Hear 11 Faith No More Rarities From ‘The Real Thing’ Deluxe Reissue
Released two weeks ago, Faith No More‘s highly anticipated comeback album, Sol Invictus – their first in 18 years – debuted at Number 15 on the Billboard Top 200, marking the weirdo-rock band’s highest rank on the chart since 1992’s Angel Dust hit Number 10. Amazingly, the group’s most popular record, The Real Thing, didn’t even appear on the Top 200 when it was released in June 1989, only entering the chart the following year, buoyed by the smash single “Epic.”
That album is of course now considered to be an alterna-metal classic, and as such is being reissued in two deluxe new editions, one on double-CD, the other on heavyweight double-vinyl. Both sets are scheduled to hit stores on June 9th (they’re currently available for pre-order on Amazon) and will pack rarities-stuffed bonus discs including remixed versions of “Epic” and “Falling to Pieces,” as well as live performances of “Surprise You’re Dead,” “Underwater Love” and the Black Sabbath classic “War Pigs.” The CD bonus disc will also feature the B-sides “Cowboy Song” and “The Grade.” You can listen to all 11 rarities below.
The Real Thing was Faith No More’s first album with singer Mike Patton, who replaced troubled vocalist Chuck Mosley in 1988. Mosley had led the band to a college radio hit with “We Care a Lot,” but Patton’s debut record proved to be the band’s breakthrough and lasting mark.
“I don’t see the point of limiting accessibility out of stubbornness,” bassist and major songwriter Billy Gould told Rolling Stone shortly after the record’s release. “There’s always been this misconception that ‘commercial’ equals ‘stupid.’ Just because something is accepted by a lot of people, it doesn’t mean there isn’t some interesting thought behind it, you know? You can actually do a lot of damage on a mass scale.”