Most bands — if not all — have that one album that defines
\ntheir careers; a few recent examples of which would be
\nNevermind<\/i> (Nirvana),
\nThe Downward Spiral<\/i> (Nine Inch Nails), and
\nSuperknown<\/i> (Soundgarden). Such records do — and did — so
\nincredibly well that even the bands themselves are oftentimes taken
\naback by the results. Though the limelight is good, equally bad is
\nthe aftermath. The expectations burdening the follow-up sometimes
\ncompletely weigh it down; no matter how well it turns out, it will
\nalways be compared with its predecessor and looked upon as a
\nletdown, sometimes strongly, sometimes not so strongly.<\/p>\n
Faith No More (FNM had an ardent cult following, but never
\nreally broke out into the commercial market.
\nAngel Dust<\/i> was the group’s definitive record, but still went
\nlargely unnoticed. People who know the band and know the album
\nwould have no hesitation in putting it amongst the ranks of the
\n“rock classics” mentioned above. At the same time, the same people
\nwould also consider everything made after
\nAngel Dust<\/i> disappointments, which also includes the album
\nKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Now, is
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i>really a failure? Well, it is and it
\nisn’t. For one thing, it fell victim to being the follow-up to
\nAngel Dust<\/i>. As a result, it was destined to be a failure
\nbefore it was even born. On the other hand, however, one shouldn’t
\nbe too critical of it, and if treated with some consideration
\n(which is the treatment it deserves),
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i>is not that bad an album after
\nall.<\/p>\n
FNM mellowed down after
\nAngel Dust<\/i> and the subsequent departure of their guitarist
\nJim Martin; the band line-up on
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i>consisting of no guitarist at all —
\nreplacement Trey Spruance was considered a guest musician and not a
\npart of the band lineup. This brought out the subtler, more
\nexperimental side of the band. The only album hit — the
\nirresistible, sensuously funky “Evidence” — is a smooth jazz-funk
\nnumber fit to be played in a bar to soothe its smoked-out patrons,
\nthan to be played in an arena in front of ten thousand
\nsweat-drenched people with long hair, tattoos and gross
\nbody-piercings.<\/p>\n
“Star AD,” with its crazy trumpets and horns, “Caralho Voador,”
\nwith its smooth bossa-nova rhythm, and the closer “Just A Man,”
\nwith its soulful church-music-like chorus, clearly exemplify the
\ngroup’s search for different sounds to compensate for the loss of
\nthe fist-clenching heavy-metal music that they knew they could
\nnever reproduce now that Martin was no longer a part of the
\nband.<\/p>\n
Subdued it might have become, but FNM was a heavy metal band at
\nheart, and the adrenalin was still pumping in its veins. Even
\nthough in much smaller proportions, this wild rush of blood was put
\nto good use by the group on songs like “Absolute Zero,” “Digging A
\nGrave,” and “What A Day,” all of which, in a weird but convincing
\nway, sound like a cross between Iron Maiden and Therapy(?).<\/p>\n
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i>came during a period in the band’s
\ncareer when it was on a decline and was soon to be history. Such
\ntimes bring out the most poignant masterpieces from a band, as well
\nas most horrid fiascos, and
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i> houses examples of both. “Ricochet,”
\n“Take This Bottle,” “King For A Day” and “The Last To Know,” with
\ntheir ‘more passion less aggression’ formula, show the maturity of
\nthe act in coping with what it had in terms of its members and the
\nchemistry between them.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, “Cuckoo For Caca,” “Star AD” and “Ugly In The
\nMorning” find the members trying to have fun — something they were
\nvery good at during
\nAngel Dust<\/i> and
\nThe Real Thing<\/i> — but having the most miserable hangover and
\nnot being able to handle it at all.<\/p>\n
The whole album and the band’s state of mind can be summed up
\nperfectly with the first paragraph of the opening cut “Get Out,” on
\nwhich singer Mike Patton sings”What if there’s no more fun to have
\n\/ And all I’ve got is what I had \/ What if I have forgotten how \/
\nCut my losses and get out now.”
\nKing For A Day\u2026<\/i>is FNM’s most experimental work. The
\nband should be given credit to have stuck together even during
\ntimes of volatility and making the best of what is had, which is
\nway better than what current funk-metal acts make of in their most
\nproductive phases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":27075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5784],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38407","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-faith-no-more","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38407"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}