This is – believe it or not – is the sixth ‘best of’ Faith No More compilation to be released, and if the title sounds a bit tongue-in-cheek, that’s probably because Faith No More intended it that way. The San Francisco quintet made a name for themselves by combining all manner of musical influences on albums like ‘The Real Thing‘ and ‘Angel Dust‘, but their gleefully antagonistic attitude and sarcastic sense of humour were the equal of any decent punk band. Just check the celebrities/charity-baiting funk genius of ‘We Care A Lot‘ for proof.
In terms of tracklisting, ‘The Very Best…‘ isn’t really that different from the 2CD version of ‘Who Cares A Lot?‘ (the original FNM compilation that was issued shortly after the band split in 1998), but it still makes for a good starting point. Understandably, most of the tracks are taken from the aforementioned studio albums, but there are also a few later-period gems (e.g. ‘Digging The Grave‘ and ‘Ashes To Ashes‘) and earlier, Chuck Mosely era cuts included for good measure.
There’s also a disc of B-sides and rarities included; and unlike with many such compilations, there are some genuine gems on offer here. Most notably, the punked-up ‘The Big Kahuna‘ and ‘Sweet Emotion’ (not an Aerosmith cover!) are far too good to be consigned to the cutting room floor; less essential, although no less interesting, is their attempt at German country on ‘Das Schutzenfest‘. Bizarre, indeed, but that’s Faith No More in a nutshell.
As you probably know by now, the band reformed earlier this year, and are currently in the middle of a European tour. What the future holds for Faith No More remains to be seen, but for now, ‘The Very Best…‘ represents a good chance to catch up on what you might have missed so far. Check out ‘From Out Of Nowhere‘ on the link above.
Alex Gosman