Wiki
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Release Date
20 June 1989
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Length
11 tracks
The Real Thing is the third studio album by American rock quintet Faith No More, first released through Slash Records on June 20, 1989. It was the first release by the band not to feature vocalist Chuck Mosely; instead the album featured Mike Patton from the experimental rock band Mr. Bungle. On this album, Faith No More advanced their sound range combining heavy metal, progressive rock, hip hop, funk, jazz, and soul.
Although released in mid 1989, The Real Thing didn't enter the Billboard 200 until February 1990, after the release of the second single from the album, "Epic", and eventually peaked at number eleven on the chart in October 1990, following the the reissue of "Epic" almost a year and half after the initial release of the album. It was eventually certified platinum in America and Canada as well as being certified Silver in the United Kingdom
The writing for the majority of the music for The Real Thing took place after the tour for Introduce Yourself. A demo version of "The Morning After", under the moniker "New Improved Song", with alternate lyrics written and sung by Chuck Mosely was released on the Sounds·Waves 2 extended play with the Sounds magazine. "Surprise! You're Dead!" was composed by Jim Martin in the 1970s, while he was guitarist for Agents of Misfortune who also featured Cliff Burton in the line up. The recording of the music took place in December 1988 following Chuck Mosely's removal from the band and was completed prior to the hiring of Mike Patton, who then wrote all the lyrics for the songs and recorded them the following month over the music.
The recording sessions also garnered several songs that didn't feature on the album two of which, "The Grade" and "The Cowboy Song", later appeared on the singles and on the UK edition of Live at the Brixton Academy. A third song, "Sweet Emotion", was later rerecorded with different lyrics as "The Perfect Crime" for the soundtrack to the film that also starred a cameo appearance from guitarist Jim Martin, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The original recording having only featured on Flexible Fiend 3 with Kerrang! magazine issue 258.
* "From out of Nowhere" has been used in the video games Madden NFL 2005 and NHL 2005.
* "Epic" was featured on video games Rock Band, Burnout Paradise, SingStar and also appeared in a commercial for the console versions of Street Fighter IV, with the announcer stating about the game's "epic return".
* "Falling to Pieces" was featured on the film Black Hawk Down.
* "Surprise! You're Dead!" was included on the soundtrack for the film Gremlins 2: The New Batch and was used in the trailer for Violent Shit 3.
The Real Thing was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance category in 1989 and "Epic" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1991.
Accolades
Year ↓ Publication ↓ Country ↓ Accolade ↓ Rank ↓
1989 Kerrang! United Kingdom "Albums of the Year" 1
1989 Sounds United Kingdom "Albums of the Year" 20
1989 Villiage Voice United States "Albums of the Year" 27
1998 Kerrang! United Kingdom "Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" 50
2001 Classic Rock United Kingdom "100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever" 64
2005 Rolling Stone Germany "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" 105
2005 Robert Dimery United States 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
2006 Classic Rock & Metal Hammer United Kingdom "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 80s"
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