The Real Thing

RHCP wish they were faith no more

Faith No More have always been hard to pin down: metal meets jazz, rap, and a medley of smaller influences. That could be brilliant - and it is - in its better moments. And so “The Real Thing” hovers almost constantly on the border between genius and madness.
It’s a beautiful album, but it lacks the consistency needed to be truly top-tier.

💧🔥🌋

1989 so it's definitely a precursor to nu metal. Not for me. 2/5.

Boring

This is a band I've heard of before, but their albums have kinda been sitting in my library waiting to be played. All this to say, I'm very fond and forgiving of alt and nu metal (despite how try-hard and reiterative these genres can be), and this record is no exception. A pure shot of metal fusion that's packed with heavy hitters! It surprised me just how much I enjoyed this so-called funk metal, so much so that the 5 stars really crept up on me.

Whenever I've tried this album in the past, two issues have always been at the forefront of my experience. The first is Mike Patton's vocal style, which markedly changed for the better on later Faith No More albums and in his numerous side projects, but on The Real Thing it frequently occupies that high, nasally register which becomes cumbersome and irritating very quickly for me. The second is the overwhelming length and pacing of the album – by the end of it, I feel like I've had more than enough in my ears despite the constant barrage of cool riffage and generally unhinged nature to the songwriting.

Are both of those issues still present for me after this listen? Yes, but I think I might have had a eureka moment where I don't mind it anywhere near as much as I used to, even if it still isn't a favourite of mine. I can appreciate it now for how it blurred the lines between stylings and did things which few, if any bands at the time were doing. Sabbath-esque riffs and rubbery basslines colliding with cinematic synthesisers, plus occasional hints of reggae influences makes for an interesting backdrop for Patton to do his thing.

uglavnom krindž sranje, zadnja pjesma je dosta dobra i pokazuje koliko je album u stvari mogao biti dobar, što u biti uništava čitav dojam jer album nije dobar

You know what, hell yeah. I've listened to this before. I like it! On this listen I noted enjoying Zombie Eaters, Underwater Love, and the War Pigs cover especially.

An album that actually invented a genre. Honestly a quite varied album, despite being fairly hard hitting.

Daar is hij dan! Nummer 1001! Ik mag aannemen dat het logaritme ons een top-album presenteert.

En ja hoor. Het knalt er gelijk in. Wat een aanstekelijk nummer. En dat komt nog wel vaker terug. Dat kan wat denigrerend overkomen. Vaak staat aanstekelijke muziek tegenover luistermuziek. Maar in dit geval helemaal niet. De muziek is verre van eenvoudig. En dan is dat aanstekelijke juist extra knap. De zanger heeft een licht afwijkende (iets nasale) stem, die ik normaal gesproken wellicht niet fijn zou vinden. Toch is het in dit geval geen punt. Het gaat heerlijk samen. En meneer kan ook even naar achter stappen om de instrumenten op de voorgrond te zetten. Het fijne Woodpecker from Mars staat bijvoorbeeld ook op het album.

Het album komt uit 1989 en staat op dat moment mooi tussen de powerrock uit de jaren '70 en de doorontwikkelingen in de jaren '90. Het zal niet voor niets zijn dat Black Sabbath gecoverd is. En ook daarbij past de stem van meneer Patton verrassend goed.

“What an album, huh? 😣”

“But Captain, we’re only on track 5”

3.75 overall great, but there are some real stinkers in there early.

Better than Coldplay

"The Real Thing" has like traces of Red Hot Chili Peppers but with more metal. The parallel makes more sense when the vocalist at times sounds like Anthony Kiedis, at other times like he inhaled helium. If you take that away, I hear some pretty ordinary metal with a hint of funk beats.

Too dangerously close to nu-metal for my liking. I don't like Patton's vocals at all. War Pigs by far the best track on here.

For ‘89, I can see why this was held in high regards. Definitely influenced a lot of Nu Metal. But this is pretty cringe and didn’t age well, imo. Enjoyed some tracks, but would not listen to the album in full multiple times.

First thing to say is that when "The Real Thing" popped up on my phone at a bleary 7.30am in the morning, I was looking forward to hearing the Toxteth funk pioneers, the "Black Beatles", the grandaddys of Brit soul.
But, alas, it wasn't to be... shame they don't have an album on this list.

But reality was almost as sweet. I've never listened to any Faith No More except that which I've heard accidently. And this was a revelation. A well structured album, heavy but melodic. Great tunes that I didn't find at all repetitive.

Dud final track though (Woodpecker From Mars). I didn't consider War Pigs in the review as it's not on the original album and I generally only listen to albums as they were intended. Though I did listen to War Pigs - cos it's War Pigs - and it was a good faithful (excuse the pun) cover, more a tribute I think - which is maybe why it didn't make the final cut.

A positive day after all.

A wonderfully twisted, genre blurring roller coaster of a ride. Honestly I believe Epic is the weakest song on the album even though for the time it was probably the most radio palatable track. I bought this on cassette when it first came out and it was shocking just how different it was from everything else on the radio at the time yet it still had a couple of toes in the poppy alternative box. This is easily one of my favorite records, its not perfect... this is the stepping stone to when they did get it perfect on Angel Dust.

Het is 25 juni 2015. Een nachtmerrie voor een groot festival als Rock Werchter, is afgelopen week werkelijkheid geworden. Enkele dagen eerder valt Dave Grohl van het podium en breekt zijn been. De tour gaat niet door en het al door vele afzeggingen geplaagde festival moet improviseren.

Nietsvermoedend sta ik aan de hekken van het hoofdpodium te wachten op de beoogde vervanger: Faith No More. Ik ben onbekend met de band, afgezien van de Commodores-cover 'Easy'. Het stond zelfs niet op de planning om te gaan kijken, maar terwijl het podium wordt opgebouwd verschijnen er rijen en rijen aan bloemen voorop het podium. Witte kleden hangen als hemelse taferelen over het podium... Was dit geen soort nu-metal?

Die dag heeft me twee dingen geleerd: Faith No More is een van de coolste rockacts ooit en Mike Patton is een van de beste frontmannen die ik heb zien optreden. Ik luister geregeld naar Angel Dust, wat mij betreft de beste FNM plaat, maar deze voorganger en het latere King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime zijn ook favorieten. Faith No More is zo onwijs divers en verrassend, ze wisselen funk en jazz af met snoeiharde rock alsof het de normaalste zaak van de wereld is, zonder corny over te komen. Ik denk dat ik eindelijk een band heb waar het woord ondergewaardeerd bij past.