This April, Faith No More will be playing back-to-back-to-back shows at the Warfield. For many of you, this is the best thing to happen since the band re-united last year. My FNM nostalgia is not quite as pronounced, as I was only 9 years-old when The Real Thing came out, but these shows will be legendary. Looks like I will be waiting until next-time to catch this show.

Like many people my age, my early exposure to FNM was pretty much limited to their television performances like the ones on SNL and Arsenio Hall:

I picked-up a copy of The Real Thing when I was old enough to do so, but by the mid 1990’s FNM were basically over-exposed. They were the sound track for the early 1990’s – every movie, commercial and band used their material. Not only that, but Metallica and Slayer were way more important to me at that time. Faith had a hard-time getting into my “long-term musicality repertoire”.

Today, I have a greater appreciation for FNM. They really did go beyond the standard popular rock band sound of the day, and their music still holds water today. There is so much bullshit formula rock out there right now that stems from “American Idol-eology”, people are practically begging for something original. Seriously – can you imagine a band today writing any song from Angel Dust? FNM are relevant for this very reason – they prove that you can be a successful rock band without being lumped into categories with Nickelback, Linkin Park, Incubus or any of those boring-ass, uninspiring bands.

Somehow they survived a couple of decades apart and have returned to honor their fans’ commitment by playing some “hometown” shows. Yes, they look way older now, but there is no indication that they’re any less bad-ass. Mike Patton just exposed himself on camera for christ-sakes. If your only experience with Faith No More is “Epic” or “Falling to Pieces”, you owe it to yourself (and to others) to listen to the rest of that album.