Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)^{Release ID: 271}

Faith No More make a bit of a leap on this one. They keep their weirdo funky Alt Metal sound and knack for variety and experimentation, and slap a heavy dose of consistency on top. Before, Faith No More produced about as many good songs as total duds in their search for a sound. Here they continue changing things up, but the quality remains very good across the entire album. The keys do a fantastic job of adding some grandeur to the otherwise very generic instrumentation. The vocals are hit or miss, not really my thing, but pretty unique at the time and employ a wide variety of techniques. Overall a great improvement without straying from their roots.

his is such an original & consistently brilliant record. Every musician contributes with amazing performances & the song-writing is simply wonderful. Jim Martin bangs out some of the most epic metal riffs ever. Mike Patton leads from the front beautifully too. It's a real testament to the bands skills that they can present so much variety without ever dipping in quality. "Underwater Love" is probably the only track that I don't absolutely love but it's still a pretty catchy tune. I think "Surprise! You're Dead!" may be one of my all-time favourite tracks. I get tingles up my whole body every time. Possibly my favourite FNM album these days.