Friday, 23 July 2010

FAITH NO MORE – DIGGING THE GRAVE (SLASH)


FAITH NO MORE – DIGGING THE GRAVE (SLASH)

This felt awkward.  This was the first Faith No More release (discounting the collaboration with the Boo Yaa Tribe on “Another Body Murdered”) since the success and power of Angel Dust and painfully it just felt flat and lightweight.  Its not that it’s a bad song, its just an average song, one that induces a response of indifference.  And being that Faith No More were now a heavyweight proposition, expectations at the time were sky high as sadly the song succumbed to not matching up.

My most vivid memory of this song is when they performed it on Top Of The Pops.  Obviously even if it wasn’t amazing it was still successful and as the band mugged it on primetime television complete with unrecognised guitarist being bland the cameraman and director really took a shiny to Puffy regularly zooming in on the guy on drums with crazy hair.  All parties were in the process of being distracted.

“Digging The Grave” is a three minute charge showcasing Patton’s vocal range over a solid beat as at regular interval huge hooks demonstrate their damage.  Put up against the nightmare scenarios plaguing their prior material it is throwaway.  It is pop, very clean and you come away with the chorus immediately memorised.  When Patton begins screaming towards the end things just about become interesting.

With a snarling blue cartoon dog penned by Eric Drooker adorning the cover this is a surprisingly bright single.  Why the band suddenly so on board?  What happened to dark military images, the photos of slain animals?

Pre-empting the release of the album it is somewhat telling that two of the three extra songs (“Ugly In The Morning” and “Cuckoo For Caca”) are taken from the record also.  Does this mean that the general standard of the album is barely b-side?  The signs were all there.

“Ugly In The Morning” is a ramble of a song expressing remorse and a nice little wig out as it enters the chorus but it just does not sustain.  We are subjected to Patton speaking in tongues towards the end but its done in a manner that’s just a mess.  Then “Cuckoo For Caca” is just infantile, a song born from legend of Patton shitting in hairdryers while on tour.  Really it is just “Jizzlobber” from Angel Dust with crap lyrics and an annoying baseline.  It hardly delivers the brown note.

The other track is “Absolute Zero” with actually makes me think of “The Power Of Love” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in its vocal delivery as the words echo and dissolve into the air as the music seldom passes the chugging stage.  Its not a completed track.

Why do things have to change?

Thesaurus moment: recommence.

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