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Faith No More > The Real Thing > Reviews > asklater
Faith No More - The Real Thing

Mike Patton's voice terrifies me. - 72%

asklater, December 14th, 2004

To be honest, while I knew the name, I had never heard a Faith No More song other than Epic before listening to this record. So, going in, I wasn't too sure what to expect.

My first impression of The Real Thing was probably "Wow, Mike Patton sounds like a drag queen!" Nowhere is that more evident than on the first track From Out Of Nowhere or the chorus of second track Epic, the band's one hit song. Having gotten over my initial disgust at the vocals, I realized that this record is actually not too bad. Equally noticeable as Patton's vocals is the bass work of Billy Gould, who also happened to be Güero Sin Fe in Brujeria's original lineup. I guess that would explain why I like his style...

These guys are another hard band to categorize, although they were mixing rap with metal back in the late 80's before it was cool. Fourth track Suprise! You're Dead! is perhaps the heaviest song on here, and is reminiscent of early Biohazard.

Now, while rap metal and epic usually don't belong in the same sentence, (excluding the band's song Epic, that is) it's hard to find a way to describe some of these songs other than calling it epic rap metal. The title track, which clocks in at over eight minutes long, for example, or the following track, Underwater Love could be considered epics, although they make use of rapped vocals in some sections. And while he reminds me of a drag queen, Mike Patton is still a better singer than Fred Durst could ever be!

I suppose that, being the masters of the rap metal epic, it's not surprising to see a cover of Black Sabbath's epic protest song War Pigs. Faith No More do manage to shave 12 seconds off the original, (cutting it down to 7:43) but without taking away from the original greatness of the song. Patton even does his best Ozzy impression on this track, and, unlike the live version on the first Nativity In Black album, he doesn't forget the words to the last verse!

Preceeding War Pigs is a cool instrumental called Woodpecker From Mars, which flows nicely into the Sabbath track. Following War Pigs, however, is a track that, considering the mental image that Patton's voice gives me, is really disturbing. Edge of the World is a ballad that seems to be sung from the perspective of a child molester, with lines such as:

Hey little girl/
Would you like some candy?

(and)

Come sit right down/
Lay your head on my shoulder/
It's not the point/
That I'm forty years older

Let's just say that if I heard Patton's voice coming from a dark alley, I'd probably run.

Anyways, my first impression of The Real Thing is that, well, it's original, to say the least, bordering on weird. Perhaps it will take a few more listens to digest, but at first listen, it's still not bad.