My All Time Fave Albums Pt. 22

Here I am, back with another slab of my all time faves!  Todays pick is something a little different, from a band that has a great catalog of music, and who wasn't afraid to push the boundaries of Hard Rock.  From 1989, Faith No More's The Real Thing.

In the late 80's, alot of the music that I really love started to become a little to streamlined, a little too formulaic, and a little to contolled by record companies looking for the next Motley or Gn'R.  I started to discover new bands that were more creative (Faith No More), sometimes heavier and faster (Sepultura), and some bonecrushing (Helmet).  This album was a masterstroke to me then, and still is a great listen 23 years later.  I remember the videos for Epic and From Out Of Nowhere, and FNM was becoming the new buzz band.  I vividly remember sitting in my buddy's and mine apartment, in sweltering summer heat, blasting this one.  It was the perfect combination of heavy, with elements of old Metallica, along with Queen, Rap, Funk and Jazz..

 Oh yeah, and they had a pretty cool image.   Musically, these guys were totally on, in particular the brilliant guitars of Jim Martin, and the fantastic keyboards of Billy Gould.  My fave part of the album is not the overplayed singles (which are all awesome), but the killer trilogy of Surprise! You're Dead!, Zombie Eaters and the title track.  All three are heavy, a little proggy, and catchy.  As with all my fave albums, there are no bad tracks, with Edge Of The World and Underwater Love being both creatively a little different, but nonetheless so worthy of being on an incredible album.

I've recently been spinning this, and was reminded of good FNM were (are).  The Real Thing is a great record, that was followed up by three more that are all worthy of your attention.  Since then, times have changed, the band split, and has recently reformed saying that 2012 will be the end of Faith No More.  It's always sad to hear when one of the bands you love and grew up with is calling it quits, but we will always have the tunes to take us away, and remind us that music is forever.  To show you the wonder that is FNM, they close out The Real Thing with a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs.  Not only do they do it justice, they kick it's ass.  Here it is live.