Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Faith No More and "Midlife Crisis"

Guest author Kevin Alexander of the brilliant "On Repeat Records" newsletter joins Chart Chat to discuss "Midlife Crisis," a track many consider to be Faith No More's most "epic" song

Matt Madurski

and

Kevin Alexander

Jul 07, 2024

Faith No More - “Midlife Crisis”

Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 1 week (August 8, 1992)

Previous Modern Rock #1 hit: The B-52’s - “Good Stuff”

Next Modern Rock #1 hit: Morrissey - “Tomorrow”

Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:

Madonna - “This Used To Be My Playground” (1 week, 8/8/92)

Editor’s note: It gives me great pleasure to welcome

Kevin Alexander

of the brilliant and enjoyable
On Repeat Records
to discuss this week’s Modern Rock Tracks chart topper, Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis.” Kevin describes
On Repeat Records
as “a newsletter for serious music fans looking to level up their listening. Every week, we shine a light on future classics and forgotten gems. We're also home to a thriving community eager to share their latest favorite records and hear what yours are.”

Thanks all for reading along, and enjoy! — Matt M.

One night in the early 2000s, I was shocked to tune in to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and see Regis Philbin introduce Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin as he was getting to play. This wasn't a celebrity version or similar — he was a regular contestant.

To this day, it remains one of my favorite examples of rock-and-roll weirdness.

Several years before that, the band’s record, “The Real Thing,” had parachuted into our lives and taken over. Most people in my circle knew the record inside and out. Anyone I knew who dared call themselves a guitarist was busy trying to emulate Jim Martin’s riffs. Mike Patton’s shaved-on-the-sides and long-on-top haircut suddenly became popular at my school. And me? I was fascinated by the muscular style of Bordin’s drumming.

At one point, the band appeared on “Saturday Night Live” playing their (then) hit “Epic.” My friends and all I loved the show, but that night we were really there for the music. On the other side of the screen, the band was exactly what the label said: bombastic, atmospheric, talented, all trying to keep up with the whirlwind that is Mike Patton.

To this day, it remains one of my favorite instances of appointment viewing.

“The Real Thing” was not Faith No More’s debut record, of course — it was their third — but it might as well have been. Like a Tarantino movie, millions were introduced to the band’s discography out of sequence, with “We Care a Lot” and “Introduce Yourself” showing up retroactively. By the time most of us hit the on-ramp, frontman Chuck Mosley was already long gone, replaced by Patton, a singer whose energy was matched only by his vocal range. The opener, “From Out of Nowhere,” is a high voltage number and the template from which all opening tracks should draw their influence.

If that record signaled a shift from the metal funk of the Mosely era, 1992’s “Angel Dust” represented a clean break. “Angel Dust” was a swirling mix of the beautiful and the beastly. Of loud sounds and quiet roars. And nowhere are all those moving parts better corralled than on “Midlife Crisis,” Faith No More’s first and only Modern Rock Tracks chart topper.

Legend has it that the song was initially inspired by Madonna and her career dip in the early ‘90s. I've never heard that confirmed or denied with 100 percent certainty, but it’s on-brand for a band like Faith No More.

The song starts with a drum intro that, in this writer’s opinion, is one of the best of the era. There’s also a sample of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” embedded in the mix (how’s that for juxtaposition?), but the main driver is all Bordin.

It only gets better from there.

The track gives Patton free reign to explore every corner of his range. It’s a vaguely menacing whisper at the start, as if he’s an inch away, talking to the side of your neck. He then goes full lounge singer before exploding into triumphant highs. Meanwhile, Martin and keyboardist Roddy Bottom are in perfect harmony, sharing space and blazing new ground together. Bordin and bassist Billy Gould are so in the pocket that one feels like you owe them change.

If a track like “From Out of Nowhere” was a statement, “Midlife Crisis” was a mandate. A track fully formed, compelling you to stop what you're doing and listen.

For four-plus minutes, the band whips the listener through an incredible rollercoaster ride that, thirty-plus years later, is still as thrilling as ever. I played the track on repeat while writing this and realized more than once that I wasn’t typing but instead drumming along.

This song may have been about a pop star’s failing career, but it is Faith No More at its peak. The multiple styles here represent the anything-goes ethos of the early ‘90s well. It’s a song jocks, goths, and everyone in between could love. And we did. There was something for everyone here. I mentioned the sample of “Cecilia,” and that’s one of two on the track. The other? The Beastie Boys’ “Car Thief.” In a world now less concerned with genres and labels, it’s hard to describe just how big of a feat this was to pull off. When you don’t fit in with any group, you have nothing to lose. Faith No More didn’t, and with tracks like this, they put it all on the line.

Today, with most of us now old enough to have gone through one, “Midlife Crisis” consistently locks up the top spot on “best Faith No More song” lists and is the answer many give when asked their favorite.

A large part of that depends on how good it still sounds. Tracks like “Epic” are rooted firmly in the early ‘90s, whereas if you didn’t know any better, you might be hard-pressed to name the year this was released.

In the interest of objectivity, I should try to find something wrong with the song or at least something that represents an opportunity for improvement. The best I can come up with is that I wish there were another Bordin solo in here and a pithy comment that maybe it’s not long enough. Really, it’s just that good.

So, with that all said, what rating would I give Faith No More’s "Midlife Crisis”?

I'd give it a 9.5.

Final answer.

Rating: 9.5/10

My thanks to

Kevin Alexander

for taking the time to write this week’s “Chart Chat” article. Please take a moment to visit his Substack and subscribe:
On Repeat Records
.

Chart Chat frequently welcomes guest authors to share their thoughts on Modern Rock Tracks #1 hits, while promoting some of the best music writing on Substack. Here’s a list of previous guest authors:

Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period

Not a lot of turnover in the charts when you have a song that tops the charts for one week, so I’m really digging deep here for some decent tracks. Two out of three ain’t bad, as both INXS and Del Amitri bring some solid music to the table this week. And Suicidal Tendencies charted as well. Good for them.

“Heaven Sent” by INXS (#2): By 1992, INXS may have faded from the pop charts, but they were still a legitimate powerhouse in the alternative rock space. That said, “Heaven Sent” is an odd outlier in the band’s otherwise stellar catalog. The lead singe off “Welcome to Wherever You Are” enjoyed a meteoric rise to #2 in five weeks on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, then plunged the following week all the way down to #24. The song was off the charts one week later. Though the song didn’t get an official U.S. release as a single, the airplay power of this song on alternative radio catapulted it almost all the way to the top.

“Always The Last To Know” by Del Amitri (#11): Like most folks in the U.S., I know Del Amitri because of their Billboard Hot 100 top-10 hit “Roll To Me,” but before they became pop-crossover successes, Del Amitri was turning out alternative rock hits. One of those tracks, “Always The Last To Know,” peaked at #11 on the MRT chart behind Faith No More, and it’s a legit decent track. They sound far more polished and mature in this track, which also notched a #30 peak on the Hot 100.

“Asleep At The Wheel” by Suicidal Tendencies (#21): Maybe there’s more to this band’s discography that makes it appealing, but this one just didn’t do much for me. That said, Suicidal Tendencies did hit a high-water mark on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with “Asleep At The Wheel,” which peaked at #21 behind “Midlife Crisis.”