This Is It: The Best of Faith No More

Faith No More | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 28, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B000083ME1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,539 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

19 signature tracks from albums and singles released between 1985-1997. Includes 4 rarities only available here in the U.S. & the out-of-print soundtrack cut 'The Perfect Crime' from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Slash/Rhino. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "You want it all...and you can have it", July 2, 2004

By 

IhateMTV (The U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (Audio CD)

I've never really been a fan of "Greatist Hits" or "Best Of" compilation albums. It seems to me that the only purpose they serve is to milk an artist for all they're worth just to make a few bucks. Not only that, but a lot of the time you pass up on some of the artists best work just so you can get an album filled with stuff you've probably heard before. Luckily for us, "This Is It: The Best Of Faith No More" contains most of the best FNM songs, but it is missing some of my favorites like the tremenously underrated "Just A Man" (from "King for a day, Fool for a Lifetime") and "Everything's Ruined".

"This Is It..." begins with four songs from the Chuck Mosley era, including the band's first small hit, "We Care A Lot". Even though Mosley's vocals can be a bit annoying, and the song writing wasn't that great then, the band truely shows off their talent by sometimes single-handedly saving songs that were going nowhere with Mosley on them. The one thing that Mosley had going for him was that he could come up with some catchy choruses for tracks like "Anne's Song" and the sarcastic humor in "We Care A Lot" is hard not to love.

Next we have five songs from the band's second most popular album, "The Real Thing". This includes FNM's biggest hit and the song that most people probably know them for: "Epic". While that song, with it's somewhat annoying and repetitive bass playing, didn't showcase the full amount of talent that the band had, it did give them loads media recognition. The cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" is also a great showcase of how well guitarist Jim Martin can really play.

The band's best and most popular album, "Angeldust" is showcased next with the songs "Midlife Crisis" (Truely, the best song FNM has ever done), "A Small Victory", and "Be Agressive" (A keyboard dominated song with hilarious lyrics).

It should also be noted that, like any compilation album, "This is It..." contains three songs that weren't on any of the band's L.P.s. "As The Worm Turns" was originally a FNM song sung by Chuck Mosley, but in this live version, Patton really takes the song and makes it his own. "The Cowboy Song" has a great chorus but "The Perfect Crime" (originally off of the Bill & Ted's Bogus Adventure soundtrack) is somewhat boring, although I do love singing some of the lyrics to it.

Overall, this is a great showing of some of FNM's best songs (the booklet that comes with it is fantastic as well, detailing the band's long history) . However, if you're only interested in getting one FNM compilation album, I'd suggest getting "Who Cares A Lot? The Greatest Hits" instead. It has better songs on it and a 2nd disc featuring 8 rare tracks.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A huge victory., February 16, 2004

By 

H3@+h "Over 1500 reviews!" (thanks for the helpful review votes) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (Audio CD)

Though imperfect, this disc should appeal to newcomers, or fanatics looking for rare tracks. This is missing many good songs, but as far as the "hits" go, everything is here. Included is their big break "Epic", "We Care Alot", "Midlife Crisis", "Evidence", and "Last Cup Of Sorrow". Plus this has many other great album cuts, and a few hard to find songs. Your other option would be the "Greatest Hits". That's a solid 15 track disc of hits, and a 2nd disc of extras. That would probably be my choice. Or you could always just get "Angel Dust", their best album. But this collection is a lengthy 19 tracks, and is an "Easy" way to see the "Evidence" of how their success came "From Out Of Nowhere" before they started "Falling To Pieces".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Captures the Brilliance of this Seminal 90's Band, April 9, 2003

By 

"grannanima" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (Audio CD)

To label a compilation as being the definitive "Best of" for a particular group is always a little bit risky. Each fan will have their favourite tracks based on their own personal tastes and experience. And when the band in question is Faith No More, the problem is taken to a whole other level again. Fans of the band will know that FNM were a sonically diverse band that danced around the boundaries of genre, good taste and listenability throughout all their seven full-length albums. Even the casual listener who only knows the band from big hits like Epic and Easy will be surprised by the musical diversity demonstrated in this compilation alone.

But why do we need another FNM compilation? Who Cares A Lot: The Greatest Hits was released not that long after the bands much-lamented demise. Who Cares A Lot was really a singles compilation, which didn't really make an effort to show case the highlights of the Chuck Mosley albums, We Care A Lot and Introduce Yourself or the greatest diversity of the band beyond the scope of the singles they released.

At their best FNM was pure musical alchemy pulling together the diverse tastes of the band members. Just like the image of the man being drawn and quartered in the Midlife Crisis video, each band member was always pulling the band in diverse musical directions, but always under pinning it all is the driving rhythms of Bill Gould, Roddy Bottum and Mike "Puffy" Bordin. Listen to the difference from As the Worm Turn to Anne's Song to Midlife Crisis to Evidence to see the fusion coming together with golden results.

If Devo can call themselves "Pioneers Who Got Scalped", then Faith No More must also be able to claim such a mantle. Patton's vocal delivery and the sonic blend of grinding guitars and pounding synths would definitely pave the way for the mainstream acceptance of NuMetal and Industrial Music in the late 90's.

As seems to be der rigeur for "Best Ofs" these days "This Is It...." promises unreleased tracks that you can't find anywhere else. In this case we have a live, Mike Patton, version of As the Worm Turns, The Cowboy Song from Live at Brixton and The Perfect Crime from the sound track to Bill & Teds Bogus Journey. All three of these tracks are fantastic. As the Worm Turns is a great track from the band's debut album. The Cowboy Song & The Perfect Crime are two lost gems from the Real Thing-era, which have gone unnoticed for far too long.

While not being a definitive guide to FNM it is still a far more comprehensive epitaph to a brilliant career of a seminal 90s band than "Who Cares A Lot". Ideal for both long time fans and casual listeners, I can't recommend this album and the rest of the bands back catalogue more highly.