Tuesday 24 August 2010

FAITH NO MORE – RICOCHET (SLASH)


FAITH NO MORE – RICOCHET (SLASH)

So after the disappointment that was “Digging The Grave”, the band followed up with the equally infuriating “Ricochet” which upon arrival really did not make much sense as a single with its lurching, start-stop gestures.  Eventually people came to realise that it possesses a really strong chorus and definite hook but for a band previously wailed as if there were coming apart this was not an easy transition.  Was it the material or the audience that were wrong?

At the time I never liked this song.  I didn’t even buy King For A Day.  My friend at work (Guthrie at Texas Homecare) bought a used/promo copy from a record stall barely a few weeks after it was released and I think I borrowed (and recorded) it from him.  But I can’t even confirm.  I was still buying the CD singles though.

Another piece of personal history is that when this series of Faith No More releases landed I was sick to death of the band after my friend Glenn had pounded them into the ground for me.  He was a person with a class “its always funny until someone gets hurt and then its hilarious” mentality.  And you he would.  So for me the band no longer represented awesome music, it represented that guy.  So forgive my immediate lack of enthusiasm.

The track finally clicked with me, finally made sense, when I heard it performed as a set opener.  It’s a song all about the build up and bridge.  As early gestures are made it really hangs in the air as if floating through proceedings until the first chorus at which point the band achieves pay off with a grandiose hook.  Then comes the real chorus when Patton truly kicks in if dragging things to safety.  All in all it’s a pretty complex composition but also quite the blast.

It is said that the song was written on the day of Kurt Cobain’s death and was often referred to as “Nirvana” on the band’s set lists.

Once again the band go for a cartoon angry dog cover drawn by Eric Drooker, this time surrounded by orange.  It looks stylish but does not look intimidating, does not do the music service.

The additional tracks to this release feel cheap and weird.  “I Wanna F**k Myself” (aka “I Wanna Fuck Myself”) is hack and obvious like a four-track garage demo cover of “New Rose” sung through a megaphone while “Spanish Eyes” is a cheesy Patton croon.  You wish it were a cover so that the band cannot be held fully responsible.  And then you discover it is a track also known as “Moon Over Naples” and that the other song is a GG Allin song.

Always good to hear a song mature.

Thesaurus moment: ping.

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