Angel Dust (album)

Angel Dust
Studio album by Faith No More
Released	Original releases June 8, 1992 (1992-06-08) June 12, 1992 Re-releases January 29, 1993
Recorded	Coast Recorders in Brilliant Studios, San Francisco, California 1991
Genre	Experimental rock Alternative Metal
Length	Original: 58:49 Reissue: 61:54
Label	Slash Records
Producer	Matt Wallace
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Entertainment Weekly (B) 7/10/92 Q 7/92, p.91 Rolling Stone 9/3/92
Faith No More chronology
Live at the Brixton Academy (1990) Angel Dust (1992) King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime (1995)
Singles from Angel Dust
"Midlife Crisis" Released: May 26, 1992 "Land of Sunshine" Released: as an album sampler "A Small Victory" Released: August 3, 1992 "A Small Victory (Remix)" Released: September 1, 1992 "Everything's Ruined" Released: November 9, 1992 "Easy" Released: March 4, 1993

Angel Dust, released on the 8th of June 1992, was the fourth studio album by U.S. rock band Faith No More, and the second to feature vocalist Mike Patton, as well as the final with guitarist "Big" Jim Martin. To this day it is still held in very high regard as one of the most influential records of the '90s, with Kerrang! magazine naming it number one in the fifty most influential albums of all time.^[1] It produced the singles and videos for "Midlife Crisis" and "A Small Victory", both released in 1992. It is a complex and at times hard to approach album. The band began to drift into more experimental territory and although it was the band's second album with Mike Patton, it was here when he began to influence the band's sound. The unusual moments arguably make the album unique amongst the band's output. Other notable features of the album include the white trash-baiting monologue of "RV" (a truly odd song; piano-driven and in waltz-time), and the band's version of the theme from Midnight Cowboy. Fans still consider this album to be Faith No More at their finest. The later versions of the album included the Commodores cover, "Easy", which was highly successful in the UK, Australia, and Europe. Still, the album did not match the sales figures of its predecessor The Real Thing in the United States. But everywhere else it matched or outsold The Real Thing, especially in the UK, South America and Europe. In the UK, with little promotion the album went straight to #2 in the Chart Albums and Faith No More had two UK top 10 hits with "Midlife Crisis" peaking at #10 and their biggest hit, "Easy", at #3, making Angel Dust a chart success. The album was also released on DCC. Information on this is scant due to the failure of the format.^[2]

Track listing

Official songwriting credits revealed by Billy Gould in an email, 2004.

1. "Land of Sunshine" (music: Gould/Bottum; lyrics: Patton) – 3:44
2. "Caffeine" (music: Gould/Patton; lyrics: Patton) – 4:28
3. "Midlife Crisis" (music: Bottum/Bordin/Gould/Patton; lyrics: Patton) – 4:21
4. "RV" (music: Bottum/Patton/Gould; lyrics: Patton) – 3:43
5. "Smaller and Smaller" (music: Gould/Bordin/Bottum/Wallace; lyrics: Patton) – 5:11
6. "Everything's Ruined" (music: Gould/Bottum/Patton; lyrics: Patton/Gould) – 4:33
7. "Malpractice" (music & lyrics: Patton) – 4:02
8. "Kindergarten" (music: Gould/Martin; lyrics: Patton/Bottum) – 4:31
9. "Be Aggressive" (music & lyrics: Bottum) – 3:42
10. "A Small Victory" (music: Gould/Bottum/Bordin/Patton; lyrics: Patton) – 4:57
11. "Crack Hitler" (music: Gould/Bottum/Bordin; lyrics: Patton) – 4:39
12. "Jizzlobber" (music: Martin; lyrics: Martin/Patton) – 6:38
13. "Midnight Cowboy" (Barry) – 4:12
14. "Easy" (Richie) – 3:04
15. "As the Worm Turns" (music: Bottum/Gould/Mosely; lyrics: Mosely) – 2:39

Only releases after January 29, 1993 feature the Commodores' cover, "Easy".^[2] Only Japanese releases feature the rerecording of "As the Worm Turns" from the bands first album We Care a Lot.^[2]

Bonus Discs

There were several different bonus discs released with various editions and formats of the album.

Free Concert in the Park This disc came with the second and third pressings of the Australian release, it contains four tracks from a free concert at Munich, Germany in November 9, 1992 (Cat no. D30953 and TVD93378 (RMD53378) respectively).[2] "Easy" – 3:06 "Be Aggressive" – 3:42 "Kindergarten" – 4:44 "Mark Bowen" – 3:16 Woodpecker From Mars This disc was a promotional release on Limited Edition pressings of Angel Dust in France. On the back it reads "ne peut etre vendu separement offert avec l'album 'angel dust' dans la limite des stocks disponibles".[2] "Woodpecker From Mars" (Live from Norwich, 1990) "Underwater Love" (Live from Brixton, April 28, 1990)

Midlife Crisis 12" This disc was released with Limited Edition UK vinyl's as a Double Vinyl Pack, it was also released as the "Midlife Crisis" single a week prior to the albums, the first disc (with or without the bonus disc) lacked the tracks "Crack Hitler" and "Midnight Cowboy" in addition the track "Smaller and Smaller" appeared as the last track (Cat no. 828 326-1).[2] "Midlife Crisis (The Scream Mix)" – 3:56 "Crack Hitler" – 4:39 "Midnight Cowboy" – 4:13 Interview Disc This disc was a promotional release on Limited Edition pressings of Angel Dust in Europe released on August 24, 1992 (Cat no. 828 321-2), and was also released separately in a slimline case (Cat no. FNMCD3). The questions were printed inside the packaging with answers on the CD lasting 18:41.[2]

Track Notes

• The lyrics for "Land of Sunshine" include lines from fortune cookies and Scientology's personality test^[3]
• "Caffeine (song)" as well as "Land of Sunshine" were written while Mike Patton was doing a sleep deprivation experiment^[4]
• "Smaller and Smaller" was never performed live, and the only time "Malpractice" was performed live was The Dillinger Escape Plan/Mike Patton collaboration.^[5]
• "Malpractice" contains a sample of Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8, as performed by the Kronos Quartet.
• "Be Aggressive", written by Roddy Bottum, is about "swallowing" during oral sex. Roddy later stated "It was a pretty fun thing to write, knowing that Mike was going to have to put himself on the line and go up onstage and sing these vocals."^[4]
• The intro to 'Crack Hitler' features a sample of Iris Lettieri - a Brazilian actress whose voice Mike Patton had become enamoured of whilst on tour - reading a flight announcement.
• In South Korea the vinyl album had several tracks cut through tough censorship. The tracks are in a different order, and "Caffeine", "RV" and "Crack Hitler" are omitted. "Midnight Cowboy", is, however, included, despite having been left off the original US and UK versions.^[2]
• The tracks "Crack Hitler" and "Midnight Cowboy" are omitted in Holland, Brazil, Colombia and some UK pressings.^[2]

Chart

Album

Chart	Peak Position
Billboard 200[6]	10
UK Albums[7]	2
Localised Charts
Germany	8
Switzerland[8]	9
Austria[9]	4
Netherlands[10]	22
Sweden[11]	18
Norway[12]	7

Singles

Footnotes