Faith No More
The Real Thing

THE REVIEW

Imagine taking a variety of albums off your shelves, possibly some rock, metal, funky, hip-hop, jazz-pop works, and throwing them into a stewpot... what would come out? The answer is THE REAL THING. Probably there is no better way to describe this masterpiece by Faith No More, 1989. The Real Thing is our third studio album, featuring for the first time the young but already promising Mike Patton on vocals.

It starts off right away with From Out of Nowhere, a track with a decidedly epic setting, which nevertheless does not give up more melodic and carefree solutions in the chorus; before even finishing listening to the first track, we find ourselves immediately facing the album's symbol song, the fabulous Epic, the track that probably best represents our musical inclinations: rapped parts that intertwine with epic metal outbursts and a traveling keyboard that enchants us in the finale with a classical music epilogue. It then moves on to the lightheartedness of Falling To Pieces (which could have been written by the Red Hot...) to reach the most violent track of the album: Surprise! You're Dead!, which I would personally put on page number 1 of the crossover manual: punkish drums – compressed bass – thrash riff – singing that moves from rap to hardcore.
Then we come to Zombie Eaters, where the initial poignant keyboard part then gives way to the anger of Mike and Co. The title track The Real Thing shows us how divine Patton's voice is; then you move to Underwater Love and The Morning After, yet another demonstration of how good Faith No More are at blending chili pepper style funky-rock with '80s metal.
Woodpecker from Mars opens with a classical intro accompanied by echoing bagpipes that pave the way for Uncle Billy's powerful slaps; the subsequent cover of Sabbath's War Pigs is nothing short of impeccable!
Finally, it concludes with the delightful Edge of the World, in jazz-pop style.

What can we say about these musicians? Billy Gould on bass delivers a performance to be crowned, not only because technically it is impeccable, but considering the fact that with his instrument he manages to create a perfect amalgam of jazz, rock, funky, metal... and that's not easy! Mike Bordin behind the skins is a guarantee; Jim Martin on guitar constructs interesting textures ranging from epic–thrash-metal to more funky and lighthearted rock (anticipating the patterns of nu-metal), without, however, occasionally giving up a solo.
What to say about Bottum (keyboard)… except that he is the first cousin of LSD… TRIPPY! Mike Patton performs authentic miracles with his voice, he does pretty much everything: sings, screams, warbles (even laughs in the fourth track). However, his technical maturation will come with subsequent works. Perhaps only one adjective is needed to describe these characters… CHAMELEONIC!

We now come to the final considerations. This work is considered by many to be the manifesto of Crossover, meant as a fusion of different musical trends; according to others, it is the rock album par excellence; it's certain that Faith No More contributed to making metal a mass phenomenon, but for this reason, they should not be considered a commercial band.
Beyond any possible classification, which honestly can be of relative interest, a few words are enough to summarize “The Real Thing”… eclectic, fun, FABULOUS!
If you don't have it yet, get it immediately!!