Faith No More released their fifth studio album King for a Day…Fool for a Lifetime 15 years ago this week in March 1995. It is fair to say that the initial reaction was muted, with a lot of critics and fans somewhat underwhelmed after the splendour of Angel Dust. However, KFAD is now regarded as a minor classic, showcasing as it does the band’s genre-hopping at its most extreme and featuring such crucial cuts as Ricochet, Evidence, Digging the Grave and the title track.
Album details
(via old.fnm.com)
King for A Day…Fool for a Lifetime
Mike Bordin – Drums
Roddy Bottum – Keyboards
Billy Gould – Bass Guitar
Mike Patton – Vocals
Guitars by Trey Spruance
1. Get Out
2. Ricochet
3. Evidence
4. The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
5. Star A.D.
6. Cuckoo for Caca
7. Caralho Voador
8. Ugly in the Morning
9. Digging the Grave
10. Take this Bottle
11. King For A Day
12. What A Day
13. The Last to Know
14. Just a Man
15. Absolute Zero/I Started a Joke/Evidence (Spanish Version)
*Album artwork by Eric Drooker.
Track 15 “I Started a Joke” is a Bee Gees song.
* – Track 15 “Absolute Zero” on Japanese release (POCD-1165).
* – Track 15 “I Started a Joke” on Brazilian release (828 655-2).
* – Track 15 “Evidence (Spanish Version)” on Argentinean release (828 671-2).
Possible writing credits – Bordin, Gould, Patton, Spruance: 3, 6, 7, 10 & 11.
Bordin, Gould, Patton: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 & 15. (Roddy receives no
writing credits on this record.) It had been previously speculated that Trey
Spruance wrote on 3, 6, 8, 12, & 13. When asked directly, Trey denied nvolvement
on “Get Out”, “Star A.D.”, “Caralho Voador”, and “Last to Know”. His account is
as follows:
“On ‘Ricochet’, a little help on vocal harmonies and inversions,
nothing big…The guitar parts for ‘Evidence’, keyboard parts
(chords, and minor chord part in the middle) for ‘Cuckoo for Caca’,
some of ‘What A Day’. ‘Ugly in the Morning’, the ending guitar riff.
On ‘Digging’ I just spiced up the chords. [For 'King for a Day'], the
climax Em D C part was mine, that’s it. ‘Just A Man’, a few
suggestions here and there. Maybe a chord turnaround or two, but
nothing major.”
“Evidence” was recorded in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Guitars on “I Started a Joke” by Dean Menta.
“Evidence (Spanish Version)” re-vocaled at Battery Studios London with Engineer
Steve Bush.
All standard album tracks produced by Andy Wallace and Faith No More.
Track 15 “I Started A Joke” produced by Billy Gould and Dean Menta.
King for a Day…Fool for a Lifetime was nominated for a Bay Area Music Award (Bammie) in the category of Best Hard Rock Album of 1995.
B Sides and Alternate Versions
1. The Morning After
2. Das Schutzenfest
3. Malpractice
4. RV (Live)
5. A Small Victory (Youth Remix)
6. Absolute Zero
3 contains a sample from Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Quartet No. 8″ as performed by
the Kronos Quartet.
4 from Dekalb, Illinois, 20.8.92
5 is the “R-evolution 23 Full Moon Mix” by Youth of Killing Joke.
1 & 3 produced by Matt Wallace and Faith No More.
2 produced by Faith No More.
6 produced by Andy Wallace and Faith No More.
Promotional disc given away in a limited edition with early copies of the
Australian pressings of King for a Day…Fool for a Lifetime [TVD93421
(RMD53421)].
Reviews
Rolling Stone
Sample quote: “Among the best cuts are “Ricochet,” a portentous anthem reminiscent of “Epic”; “Digging the Grave,” which has a grungy feel that isn’t completely ruined by Patton’s histrionic screaming; “Take This Bottle,” a country alchy ballad worthy of George Jones; and “King for a Day,” a haunting reverie anchored by Roddy Bottum’s atmospheric keyboards.”
All Music Guide
Sample quote: “King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime remains one of Faith No More’s underrated releases.”
Entertainment Weekly
Sample quote: “Archaic progressive-rock fusion, oddly out of step with the times.”
Ultimate Guitar
Sample quote: “Although it could never live up to the intensity of “Angel Dust”, this album is a lot more approachable and doesn’t disappoint.”
Addicted to Noise
Sample quote: “For the most part, Faith No More’s sound has failed to evolve. Like the great dinosaurs of the past who are now extinct, metal bands must change and adapt to new surroundings or they will eventually atrophy and die. Not choosing the humility of death by breaking up, Faith No More has essentially devolved and crawled back to the anonymity and safety of the great Primordial Lake, home to many of rock’s reluctant dinosaurs, where they will eventually, thankfully, be eaten by a shark or large snake.”
Spin
Sample quote: “Patton has finally abandoned his adenoidal Dickies whine for a more nuanced Jello Biafra-as-Tom Jones thing, which works better than you might think. Though the music still careens from genre to genre as casually as most bands go from chord to chord–there’s a song here for every radio format, and you may grow to despise the “Sukiyaki”-flavored blue-eyed-soul song “Just a Man”–King for a Day is never less than coherent, which is more than you can say for Primus.”
Band quotes
As previously mentioned on the blog, Metal Hammer’s Story Behind the Album feature on the release is a must-read for any FNM fan detailing as it does the circumstances of Jim Martin’s departure, Roddy’s problems at the time of recording and the band’s quest for musical freedom. I’ve pick-pocketed a few choice quotes from that seminal piece and a few from elsewhere below:
“What I remember most about the recording of ‘King For A Day’ was that everything was different than it had been before. In the two years before we’d done a lot of growing up but we were… we weren’t exactly in a coherent mental state when we made that album – we were all fucked up in some way. And the studio was out in the middle of a fucking forest. It was on this dirt road with nothing but the studio and the cabin for two miles. It was like sensory deprivation. But the good thing about it was we had nothing else to do but record.”
Bill Gould
“Things for me personally were going to hell. I came out. I saw some friends die. I was with Courtney Love throughout Kurt’s final months ‘cos she was a close friend and at the same time my own father died. I just holed up and had a nervous breakdown basically. I just realised I had to chose my priorities very carefully. Things like honesty and passion and art. But whilst the album was being recorded, all of that is a real blur for me ‘cos of the shit I was going through at the time. And my heroin addiction didn’t help. And the suicide of two of my friends didn’t help. Nothing helped. Things had to reach a low before I could help myself. My first impulse was to leave. But I couldn’t just let it go, it was something I helped start, it’s very important to me.”
Roddy Bottum
“It was tough with a lot of unknowns, a lot of problems in the band, a lot of insecurity and wondering if we were going to make this record. We weren’t a band for a while. Of course we wanted to continue, but there are other circumstances that play a part. We’re felt like we were getting old. You can only put up a facade for so long. You get a new guy after new guy, and it’s like, how many facelifts can you get? We’re not going to have guys drop off and get new ones, and then have Faith No More reunite. Fuck that.”
Mike Patton
“I think it’s us being us, more than anything. I think we finally had the resources to be us on this record.”
Mike Patton CMJ New Music Monthly
“We’re just trying to write in different ways. I think you just get as much power in a melody as you can out of just straight ahead discordant chord-bashing rock. There’s a different kind of tension. If there is a something I can be critical about our past records is, there isn’t as much dynamics and there isn’t a lot of slow, subtle tension. I really do want to learn how to do that as an artist and be able to develop that ability. We all do.”
Bill Gould, Faces magazine
Chart performance
Although retrospectively viewed as a flop, mainly due to us chart performance, KFAD actually peaked in the top ten of the album charts in nine major countries, scoring a number two in Australia and a number three in New Zealand.
In the US, however, the album spent only eight weeks in the Billboard Top 200 and peaked at number 31 on 14 April 1995.
The album spawned three singles Digging the Grave, Ricochet and Evidence. Digging the Grave reached number 12 in Australia and numbers 16 in the UK and New Zealand.
Videos
Digging the Grave
Ricochet (with intro by Roddy and Mike P)
Evidence
Buy it
iTunes
Thanks to Patton Archivo for the date reminder
Do you know those mini-books that go by the name of “33 1/3 Series”? Yeah, I could totally write a book about this album. This is the record I let people hear to either a: know about FNM and b: to show people just how diverse these motherfuckers are. Id say this record has had more of an impact on me than Angel Dust. Also, its March 23rd here in the US. Are you sure the date is correct for this album’s release date? March 28? Whatever the case may be, this album is great!
Wow! thanks, that was a realy GREAT post
Wooohoooo !!!
One of my favourite album!!! But Kyle’s right: we’re the 23rd today
When I first put this disk in my CD player (lol) “Get out” sounded so much like Bungle to me!!! I remember thinking “is this the direction the band is going in?” I was so upset….then I listened to the rest of the album…..WOW!!!! Still…….ANGEL DUST! Best album…by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In my opinion of course….
I know the band couldn’t have cared less about chart positions, but the album would have been Number 1 in Australia, if the first Silverchair album hadn’t been released on the same day.
The Melbourne shows in August 1995 to support the album were fantastic.
Wow, can’t believe it’s really been 15 years since KFAD came out…I remember buying it on tape! lol
It’s my personal favorite FNM album.
~Dan
I don’t know why do we always have to compare this album with “Angel Dust”. I mean, fuck it! It’s been 15 years, so “KFAD” now it’s alive by its own. It’s one of the best records of all time. And it’s pure Faith No More. “KFAD” didn’t sell well in USA? Fuck it! Mr. Bungle or Fantômas didn’t sell well there either, and they rock!
Man, I can´t believe I´ve missed your concert here in Brazil, last year…. I love you so much, follow your songs since the very beggining, it would be a dream come true to see and hear you guys alive! But my life was turning upside down then, couldn´t go anywhere. Now I´m back on my feet, very happy and anxious to see you around here again. Will it happen in this lifetime? Ashes to ashes is awsome!!! Can´t pick a favorite…
Adriana.
Excellent post about an excellent album. This is still my favourite FNM album.
I remember buying this the day it came out and listening to it non-stop for the next several months. Amazing album.
This still is my fav FNM album. King for a Day is an awesome track that I know I will never tire of….Ricohet, Evidence, Gentle Art of Making Enemies (which i never knew sounded so good live until recently), Digging the Grave, Last to Know and Just a Man…all fantastic tracks. The album really does have excellent sound quality….A truly underrated album.
Awesome post.. again another one that purchased this on tape. Cannot believe what happened to Roddy during KFAD, the concert in Sydney AUS 1995 was kick arse as always. Cheers again FNM 2.0 for this info
15 years! Wow… KFAD is still awesome to me! Each FNM album is different and that’s perfect this way. Too bad if the US public could’nt handle that. Zappa had also a larger audience in Europe too. I wonder how can the USA allows such creative artists to emerge to forget them so fast… I would not have follow Patton and FNM all these years listening only stuff sounding like Epic! 20 years ago, I was an insipid poor metalhead, FNM brought me to Bungle, Fantômas, jazz, hip-hop, John Zorn, Zappa, Secret Chiefs, world music… I’m so glad they openned so much doors to me!
I’m with Kyle. This album was and is very special to me. Also, the fan girl side of me says this is my favorite Patton era. Damn he looks good.
I absolutely love king for a day, my favourite faith no more album. Any chance of star ad for any of the san fransisco shows, would make it well worth the money i’ve smashed on flights lol.
this is why i’ll never understand the whole fnm lost something when jim martin left argument. He had a trademark sound, but for me, king for a day makes angel dust look tame in terms of being all over the place!
I never understood the Jim argument either. If anything he was holding them back, and it really showed on KFAD. I couldn’t see Jim playing Evidence, Caralho Voador, Just a Man, etc. Kicking that dude to the curb was the definitly for the best. I always what would have happened if Trey had never left. I loved his playing on this album. That’s not to say that I don’t love Jon’s work!
You know, for some reason, I had assumed a lot of people hated KFAD. It’s a tie between this album and Album of the Year for me, in terms of my favorite.
Wow! I just read the Addicted To Noise review on the album and it is obvious to me that they have no clue about music. I would love to read some more of their reviews on other bands just to see how far off they. “FNM has failed to evolve”??? Could a statement be any more false. “Metal bands must change and adapt to new surrounding”???? It sounds like it was written by a teeny bopper. You may not like FNM and that is fine, but to say that they have not evolved and changed you seriously have to be retarded.
KFAD in my mind is their best album. It covers everything. It has something for everyone. It covers every genre of music. It shows the individual capabilities of each member of the band and they really pushed the envelope with this one.
Oh and by the way, I was glad when Jim Martin left the band. I actually really liked Dean Menta as their guitarist.
this is an awesome post…kept me busy for an hour and smiling the whole time.
Aleem-I enjoyed Dean as well…seeing them in 95 was such a weird experience…granted, I loved Jim’s bad ass stance when he just stood there, stone still and rocked out…but seeing Dean jumping all over the place was such a breath of fresh air…he was great while he lasted.
I have listed to KFAD since it came out in 95, reminds me of my youth! Friends ask how I can listen to the same band that long but they just do not and will not get that I hate raido music, passionately!!
As far as Jim is concerned, glad his is gone. After seeing interviews of what a pain he was I think he was holding the band back since he didn’t get the vision they were moving towards! San Fran shows can’t get here fast enough!!
I always wear the KFAD t shirt to every concert I attend (tradition) and I always get stopped by fans! Even recently at a U2 concert of all places! I can’t believe I can actually wear it to a FNM show come July!!! Amazing album….. Just a tad behing my fave Angel Dust IMO. Really great post ADMIN
Good grief that’s a lot of info
I have to give Roddy a lot of credit for being there for the album, with all that was happening around him. It still amazes me – if it were me I’d probably have to shut down for a while. He obviously has a strong personality and a good work ethic. Kind of the opposite of Jim, it seems. Or maybe Jim would have been more of a sport if the band was going in a direction that was more agreeable to him.
… I am still mystified as to why they decided to get back together at this particular time, after all of these years. The reason was never really explained. But whatever it is, it’s good enough for me
I remember listening to this cd on my friends Aiwai… do they still make those ?? Did I even spell it right?
I actually didn’t like it at first listen but it became my favorite and most played album of all time. And now my 11 year old son loves it as well. A true classic.
Speaking of Roddy…when I saw them in Toronto for KFAD he played guitar (rhythm?) on Diggin The Grave. It was fantastic! Not sure why that isn’t still happening. Anyway, I hear ya Firsa. Roddy was going through a hard time during the process of that album and it’s creation. Album of the year is a solid follow up. He shines on that album. Love it all!!!!!
I’m a huge fan of Jim Martin’s guitar work (his solo on “The Cowboy Song” is one of my favorite ever), but there’s really no way he could have stayed, since he wanted to keep going in one direction and the other guys wanted to go in another. He’ll always be my favorite FNM guitarist, but I’ll agree that the band couldn’t move on to where they wanted with him in the band.
I’ve always wondered who played the trumpet (or whatever that is) in Star AD. I thought it was Trey bc he did that in Mr Bungle’s old days, but he didn’t seem to claim credit for it.
I’d also like to know who’s in the choir for Just A Man.
Best album ever, period
Love this album. I completely don’t understand such negative reviews.For me it’s masterpiece didn’t get old at all.
That was a great post. I love all FNM albums all different with their own charms, KFAD and Angel Dust are favorites but I didn’t know KFAD charted as high as they did in New Zealand, very cool.
So, as Thiago asked, who played the sax (or trumpet?) in Star A.D. and who’s in the choir for Just A Man. Star A.D. is one of my favorite song, too bad they don’t play it. I don’t even know if they ever played it live…
I was always under the impression that it was Roddy doing some keyboard action. Maybe I read it somewhere. Anyhoo, that’s my guess!
Unless I missed it, mention of I Want to F*#@$ Myself and Spanish Eyes was left out of this post. Both came out of these recording sessions and I think are avaiable on the Richochet single.
Oh,…and Greenfields too…released on another single.
Greenfields and Spanish Eyes were on the Collector’s Box edition apparently
Yeah, I’m 95% positive that both Spanish Eyes and I Want To Fuck Myself were on the Ricochet single.
As for the horns on Star A.D., I think I recall reading an interview with one of the band members (maybe Billy?) where he said that they were actual horns in the song, not keyboards. I always just figured they brought in session musicians to record them.
There’s a lot of information about the making of this album on this interview:
http://www.scaruffi.com/interv/fnm.html
Enjoy!
Interesting quotes from Tret reflecting years later about the making of the album from some interviews I’ve collected:
” You might have guessed that I don’t like much of the music on that record at all. I do love Billy Gould’s “Just a Man”, and have always tended to like his musical ideas overall. But something happened to the balance of forces in FNM on KFAD, something not very good. Having been a fan since 1985, I knew no one was inspired in the way I knew they had been once before. The reasons for that are depressing, considering the talent in the band. Anyway, my proudest personal moment in making that CD is probably speed-scoring the string parts on it; no one had realized that the hired string players would need to have written parts until they were in the studio staring at the band members… ha! ” – from markprindle.com
“I like the last song. My proudest moment on that album was actually trying convince Billy that that song HAD to be on the album. He accidently played part of it when he was searching a cassette of his ideas, and I made him rewind and play the whole thing for me. He writes a lot of great stuff like that, but I guess doesn’t think it’s any good. Isn’t that ridiculous? If I had ruled faith No More, I would have made Billy the main songwriter and Roddy the arranger for the more poppy stuff. In other words, it should have been those guys plus Puffy in a room hashing things out, with the guitar coming in very late, and the vocals coming in right at the end of the process. That’s the only way that band could work. And from what I can tell it was always GREAT when it was like that. ” from some Q&A from Bungle Weird
“Billy, at the time, was in a screwed up mindset. Patton – he can exert a lot of influence over people, and those guys had their balls in a vice. They were in a tough fucking spot. It basically became clear to me why Patton didn’t want me to be in the band after a while. He was incredibly hard to get along with in that band environment, and I’d honestly never seen that side of him in Mr. Bungle. We’d never dealt with that. Patton and I have butted heads over the years, but just as friends. It’s nothing that I saw in a band context. But man, that’s not a side of him that I want to deal with. ” from Perfect Pitch Online
By my count, there were 6 b-sides for this album. I wonder if the original intent (prior to the poor album sales) was to release a more widely released EP with these songs like they did on the Songs to Make Love To EP after Angel Dust.
Alex, I’m surprised you found some interviews with Trey that were actually comprehendible! He can be a little verbose…
I know! He gets all confusing, specially when talking about the background of Secret Chiefs….
Bsides:
-Absolute zero
-I started a joke
-Greenfields
-Spanish Eyes
-I wanna fuck myself
There were some live b-sides too.
And recorded on this sessions, but not released until Who Cares A Lot?:
-Hippie Jam Song (I asked Billy about this one)
-I Won’t Forget You
I have an interview with Gould in a magasine from the time of KFAD where he says that all volcals, including the choir in Just A Man, is Patton.
I can`t say this is my fave because I love them all!
Thanks 3d-Alex, the interview is a great one and there’s the answer for Star AD. I’m curious about the stories behind the b-side songs. Anything about it?
How would we all list album in order. Most fav to least fav
1. Angel Dust
2. KFAD
3. The Real Thing
4. Album of the Year
5. Introduce yourself
6. We care alot
Any takers…….