Track Listing

1. Land Of Sunshine
2. Caffeine
3. Midlife Crisis
4. RV
5. Smaller And Smaller
6. Everything's Ruined
7. Malpractice
8. Kindergarten
9. Be Aggressive
10. Small Victory
11. Crack Hitler
12. Jizzlobber
13. Midnight Cowboy
14. Easy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57919 in Music
• Released on: 1993-01-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
An amazing album, Angel Dust unfortunately has limited appeal, although perhaps "unfortunately" isn't the right word; the record's oddities are also what make it such a fascinating listen. "Land Of Sunshine" is a rocker with a foot-tapping rhythm punctuated by insane laughter from vocalist Mike Patton, whose distinctive voice and frequently disturbing lyrics drive the album. To call it hard rock does Angel Dust a disservice; it's far more musically complex than such a label implies. There's the funk-influenced "Midlife Crisis", the ballad "RV" (a bitter monologue from the point of view of a middle-aged discontent sitting in his trailer), the hard-edged claustrophobia of "Smaller And Smaller," and the rock-married-to-electronic-organ "Be Aggressive", which includes positively inspired cheerleader chants on the chorus. Impossible to classify but incredibly entertaining, Angel Dust is well worth picking up. --Genevieve Williams

CD Description
Just as Faith No More acquired its long-sought-after mainstream success, the band decided that fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The group knew that the majority of its newfans would expect the follow-up to THE REAL THING to tread on similar sonic territory, and boy, did this new pop audience have another thing coming! Like many classic albums, uponfirst listen, 1992's ANGEL DUST is hard to digest in a single sitting. In fact, it almost sounds like artistic suicide--there are few obvious pop hooks, and the music is far more complicated than earlier material.
But after a few more spins, ANGEL DUST finds the right receptors in your brain, and simply pummels the listener. Vocalist Mike Patton truly came into his own on this release, oft-times singing from the standpoint of different characters (as heard on "R.V". and "Be Aggressive"). While several tracks defy description--the harsh "Jizzlobber", "Malpractice", for example--the FNM of old can be heard in its full glory on such tracks as "Caffeine", "Land of Sunshine", "Midlife Crisis", and "A Small Victory". ANGEL DUST remains Faith No More's greatest achievement, and one of the best rock releases of the '90s.

Customer Reviews

Their finest hour
It was a brave decision of Faith No More to make an album like this one, when it would have been an easier and more lucrative option to continue the pop catchfulness of its predecessor The Real Thing. Whilst the concept of generic heavy metal was fast becoming an anachronism, Angel Dust successfully managed to be heavy and dark without falling foul of standard metal cliches.
The opening track, Land Of Sunshine is as uplifting as it is dark. It's the kind of track that you could picture a few thousand youths jumping up and down to in time with its distinctive bass riff. The rest of the album, from Crack Hitler to the single Mid Life Crisis combines similar elements. A touch eerie and unsettling in places, but still capable of inspiring the listener to want to move.
As the thrash scene was imploding on itself and grunge was catching on quick, this album was part of neither of those movements. It sounded like Faith No More and nobody else. It was to ensure that the band never fulfilled its stadium potential, but also that they have produced an album that was at the cutting edge of their genre, without falling into a genre. And that takes some doing.

One of the most influential albums of the 90s
This is one of THE albums that shaped rock and metal in the 90s along with Nevermind, the Black Album by Metallica and (dare i say it!) Korn (urr, i said it!)
There isn't much wrong with this album, the musicianship is awesome, the songwriting is awesome and the songwriting is second to none and i don't really need to say anything about the singer!
There is so much variety throughout the album; Midlife Crisis, a classic FNM track, RV is a slow and sleazy one and there are a few dark, creepy ones like Jizzlobber and Caffene and no one can forget Easy!
The most noticeable progression from The Real Thing (1989) apart from the variety, is Patton's voice; it's so full and rounded compared to TRT's nasal Epic style singing.
This band was so far ahead of it's time that in the early 90s they revceived different opinions and their fan base wasn't as large as they deserved.
Innovative, influential, awesome! One of the albums of the 90s!

A disturbing album that shaped the metal world we know today.
In the 80s funk metal was pretty big for a short while. Like its successor nu-metal, funk-metal was based around a blending of styles from the harder rock elements and obviously a fair amount of soul and black elements too. Of course like nu-metal it was also a scene made up mostly of rubbish bands with incoherent and often patchy sounds. Faith No More and Red Hot Chilli Peppers were the two main exceptions, and while the chillis went on to progress into stadium rock giants, FNM took a very different direction in the early 90s.

To describe this album in only a few short words is near impossible, however, dark & twisted is a reasonable summary of the overall tone. This is the second album from the definitive line-up and the first where vocalist Mike Patton's somewhat perverse influence takes forefront. Musically, Angel Dust is a lot more keyboard & synth orientated than any other album they have released, not that this makes it any less heavy. Infact it is far less commercial sounding than anything previous. It does have enough accessable moments included however.

Midlife Crisis is a great first single, demonstrating their newer sound without offending anyone too much. Follow up A Small Victory is one of the slower numbers on here led by a sweet oriental sound building up to a full on rock crescendo. Everything's Ruined is a strangely happy tune about one man's success and eventual demise. Be Aggressive is probably the catchiest tune ever written about gay sex. Easy of course needs no introduction.

But this is not one of those singles albums, there is plenty more on offer here, especially for those after the heavier moments. Caffeine is one the best songs FNM ever made and acts as a template for the sound of many bands since. Smaller And Smaller & Malpractise are both heavy & surreal enough to be distinctive of this album. Jizzlobber is full-on metal opera finishing with a overblown dramatic church organ solo that has to be heard.

Album opener Land Of Sunshine and Crack Hitler take the funk sound previously associated with FNM and turn it into some monstrous freak that would surely scare most fans of the Chillis. Kindergarten is one of the slower tunes on offer. RV is the real hidden gem on here though, a slow piano ballad with spoken vocals about (and from the perspective of) an ageing trailer park slob reminiscing over his sorry life.

Its at the end of Angel Dust though, that things take a rather dramatic change of direction. After 12 chaotic tunes ending with Jizzlobber, it all goes very nice and mellow with a cover of John Barry's Midnight Cowboy theme. Originally this was the album closer and, tho not a perfect end, a great way to calm down after such an intense experience. The addition of Easy as a bonus track may be a case of record company intervention but this truly is the perfect end to the album. Easy is one of those rare occurances, a cover version that is genuinely better than the original, proving that sometimes white boys do have soul.

The ongoing friction within the band was no big secret and it was often publicised about how much they hated each other. Guitarist Jim Martin left shortly after the subsequent tour citing Patton as his main reason. The tension is apparent throughout this whole album, making for an even more intense experience. Of course the band would never make anything to match the quality again, infact its often surprising they lasted long enough to make this one.

So much has happened in the rock world since but the influence of FNM is clear within much of the scene to this day, these boys defined a whole style of metal that has been borrowed and ripped ever since.

Angel Dust may not be the definitive 90s rock album but it sure is an essential one.