Faith No More- The Real Thing

I've always held Faith No More responsible for the merging of Rap and Rock with their song Epic. Some might take me to task for such an assertion, maybe it was the Chili Peppers or the Beastie Boys, but when I think of early Rap-Rock I think of Faith No More. If it's true, then shouldn't FNM be held accountable for their actions? I mean shouldn't they be utterly shunned for birthing the Limp Bizkits, POD's, and Linkin Parks of the rock world? I've always thought so, boldly shaking my head and fist at FNM and shouted "Shame on You!"

Recently though a couple of friends and co-workers have come to the bands defense. All of them saying, "Epic does not represent the whole of FNM's body of work" and "Mike Patton is an amazing singer." At their bequest, I decided to take another listen. 

My first inital thought is that Epic really has really stood up against the test of time in the Rap-Rock genre (though, I don't know that is saying too much). For a Rap-Rock song it is still relevant and could still be played on the radio. The rest of the album is actually pretty good. I mean they're probably never going to be one of my favorite bands, but still, I must give credit where it's due. Patton is a decent singer, though a little nasaly and whinny he manages to make it work for him. The rest of the band put together some good riffs and beats to make for a hard hitting album from start to finish. 

As far as the album is concerned, I already said Epic is still radio friendly. The band did a good rendition of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, and the The Real Thing is a good rock song. Underwater Love is catchy rock with a funk, slap-bass undertone. But avoid the silliness of Surprise! You're Dead and the other semi-rap / rock song Zombie Eaters.

Overall Rating:

Mr. T Experience - Making Things With Lights

When I was 15 years old or so, I went to the Pomona Colleges to see MTX. It was my first experience with the band and my first time stage diving. The band was great. They were fun and filled the room with energy even though there were probably only 25 -30 people in the room. The stage diving experience...well, first I'm not sure why I was trying it at an MTX show and second why was I doing it when there were so few people in the room. It was silly, I remember thinking that even back then, but it was a silly night and everyone was having a blast. It went alright for me, but my friend, well he actually jumped over the two rows of people and landed on his face, almost breaking his neck. I was sworn to secrecy... until now.  I still remember thinking, should I be laughing right now? Anyhow, that night sealed the deal, I've been an MTX fan ever since.

MTX is a pop-punk band from the bay area, but their not the mutated pop-punk that you might be familiar. They are more in line with the Ramones and Buzzcocks than the Blink 182’s and Good Charolette of the modern era. The band has gone through multiple line up changes, the constant is Dr. Frank (Singer, songwriter, guitar player)  If you enjoy fun, quirky fast paced songs about dysfunctional relationships then you’ll like what Dr. Frank and the rest of the guys are offering up. 

Songs

What Went Wrong She's No rocket Scientist

The Girl Who Still Lives At Home

Send Me a Postcard

Overall Rating:

Jawbreaker- ETC.

After four records Jawbreaker threw in the towel. The band did so on a disappointing (at the time) and sour note. Dear You, the bands major label effort was by all account an utter failure (though, sometime later fans did come to embrace the album). It was too dark, to saddening.  A couple years later  ETC. came out post-breakup and a sigh of relief was heard from the Jawbreaker community. One more album spanning the bands short lived career, featuring some of their best music was available for everyone to hear.


For me this album is second only to Twenty Four Hour Revenge Therapy, and yet, by all accounts is not a true record, in the sense that the band went into the recording studio with ETC. as their final thought. Rather, this was the band’s gift to their fans.  ETC. was put out  on the drummer Adam Pfahler’s own Blackball Records and is a collection of B sides, rare 7” recordings, songs from compilations, and songs that were scrapped on the cutting room floor.


ETC. covers the life of the band showing their progression from quirky pop punk to a slightly darker  sound. The sound varies from independent demos to major label productions. There were a lot of great songs that were passed up by the band and a good many others that people living before an advanced internet found hard to find. Adam did a good thing here scotch-taping bits and pieces into one concise record. 


If you've never heard this band, their sound is melodic, raw, dark and musically dense. I don't what else to say, but that's the best way for me to describe them.


Songs you should hear:
Kiss the Bottle
Sea Foam Green
Friendly Fire
Friends Back East


Overall Rating:

And the Journey Begins... Again

Yes, I know, I tried doing this blog last year and utterly failed; the whole concept crashed and burned before it ever got off the ground. But after taking a trip up North, listening to great music all along the way, I thought I had to give this one more shot before I throw in the towel forever.

The concept is to listen to a record a day, then give you the reader a brief description of the band and tell you what I think about said album. As I already stated, I was inspired by my trip, so the music I pick will be from the States and cities I visited along the way (at least at the beginning). Thus, for the next couple of months will take a gander at bands from the Bay Area of California, Olympia and Seattle, Idaho, and so forth.

I hope you enjoy the musical journey.