New Faith No More album - 'Sol Invictus'... Your thoughts?

[CagedTiger]

I'm guessing I'm not the only FNM fan on the boards and since the new album is 'out there' now (officially released next month) I was wondering what people here thought of it...


I've listened to the album once through so far and I wasn't blown away, I was going to hold off on starting a thread until I'd given it a few more listens but I'm eager to hear what other people's thoughts on it are.


Obviously the leak that's going around is in poor quality (sounds like a cassette rip) and I'm not sure if that's intentional to make people go out and buy the CD or digital version (I have it on pre-order) and perhaps if it's actually been leaked by an insider to prepare fans for the new songs on the tour.


From first listen I noticed:
* Mike Patton sounds more unhinged than ever on this album!
* Strong influences from Mike Patton's other projects are present (Tomahawk etc)
* Some songs sound more like old FNM than others, 'Superhero' in particular.
* Matador is one that's going to grow on me a lot, Mike Patton's voice is particularly spectacular here and it's the longest song on the album (clocking in at over 6 minutes).
* Jon Hudsons guitar work is excellent although there are no standout guitar solo's like on 'Ashes To Ashes' or 'Stripsearch' from 'Album of The Year'.


I definitely think this is an album that will grow on me over time, I just feel that at 10 songs it's a little on the short side especially considering we waited 18 years for this album and there's no tracks that instantly grabbed me as being amazing like on previous albums ('Ashes To Ashes', 'Just A Man', 'Midlife Crisis' etc), perhaps I'm just older and harder to please now though!

[Down-Plush]

It's tough, since I'm such a huge fan of the earlier material. They kind of lost me with their '95 and '97 albums, so I was really interested in hearing a new record after all this time. In short, I think Patton's voice has absolutely gone to shit. I was really stoked for this album when they announced the album and it's just continually disappointed me. The guitar work is very drony and a lot less linear than the faith no more I was hoping to hear. I didn't hear the magic of The Real Thing or Angel Dust, or even Introduce Yourself. Nothing stuck with me and I was just hugely underrwhelmed, the band just sounds like it's completely out of ideas and are just trying to sound more "hardcore", which is just a shame. They're free to do that, it's their music after all and I'm sure others will be into it, just not me.

[jimmy j]

Thanks for your thoughts on the new album. I haven't heard the rip yet but I've been listening to the live versions of the new songs that are posted on YouTube. I'm really excited for the new album since I got into FNM just as "Album of the Year" was released.


I don't mind if the album takes some time to get into....lots of my favorite albums didn't grab me at first.


I'm just grateful FNM got back together and are on tour. I think I'm going to go see them next month.

[CagedTiger]

I managed to give this album a couple more spins over the weekend and some of the songs are definitely starting to stand out, I still feel like a lot of it sounds closer to Tomahawk than the FNM of old though. The songs I like are -

"Superhero" (Probably the song thst reminds me the most of old FNM, great song with some nice changes, does drag a little towards the end but still, decent track.)

"Sunny Side Up" (Laid back and very catchy, some funny lyrics too. I'm guessing this one will be a single.)

"Separation Anxiety" (The music on this one is great, very atmospheric, vocally it reminds me of something off the first Tomahawk album, good stuff)

"Matador" (Musically and vocally the most complex song on the album, as previously mentioned Patton's voice is really strong on this and the outro where hes singing over Jon Huson's guitar solo is awesome. This one would sound right at home on their last album.)

"From the Dead" (Nice acoustic, almost country sounding album closer. A little too short and its no 'Just A Man' or 'Pristina' but its a nice mellow song and I think it could be the only song on the album where Mike just sings and doesn't break into a scream once!)

The other 5 songs on the album still aren't really doing anything for me but again over time that may change, also hearing CD quality versions will be a huge improvement. I prefer their 90's albums (I was actually a big fan of 'Album of the year') but its still great to have them back and its worth picking up for those 5 songs alone which are waaaay better than a lot of the shit that's coming out these days.

[Sklashboombash]

I had no idea it was out there but if the quality is lousy, I think I'll wait.

I'm a long time fan and enjoyed the first two Tomahawk albums over the last two, but I'm looking forward to this.

[Pingfah]

I'm a big fan of Anonymous, I thought that was a very inventive album. But I like all of Tomahawk's stuff.

One of my favourite Patton albums is Peeping Tom, Patton is really good at pop/hiphop, he should do more of it.

I'm really looking forward to this album, but I'll also be waiting for the proper album to drop.

[DankoJones]

Spun "Superhero" on spotify, thanks to this thread, thought it sucked after one listen nut after a couple of more Ill upgrade it to , not bad 

[Unglued]

I'm excited for the new record.  I'm a fan of all of their prior (patton) records.  The Chuck Mosley stuff musically is good but his voice doesnt do it justice.

I'm going to see them in May.

[Pingfah]

Just got it, took a while for my local record shop to get the LP in, but I am loving it.

It debuted at no.6 in the UK album charts too, so that's been a big success for them. I'm impressed to see they are still so popular here after such a long time.

[DankoJones]

The albums a grower for me, its ok, im liking 'From the Dead'

[RailBrews]

Easily one of my favorite releases from 2015.

[CagedTiger]

Easily one of my favorite releases from 2015.

Yeah me too. This year has been a good year for music so far in terms of bands I like releasing new albums
Already had new albums from Scott Weiland, Art of Anarchy, Faith No More, Noel Gallagher & Blur. I'm looking forward to the new ones from Iron Maiden, Filter & Ugly Kid Joe too. Not sure what else is coming out but I've bought more CD's this year than I have in a long time!

[Pingfah]

Yep, ironically unlike their previous effort, this is definitely the album of the year for me so far, closely followed by Stranger to Ourselves by Modest Mouse.

Unless we are counting the SLDD reissue which has just arrived in my post.

I can't wait for new Maiden, Anthrax & Deftones which should all be coming this year.

[Unglued]

I'm into it.  Sonically, for me, it doesn't have the punch like AOTY or KFAD (Puff's snare and kick are too buried and I feel loses that FNM feel)  Anyway, the songs though are great IMO.  The live show was great as well.  One of my fav concerts in a while.