Faith No More: Songs to Make Love To

 Faith No More: Songs to Make Love To

1993

Slash/Reprise Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Easy  2. Das Schutzenfest  3. Midnight Cowboy (Album Version)  4. Let's Lynch The Landlord


I'd call it the band's best album if it wasn't a 13-minute EP. Still, they pack those minutes with so much entertainment that it plays like a fully satisfying album. If you've ever listened to "Angel Dust" and wondered where all the fun went, look no further. 

Here's the breakdown: "Easy" is their now-famous Lionel Richie cover that shows that the band were surprisingly adept at smooth soul, although it isn't much of a surprise that Patton can pull this off. It's a style that suits him for sure. The band plays it very straight, only showing their hand on Mike's "UGH!" that sounds like he's about to be sick right before the guitar solo.  

The 2nd track is maybe my favorite. I fucking love "Das Schutzenfest," which the only original on the album. It's also a German biergarten oompa song full of gut-busting samples that never fail to make me laugh. (Fond memory: I had always wondered what they were saying so when my friend from Austria came to visit me in Tucson, I played him the song so he could translate it for me. Turns out he was just as perplexed as I was. I remember him wincing at the music and explaining, "Something about the nut is brown. We're going to the shooting fest? A lot of this doesn't make any sense."

Then comes the "Midnight Cowboy" theme, which is the exact same version that appears on "Angel Dust." No idea why it's also here, but it seems equally at home here. It kind of gives "Angel Dust" a retroactive sense of humor (not that I'm implying "Angel Dust" was all seriousness. I remember laughing at "RV," for example.)

The EP ends with a cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Let's Lynch The Landlord" done as a laid-back rockabilly tune. Against all odds, this arrangement works beautifully. I almost forget what the original sounds like when this is playing. 

All in all, this is a fantastic little release and comes highly recommended. You can usually find it cheap as balls and it packs a lot of entertainment in its short running time. 

Let's listen to "Das Schutzenfest" by Faith No More. Enjoy...