thing is really where Faith No More opens up and finds their sound. It opens with From Out Of Nowhere, harkening back to their pop/punk roots, before progresses into the more darker, bass-heavy funk/thrash metal sound that Faith No More is known for (Epic, Falling to Pieces), but also stretches them artistically in other ways, whether it's the otherworldly Zombie Eaters, the surreal Underwater Love, the an instrumental like Woodpecker from Mars, or the fantastic cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, there really is something for everyone here.

Lekker stevig album en toch melodieus, met een heel unieke sound. Veel leuke bass-lijnen ook

Zombie is hauntingly beautiful. The range Woodpecker from Mars is a little meandering/long War Pigs cover is incredible

The Real Thing es el tercer álbum de estudio de Faith No More, publicado en 1989. Fue su primera grabación con Mike Patton como cantante y significó un punto de inflexión.

This album is burned into my psyche. I remember being a first year apprentice baker, 17, 1am and bone piercing cold. The baker pulls up, opens up the bakery, alarm off, lights, oven and kettle on. Turns on the stereo and plays this very album at a skull reverberating volume while screaming instructions on how to bake and doing lines of speed in the change room. Fucking magical man. 10/10

Perhaps this is nostalgia speaking, but this was THE Faith No More album. All of their quirky arrangements and tonalities, the punk roots, it is all here. I spin this album probably at least once a year since purchasing it in 1990. The third album for the band and the first since parting with front person Chuck Mosley made the most of Mike Patton's vocal and style range to produce an album that perfectly represented the zeitgeist of American rock and roll in 1990. Even if you are not a Faith No More fan, you are still likely to enjoy the standouts of "Epic", "Falling to Pieces", "Woodpecker From Mars", and their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". Following the aforementioned songs, I dig "Surprise! You're Dead!", "From Out of Nowhere", "The Real Thing", and "The Morning After". Though I enjoy the bluesy "Edge of the World", I know there are many that do not. In my opinion, the truly miss on this album is the cheeky ballad "Zombie Eaters". It doesn't quite come off.

Quan el vaig escoltar per primer cop va ser una bomba, molt semblant al primer cop que vaig escoltar 'Nevermind', en els mateixos anys. La sensació que una nova década començava i que ho feia mitjançant la música, trencant amb tot al que estàvem acostumats. Amb els anys, el seu pols revolucionari ha anat deixant pas a un disc immortal, barreja de géneres feta amb la màxima inspiració i que sobresurt com una de les obres més importants d'aquells anys

I think this record is what opened my ears and my mind to harder rock – I’m not sure what it was in me that found Faith No More acceptable but never particularly felt the love for bands like Iron Maiden or later Metallica that many of my peers did. Maybe it was the humour behind Gremlins 2’s Surprise! You’re Dead! (poor Gizmo) or Falling to Pieces. Maybe it was Mike Patton’s awesome vocal range. Or maybe it was how frankly weird it was for a massively commercial record. Yes you, Woodpecker From Mars. Obviously it was all of the above. This was swaggering rock but never po-faced. But just when you’re getting comfy with the pop metal you’re hit with two 6-8 min worldies. Zombie Eaters should give pause to anyone getting broody (and taught young me the word ‘omniscient’), and the title track and centre piece is masterful, tying for me as the best tracks on the record. Obviously the huge smash of Epic first got my attention. Also, try listening to an album that starts out of the gate like From Out of Nowhere does and not getting excited. Later when I went clubbing in rock nights I’d often hear FNM, but it would be the big songs off Angel Dust that got played, the towering Midlife Crisis etc. However, The Real Thing reverberated through my childhood, and that’s the one to which I always return. I remember taking it on caravan holidays and doing kriss kross puzzles to it. Rackannrawlll. Faith No More changed with every album and moved with the times, and besides that any Mike Patton side project (and they are legion) is worth investigating. So that’s why. Finally, anyone who listened to late 80s music will tell you slap bass was awful. This record says no, it was just those other bassists.

Well, hello young Admiral, this record is a flashback. I don't want to admit it, but hearing EPIC was definitely one of the earliest times where I heard rapping. I remember getting the album from the library. It was a tectonic shift in what music could be.

Starts off very strongly with "From out of Nowhere" and "Epic", gets a little softer in the middle section but then ends with an amazing cover of "War Pigs".

lol I listen to this album probably at least 2-3 times a week, along with King for a Day. Amazing band, and this is their best album. Just riff city, awesome funky basslines, Patton doing his thing at the peak of youth voice. And tbh Epic is the worst track - the rest is so much better, but even that song is still great haha. I love it when an album actually deserves to be on the list! 5/5.

Love it, nothing more to say. Part of the soundtrack of my youth. All praise the faith no more spiritual and theological centre.

Unimpeachable. Perfect album

One of my favourite bands early 90s and listened a lot to this album, just like Introduce Yourself and Angel Dust and King for a Day. Not clear which one I like the most, might be The Real Thing. Score: 9/10

Good fucking album.

high energy, good melodies, fun to listen to

F’ing amazing! Sometimes we forget, and it’s possible for metal to have a lot of songs that are totally rockin and totally sound completely different from each other.

Yuss! Love me some Faith No More! This is the only album of theirs on the list?! That don't seem right! Fave track - "Surprise! You're Dead!", but really I have such a longstanding affection for this album I could pick any of the tracks...

I love this album. Many of my favourite Faith no More songs are on The Real Thing and even their cover of War Pigs is a great track.

Did you know I (Courtney Love) was an early lead singer for the band? Neither did I until I researched the band a bit. Favorite song- ‘Surprise! You’re Dead!’ ‘Edge of the world’ is also amazing. This band had major influence on so many of my favorites

I got this album on CD and listened to it many times through the years. It's a truly epic, pun intended, mix between funk, metal and alt-rock. Mike Patton is an excellent addition to the band and I can't think of Faith No More without him. His vocals are certainly unique and he's using it to a full extent that's hard to find elsewhere. Faith No more blends styles seamlessly and switches between a Mother's Milk/Blood Sugar Sex Magik era RHCP and heavy metal. This is an easy (Angel Dust reference) 5/5 for me.

always a fav

I feel like I should preface this by saying that I’d get it if someone weren’t really into this after just getting it randomly here. I may tell you you’re wrong, but I’d get it. You just can’t fault Faith No More for their one of a kind sound and how insanely innovative they were. Also, can we talk about how iconic Mike Patton is? Grew up with this and still love it. Maybe even more now!

One word wednesday: Epic!

Such a brilliant album

Wow. One of those albums that comes out of nowhere for you, and blows your kind. Loved every minute

Love me some Faith No More. Broad range across albums and fun vocals. Anything with Mike Patton is gold. GOLD

Death? Zombies? A War Pigs cover? This album truly is The Real Thing! What can I say? It’s EPIC!

I mean, this album is near perfect. It was a major part of my musical listening at that time. At that time it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. So fun to go back and listen to this one.

Eigentlich eine 4, weil auch hier der Sound nicht wahnsinnig gut gealtert ist und Pattons Stimme auf späteren Alben doch angenehmer klingt. Wegen biographischer Relevanz wird aber hochgestuft. Somebody put me together

Great War Pigs cover.

masterpiece

Very nice

Großartiges Metal-Album. Klassiker, unbedingt reinhören

Alternative metal. Ei vielä new metal. Albumin nimikkobiisi "The real thing" on se juttu... paras biisi. Albumi muutenkin todella kiinnostava kuunnella. War pigs.. Vähän huono cover.. Parempi cover maistuis.. Pallit löysä cover.. hyvin recordattu vocalit ja kivat reverbit.. ei tarpeeks raskas kuitenkaan.. war pigsin pitää olla raskas.. JA vain ozzy saa laulaa sen..

cool

Кайф

Loved this as a kid. Always going to rank it highly, despite 'Woodpecker' being about 4 minutes too long and wishing they'd included 'Cowboy Song' on the actual record. The deluxe version is pretty comical, those live versions add so little.

Classic

Another selection of pre-grunge alternative weirdness. I love this album and have since it came out.

One of my favorite albums of all time. It’s still hold up after all these years.

This is ready one of my all time favorites. I remember when it came out and fnm were on top of the pops. Mike was mining terribly to out of nowhere. Off the back of that piss taking performance I bought this on vinyl and got tickets to rock city which I think was the next night. Not seen them since. Amazing live band. Amazing album. Got to love that slap base too

Wow walk down memory lane with this one. Fully expected to give it a straight 4. A relisten bumped it up 4.5. 5

Really love this album, it starts really strong with the first two songs, we can see Mike Pattons vocal range right from the start

One of my favorites

Listened Before? Y Thrash metal riffs, heavy metal grooves, keyboards, pop hooks, and Mike Patton's signature lyrics and voice. Yes. This album is basically all bangers from front to back. It's an all time genre-bending great. Also: throw in one of (if not THE) best covers of War Pigs ever recorded as a bonus. Amazing stuff. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist:

Some of the more nasally tones on this album remind me of Prince a little bit in a way that I can't describe. Also Epic was totally on Rock Band and I completely forgot because I didn't know the name of the song or the artist.

EPIC

It would get a 5 from me for Epic alone....the rest of the album is just as fantastic front to back. War Pigs!!

Absolutely great, I forgot some of these songs existed. Such a jam through and through

Oddly ecclectic in sound, this feels like the Bay Area answer to RHCP. I like it.

Very good, really enjoyed it, very unique and catchy

A very good funk metal album filled with some insane bangers ,and Mike Pattons brand of craziness. The final instrument track WOODPECKERS FROM MARS was amazing with kinda arbic style riffs. THE REAL THING is an eight minute masterpiece with some in and out monments and very thrash metal riffs and screaming The only bad thing is mike patton vocals could be naselly and very annoying in some places . So overall a very good album

I wore out more copies of this album as a kid than any other album combined - and it was CDs. One of the greatest albums ever.

One helluva ride

mondo loco

frábært

Classic album

I had forgotten how good this album is. I loved this album when it came out in 1989. I played it to death back then and saw the band open for GnR and Metallica. It definitely requires one to like rock/metal, but if you do, it holds up over time.

Although this is not my favorite album by Faith No More, it is definitely their most well-known because of "the song." Even with that song, I like this one a lot. It's funny, a friend of mine and I diverge right around here for FNM. I started to like them more and more, with this being where I really became more interested in them. By the time the next album came out, I was all in and my friend had bailed. The band has evolved so much past "Epic." However, you can hear a lot of their future endeavors in this, going from "From Out Of Nowhere" to "Zombie Eaters." Patton's voice is an interesting choice here. It is so much more than what is featured here, but I get the feeling he was trying to be a bit like Chuck Moseley, the previous singer. The trio bass/keys/drums really puts such an effective groove. I can pick out Bordin's drumming pretty easily, he has a very distinctive snare hit, kind of like Bill Bruford, actually. The music is wide-ranging, although not as much as later albums, which made it not so easy to pigeonhole the band. But as it is it's an amazing effort by the band. I wish that they had held onto Jim Martin for longer. But, the work he does here is great. I would definitely say this is the album to start with if you wanted to get into Faith No More, but it is not their best. I never bought "Edge Of The World", But one clunker doesn't mean the album sucks, right? And "Woodpecker From Mars..." holy crap is that great! So high praise for this one, I will give it 5, great intro album for this band, but their later albums really progress from here.

Its a stone cold classic that kicked off alternative rock

Love this album, from out of nowhere an epic collection of tunes where your dead wrong if you miss this album

Great!

Really excellent album which kind of set the tone for rock of the early 90s. 5/5

This is a seminal album from an influential band.

So good I listened a lot.

Fantastic!

Sommige platen nog veel beter dan het typische Faith no more dat ik kende, top album.

If there's a better opening 1-2-3-4 than "From Out Of Nowhere" into "Epic" into "Falling To Pieces" into "Surprise You're dead" on an album, I've yet to come across it