FAITH NO MORE –
RICOCHET (SLASH)
So after the
disappointment that was “Digging
The Grave”, the band followed up with the equally infuriating “Ricochet”
which upon arrival really did not make much sense as a single with its
lurching, start-stop gestures. Eventually
people came to realise that it possesses a really strong chorus and definite
hook but for a band previously wailed as if there were coming apart this was
not an easy transition. Was it the
material or the audience that were wrong?
At the time I never
liked this song. I didn’t even buy King
For A Day. My friend at work (Guthrie at
Texas Homecare) bought a used/promo copy from a record stall barely a few weeks
after it was released and I think I borrowed (and recorded) it from him. But I can’t even confirm. I was still buying the CD singles though.
Another piece of
personal history is that when this series of Faith No More releases landed I
was sick to death of the band after my friend Glenn
had pounded them into the ground for me.
He was a person with a class “its always funny until someone gets hurt
and then its hilarious” mentality. And
you he would. So for me the band no
longer represented awesome music, it represented that guy. So forgive my immediate lack of enthusiasm.
The track finally
clicked with me, finally made sense, when I heard it performed as a set opener. It’s a song all about the build up and bridge. As early gestures are made it really hangs in
the air as if floating through proceedings until the first chorus at which point
the band achieves pay off with a grandiose hook. Then comes the real chorus when Patton truly
kicks in if dragging things to safety.
All in all it’s a pretty complex composition but also quite the blast.
It is said that the
song was written on the day of Kurt Cobain’s death and was often referred to as
“Nirvana”
on the band’s set lists.
Once again the band go
for a cartoon angry dog cover drawn by Eric
Drooker, this time surrounded by orange.
It looks stylish but does not look intimidating, does not do the music
service.
The additional tracks
to this release feel cheap and weird. “I
Wanna F**k Myself” (aka “I Wanna Fuck Myself”) is hack and obvious like a
four-track garage demo cover of “New Rose” sung through a megaphone while
“Spanish Eyes” is a cheesy Patton croon.
You wish it were a cover so that the band cannot be held fully
responsible. And then you discover it is
a track also known as “Moon Over Naples” and that the other song is a GG Allin song.
Always good to hear a
song mature.
Thesaurus moment:
ping.
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