Faith No More

I love Faith No More. They're a band that's endured the test of time and my occasionally fickle allegiances. I recall my initial fascination as a child in 1990 sitting watching the Saturday morning music show, captivated by Epic - and on learning of their reunion in 2009, over the course of the last three months they've overtaken all competition in climbing to the upper echelons of my last.fm charts, with over 1000 listens in the last three months alone.



Of the last three months' top tracks, FNM hold 14 of the 15 top places (if you're curious, the odd one out is a Röyksopp track, This Must Be It) with between 26 and 50 plays each. Probably because I didn't own it digitally until recently, songs from The Real Thing lead the charge.



But what is it about their sound and of late, stage presence that is so enthralling? It's a combination of Patton's incredibly versatile and powerful voice, the genre-scalping musicianship that crosses sexy lounge grooves indiscriminately with apoplectic metal, and the intelligent and often very funny lyrics. I love the character studies, like RV, Crack Hitler, Edge of the World, and Zombie Eaters. When I first saw them at Brixton Academy on 10 June, I stopped being me and became the music. I had a similar experience on 18 June at Hurricane Festival in Germany, and even more so at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin last Thursday 27 August. There is an element of crowd worship, of ritual and participation, passion and adulation.

Now I do have some self-awareness, and clearly, I am bordering on obsessive fandom - it's true Faith No More can do no wrong. But I see no issue in having belief and yes - faith - in a rock band. They haven't let me down yet.