Faith No More Does a Super Job

Mike Patton has music's beautiful mind. His band Faith No More should thank its lucky stars every day for that truth. After a mind short circuiting 17 years out of the metal scene's harsh glow "Sol Invictus" has arrived. Single number two calls itself "Superhero". Mike's Herculean in execution for sure. Faith No More earns credit for melding the funk/rap/metal hybrid before anyone quite knew that's what we'd stumbled upon. Soft touches merge with brutal force on "Superhero". You don't put Faith No More in a tidy box without suffering a few bruise marks. No mellowing out over the years either. Jon Hudson gets his entire body weight behind guitar. His instrument crackles in speed metal relentlessness. Mike Bordin, as usual, has his drumsticks armed for bear. He sets them down in jigsaw puzzle methodical manners. His sticks keep "Superhero" from arching into flights of fancy turf. Good thing too as too much hyperbole would distract from allowing Mike Patton's endearingly twisted mind from stretching out to maximum potential. One burning question may soon be answered by the listening public. Has Faith No More circa 2015 forged a disc that's going to attract audiences other than ones bellying up to the nostalgia circuit table? I swear that was piano I heard washing over Mike's mad vocalizing. Looking back a bit "Epic" launched Faith No More back in the Stone Age of 1990. The song was and for my money still is fantastic but that flopping fish in the video may be going down in history as the detail that overshadows Mike at his demonic best. Other cuts that show how Mr. Patton's gorgeously majestic melon carries this band's fortune on his shoulders include "Falling To Pieces" and "Midlife Crisis". You could posit this debatable notion that the willy nilly devil may care go for the throat of youth birthed these gems but I'd say the discography's consistent on down the line. If Faith No More's trying to stay lucid on into old age they've got a handily winning formula. Brains like Mike's probably are good for octogenarian or longer. Not that he'd necessarily be up on stage by that point...not without sizable assistance anyway but, back to the point. "Superhero" isn't Faith's best work but the ability to spread musical paint can art freely from the color wheel means forgettable this caped so and so is not. "Leader of men, get back in your cage" appears repeatedly on the lyric sheet. Mike Patton in self-declaratory mode. Probably not but you'd forgive me for making the comparison. Faith No More never has shied away from fearlessness in its lyrical presentation. That continues to be the case here. "Makes a mean cock grow" gives new meaning to the notion of descriptive video service. Whoa Buzz boy what's up with that statement. You see being a PBS supporter from the jump I remember at least one program leading with "The following program contains descriptive video service on the SAP channel for KLRU audiences who are visually impaired". Media cross reference folks and...thanks for allowing me tangential air space. So as metal goes "Superhero" soars to imaginative heights. Nobody is likely to rank it higher than "Epic" but that wasn't a prerequisite for openers anyway. "Superhero" happily lets us ride on its flowing cape to far out regions of the galaxy.