I’m now back to covering albums, and to kick this back off I want to head back to 1997 and have a look at this sometimes overlooked and other times hotly-debated album. It served as the final offering from one of alternative rock’s pioneering bands for nearly 20 years.

Faith No More – Album Of The Year

Released June 3, 1997 via Slash Records

By 1996, Faith No More seemed to be sputtering towards a breakup. While the band had planned on doing a new album, members became vested in other projects. Singer Mike Patton was more involved with Mr. Bungle. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum had launched a new band, Imperial Teen, that he had declared was his new main act. Drummer Mike Bordin landed the coveted Ozzy Osbourne gig, which also saw him assume the drum throne for Black Sabbath.

This left bassist Billy Gould holding the bag in terms of creating a new album. He began this effort with guitarist Dean Menta, but Patton did not enjoy the songs being created and Menta left the group. Menta was replaced by Jon Hudson, a friend of Gould’s. Eventually an album was formed, with the busy members circling back around to help complete the project.

Album Of The Year saw Faith No More pull back from some of their weirder blending of styles and offer up a more straightforward rock album, at least in comparison to their older material. The group introduced a fair bit of electronic elements into the mix as well, though these serve more as compliments to the music rather than being the driving force. The band described the album as being cinematic, replete with several references to old films in several songs. The record is, in general, a more atmospheric and “vibes-based” affair than previous FNM material.

Today I’ll cover the original album, though a few other versions exist – one saw a bonus CD of remixed songs, and a later reissue included several other bonus tracks.

Collision

Up first is what qualifies as the most straightforward rock track on the album. Fairly quiet verses give way to caustic choruses as Mike Patton screams about a car accident he had a few years prior. The wreck caused injuries he still apparently deals with to this day. Patton’s demented screaming lends a bit something extra to this song. Grade: A-

Stripsearch

A moody, atmospheric and electronic passage here. Very catchy and pleasant to listen to. The song deals with someone at a low point in their life, not sure exactly what it is. They seem ready to face the music for whatever they’ve done. A haunting and very nice piece of music. Grade: A

Last Cup Of Sorrow

Back to heavier rock here on another of the album’s singles. This is a quintessential Faith No More song – powerful, with riffs and keyboards blending seamlessly. It’s also a powerful message about getting over things and getting on with life. The video was an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Vertigo. Grade: A

Naked In Front Of The Computer

Hard, heavy and brief here as Patton explores the idea of having a relationship with someone over a computer via email. This was when the Internet was just starting to take over life and would be a dead-on predictor of how things would go. Grade: B+

Helpless

This is a wistful ballad that strays toward country music territory. Someone is struggling with their life and lack of control of it at this point, they seem to try to find a way to slow things down and enjoy the moment. The songs gets more electric as it moves on and it descends into Patton screaming for help at the end. While the band did this style of ballad to greater effect on their prior album with Take This Bottle, this one does venture into other territory and is still a worthy listen. Grade: B

Mouth To Mouth

This one kicks off with some weird stuff that is very reminiscent of Patton’s other act Mr. Bungle. It is crazy circus music that briefly gets more conventional for its short chorus. Not a bad song by any means but one that feels like it belongs on a different band’s album. Grade: B-

Ashes To Ashes

Up next is the album’s lead single. This is another pretty straightforward rock track that doesn’t take any real twists or turns. And it shouldn’t, as it is the crowning achievement of the album. This song is powerful, with the chorus being massive and all-consuming. Patton’s lyrics seem to outline the coming end of the band, it is the simplest interpretation around. While the band were sputtering at this point by most metrics, they still were able to record a song that’s lauded as one of their best. Grade: A+

She Loves Me Not

This one is an R&B track of some sort, I’m not radically familiar with that music so I don’t know what I’m talking about. The song is ok but not anything I really asked for. Grade: C+

Got That Feeling

This one doesn’t linger long at 2:20. It’s a pretty hard and slamming track with Patton sort of scatting all over the place about whatever. The song seems kind of pointless but it’s not bad. Grade: C

Paths Of Glory

This is a bit of a trippy piece that is fairly interesting, even though the song doesn’t ultimately feel like it goes anywhere. It is a decent sounding track on an album that is definitely falling off the rails in its latter half. Grade: C+

Home Sick Home

This is another song that has an interesting premise but doesn’t do a whole lot. It’s really short so it doesn’t overstay its welcome – in fact, it’s like the song was never really even here. Grade: C

Pristina

The closer was thought up by Billy Gould when he was on a trip through the Balkans in the mid ’90’s. For those unaware, the Balkans had a lot going on at that time. Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, which was the final flashpoint of the Balkan Wars. The song is atmospheric and vague and doesn’t honestly communicate much of anything, it’s a pretty big dud to wrap up with. Grade: D

Album Of The Year did not quite live up to its lofty moniker. The album placed at 41 on the Billboard 200 and has sold around 220,000 copies in the US. It did place well in Australia and New Zealand, topping both charts and going platinum in Australia.

Faith No More toured the album through April of 1998, when members finally pulled the plug and cast the band into hiatus until 2009. The group toured and released one more album in the 2010’s and have now gone on hiatus again, this time seemingly for good.

The album has divided opinions among critics and fans. It received some good reviews and more than a few bad ones. For me, the album contains a handful of really nice songs and then a bunch of stuff that really isn’t up to snuff. Overall the record proves its worth in the songs that do work, as they work very well, but this is dragged down some by a lot of filler and directionless stuff.

Album Grade: B

My grade might be generous, as this isn’t an album I really seek to put on and play through. But there is enough quality here to listen to, and the top-heavy stuff is pretty fantastic. It probably was the right decision to put the band on ice after this, but Faith No More did leave some songs worth the trouble before they first bowed out.