Stooge The Real Thing was the album that launched Faith No More into the national spotlight in the US. Not as widely accepted as it’s predecessor, Angel Dust shows Faith No More taking their newfound exposure to make an album that is a true artistic statement.

If you come to this album expecting something along the lines of The Real Thing, you might be disappointed. Not much of the material here would fit into that album. From the opening notes of “Land of Sunshine”, you can still recognize all the individual parts, but the band came together in the studio with a new and refreshing approach.

The downside for fans of the early Faith No More sound is that guitarist Jim Martin’s input on this album is greatly reduced in favor of Patton’s expanded role. However, his presence is still felt on tracks such as “Kindergarten”, “Everything’s Ruined”, and “A Small Victory”, plus his buzzing tone is present on many other tracks.

Patton shows a much more expanded use of his voice, as he incorporates growls and squeals in track like “Malpractice”, but here he shows his true ability as a vocalist with powerful performances in the chorus of “Midlife Crisis” and his assortment of techniques in “A Small Victory” that he only hinted at on his Faith No More debut.

There is a great amount of diversity on this album. Songs range from the extreme and avant-garde “Malpractice” and "Jizzlobber", the poppy cheerleader-driven “Be Aggressive”, the darkness of “Smaller and Smaller”, the hip-hop inspired “Midlife Crisis”, funky “Crack Hitler”, soundtrack-picked “Midnight Cowboy”, and the straight-up metal of “Caffeine”. Picking favorites on this album is a tough task. Each song strikes me a different way when I’m in a different mood so that after each listen I have a new favorite.

Essential!!

J-Man Released almost 3 years since the iconic classic that was The Real Thing, Faith No More followed up with, in my opinion, their definitive masterpiece - Angel Dust. With this album, Mike Patton's influence on Faith No More really began to shine through and gave them their best sound as of yet. While still maintaining the accessibility that defined their previous effort, Angel Dust is the weirdest album that Faith No More had released up to this point. Maybe that's what makes this album so great - it's not nearly as twisted and avant as their next album is, but it still contains an experimental tinge that makes for an incredibly unique album in the grunge-filled rock scene of the time. I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear this album back in 1992. Considering that almost 20 years later it still stands as a unique gem in my collection, it must've really been something special back when it released. If you like rock, funk, metal, jazz, avant-garde, hip hop... ah, never mind. If you like music in general, do yourself a favor and give Angel Dust a shot. This masterpiece has stood the test of time, and is surely among my all-time favorite albums. If you're going to get only one album from Faith No More (which would be a huge mistake), I would make it this one.

The music here is extremely hard to categorize. The best overall tag here is experimental alternative rock/metal, but even that feels a bit unfitting. There's a distinct funk influence in many of the songs, especially "Land of Sunshine", the lyrically witty "Be Aggressive", or the symphonic "Kindergarten". Progressive rock influences creep their way in throughout the entire album, as do jazz and hip hop tendencies. There's even a country music influence in "RV", which illustrates Mike Patton's hilarious satirical parody on American "white trash". Picking a standout track on Angel Dust is virtually impossible since they're all absolute masterpieces. The closing track, John Barry's "Midnight Cowboy", is an interesting choice to end the album, but I think it works surprisingly well. This is just yet another example of the eclecticism on Angel Dust. An interesting sidenote are the large amount of sampling used here, especially for a rock album. Record label executives were quite concerned with all of the sampling on Angel Dust, but I can't imagine listening to the album without it. The interesting placement and usage of samples really give Angel Dust yet another experimental edge that make it one of the greatest albums of all time in my opinion. Of course, another great thing about Faith No More is the excellent musicianship. Mike Patton's vocals were always the highlight of this album for me, but the rest of the group is always tight and precise. There isn't anything too technical in Angel Dust, but the musicians (especially the amazing bass playing from Bill Gould) are still very capable and a joy to listen to.

The production is yet another winner from Matt Wallace and Faith No More. The sound is a bit more organic than The Real Thing, but it still sounds equally, if not more, impressive.

Angel Dust is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion, and definitely among my all-time favorite albums. If there are any flaws here, they're too small for this reviewer to notice. 5 stars is the least I can give to this essential masterwork. It's original, it's fun, it's beautiful, it's twisted, and it's just an all-around must own! I remember when I first heard Angel Dust and was absolutely blown away. Everyone has a few albums that they've listened to on a once-a-day basis for months... this is one of those albums for me. If you haven't heard this, you're honestly missing out on one of the best music experiences out there. Essential!

Pekka Angel Dust was the first Faith No More album on which Mike Patton's musical influence is audible, having joined the band at a point when the instrumental tracks of their previous album The Real Thing were already composed and many of them recorded as well. Knowing the general leanings of Patton's output it's no surprise that his influence manifests itself as some of the most twisted and weird tracks of their career.

The album artwork depicts the music perfectly, the serene egret on the front and the grotesque meat hook scene on the back. Between the extremes of the John Barry cover Midnight Cowboy and the Patton-penned insane avant metal masterpiece Malpractice the band displays a very wide range of brilliant rock and metal goodness. The Arabic excursions of Smaller and Smaller, the militaristic marching section of Crack Hitler and the most lasting novelty joke song I've ever heard, RV (Mike Patton giving a phenomenal performance as the unemployed white trash slob), are just a couple of the ingredients that make this cooking unique. From the ironic, bass driven Land of Sunshine to the massive guitar wall of Jizzlobber and the aforementioned closing number Midnight Cowboy this album is one full on highlight with no weak tracks whatsoever.

This was the last FNM album Jim Martin would feature on, taking very little part in the compositional process and even disagreeing with the album title which he thought wimpy. Even if he didn't write much his sharp and heavy riffing is an important backbone of this masterpiece of an album. Essential modern metal, one of the key albums of the 90s.