Faith No More Sol Invictus

[Pagan Saviour]

I was reading a (Not very Complimentary) piece on this record which turned 10 May gone and am spinning it here this morning for the first time in an age - it's god awful. I think many got carried away with praise because of the records mere existence.

The band's original heart and soul were not there, save for a few fleeting moments in songs such as "Superhero," "Separation Anxiety," and "Matador." It's almost as though FAITH NO MORE tried to impersonate their past greatness with a few new, rushed songs without putting any real effort in

I think that may be slightly harsh but just. There's a few more fleeting moments here and there but overall it really feels half baked. The title track for example seems to stop before it gets going. There's a lot of tracks then where the same phrase is repeated over and over, suggesting the lyrics were scrawled on a piece of tissue paper as the tracks were being jammed. Some of them sound like other projects Cast Offs - Cone of Shame? Tomahawk?

I am glad I caught them live whilst possible - the Olympia show was great. I'd love to know what the real beef is between Patton and the band, I do wonder with the Agoraphobia comment from Patton was he taking the piss? He was practically straight back out with Bungle.

Bordin seems to agree

My statement on it is that he's gone from being unable to do the shows to clearly being unwilling to do shows with us," he said. "And that's heavy. That's a big difference

[Pentagrimes]

It's not the FNM I grew up with, and not the record I expected, but I still stand by it. Apart from Black Friday which is the worst thing they've ever written. Definitely don't love it as much as when it came out but there's plenty of songs I rate on there,including Motherfucker which everyone seemed to hate.

TBH,pains me to say it, it feels like Patton's best days are behind him creatively, I don't know what the fuck he's at lately but there's very little he's done that's in anyway as exciting. I think the "Corpse Flower" record was the last thing of his that was enjoyable to me, and this AVTT/PATTON thing can fuck off. The Bungle thing is beyond a joke now. I'm sure there's plenty money in it for all involved but it's time to either stop or move on rather than piss away their legacy by putting effort into being remembered as a bog standard thrash band.

[Bürggermeister]

The FNM I loved disappeared with Jim Martin. Not that he was the driving force, by any stretch, but he, Bill and Roddy usually playing different things all the time, yet making it work, was a glorious sound. KFAD is a good album, but it sounds like a different band, a bog standard band, too much guitar and bass duplicating each other, fuck all Roddy, none of the creative spitefulness which made them amazing up to that point. Still, it's the last decent thing they did. The replacements brought fuck all to the band, really and letting Patton off the leash was a terrible mistake.

Sol Invictus was and is a weak effort, a poor man's AOTY which, itself, was shite.

[Pagan Saviour]

That's the best comparison, AOTY outtakes etc. I do like some of the tracks on AOTY but it was clear it was over musically then. The replacements did indeed bring nothing to the table.

Motherfucker which everyone seemed to hate

Awful song, cringeworthy.

[Carnage]

I've only listened to it once, on release. Hated it from the get-go, it sounds like a Patton project rather than a band effort.

AOTY is my go to FNM album these days, I don't get the hate for it. The Real Thing and Angel Dust are obviously better albums but I've played them to death over the years, and KFAD just isn't great.

[Brodent]

It's leagues below the other Patton FNM albums – just doesn't compete, but at the same time I'm glad it exists.  Rise Of The Fall, Black Friday, and From The Dead are probably the worst songs the band ever released but the others are 6s and 7s out of 10 for me, with Matador and Cone of Shame being the real highlights.  I agree with PS above, the latter could have been pulled from Tomahawk.

I noticed a real decline in Patton starting with Tomahawk's Oddfellows which is nearly 13 years ago now, and Sol Invictus came 2 years after that.  Everything since is completely worthless and that version of Mr Bungle currently doing the rounds is cardinal sin – they should have called themselves "The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny", because Bungle it isn't.

There may be some truth to that agoraphobia thing, but I'd say it's also true he used it as the perfect excuse to step away from Faith No More at the time.  Money talks, but I can't see it happening again as Patton just doesn't seem to have the interest.

Very happy to have caught them at the Olympia in '09 and Hyde Park in '14, where they I believe it was the debut Motherfucker and Superhero, and as much as I loved the show I thought both of those songs were limp.

KFAD and Angel Dust are my two faves.  Also don't get the hate for AOTY - I've a real soft spot for it!  Check out this show from the AOTY tour - if they'd played Stripsearch it would have been the greatest gig from any band, of all time.

[Pagan Saviour]

To clarify I'd have ranked AOTY as their lowest but a decent album by the standard of others. One or two clangers on it and had they left it there it'd have been a fitting end.

That version of Bungle should be done for false advertising. Scott Ian's involvement is another cardinal sin.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Stripsearch, Helpless, Ashes to Ashes, all up in the echelons of the best songs FNM ever wrote and recorded.

[Pentagrimes]

Rise Of The Fall,

Ah I like this song, feels like a reall callback to the Mosely era.

Yeah with Tomahawk/the Patton decline generally I'd go back a little further too the previous self titled album, which is absolute shit. Shame, as the first 2 Tomahawk records are absolutely excellent, and that show in the Ambassador years back was too. Still, glad Denison is back in the Jesus Lizard now at least.

The "agoraphobia" thing..I thought the understanding was that there was also a drink problem involved?Don't ask me to find it but there was an interview where he said as much, or that it was a contributing factor at least.

[Pagan Saviour]

I definitely remember drink and possibly medication being mentioned. There could be some truth there who's to know but his actions after the 75 FNM shows were cancelled say otherwise.

[Don Gately]

A band i adored for the longest time , saw them 4 times in the 90s and all fantastic. Album of the year for me was a low point,  stuck with it for far too long trying to like it but I really don't like it at all, I thought Sol Invictus was better but I dont go back to it now. For me Introduce yourself is my go to album now id even prefer it to the Real thing. Angel Dust of course is the pinnacle.

[Pagan Saviour]

Same! Introduce Yourself is now my go to - but I do reckon it's because I played everything else to death and overexposure to some of the singles. Don't think I need to hear TRT ever again.

[Bürggermeister]

Same here, Introduce Yourself is the one I listen to the most, still can listen to any of the first four and love the experience, though. Thankfully I never overdid it with any of them   

[John Kimble]

FNM are one of those few bands where I'd blind purchase anything they release, regardless of quality. Or at least, I would have...up until Sol Invictus. I was pleasantly surprised at first as the expectations weren't exactly high, but it's just a spectacular non-event and I can't remember the last time I listened to it. Have no immediate desire to revist it either.

[leatherface]

The Real Thing is my current fave and was my first album of theirs back then, that guitar tone is really under appreciated, clear and heavy (the opening of Surprise..!).

Sol Invictus I thought sounded like demo ideas rushed out across an album. I had a copy when it came out , then sold it.