Angel Dust (Faith No More album)

Angel Dust is the fourth studio album by American rock band Faith No More, released on June 16, 1992, by Slash and Reprise Records. It is the follow-up to 1989's highly successful The Real Thing, and was the band's final album to feature guitarist Jim Martin. It was also the first album where vocalist Mike Patton had any substantial influence on the band's music,<ref name=zonrod /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> having been hired after the other band members had written and recorded everything for The Real Thing except vocals and most of the lyrics.<ref name=reflex25>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=bamfeb2693 /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The band stated that they wanted to move away from the funk metal style of their prior releases, towards a more "theatrical" sound.<ref name="bg"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Angel Dust is Faith No More's second best-selling album to date, having sold over 3.1 million copies worldwide. It also debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200, making it the band's only top-ten album in the United States having sold 715,000 copies as of January 2025. The album landed as the 48th highest selling record of 1992 in all of Europe going Gold in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway. Angel Dust also had big success in Canada (Platinum) and Brazil (Platinum), Australia (Gold). There were 5 singles released from the album: Midlife Crisis, A Small Victory, Everything's Ruined, Easy and Be Aggressive (Europe only).

Background, title and artwork

Following the success of their previous album The Real Thing and its subsequent tour, Faith No More took a break for a year and a half before beginning work on the follow-up, Angel Dust. During this time Mike Patton rejoined his high-school band Mr. Bungle to record their eponymous debut album.<ref name=metmans-dec92>Template:Cite web</ref> They decided not to "play it safe" and instead took a different musical direction,<ref name=agnelofweird>Template:Cite web</ref> much to the dismay of guitarist Jim Martin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Martin also did not like the title of the album as chosen by keyboardist Roddy Bottum. In an interview taken while they were in the studio he said that "Roddy [Bottum] wanted to name it Angel Dust, I don't know why, I just want you to know that if it's named Angel Dust, it didn't have anything to do with me."<ref>The Making of Angel Dust, Jim Martin interview. MTV. Retrieved December 22, 2007</ref> He also stated that Bottum was the one who came up with a basic concept of a bird front cover and a meat locker back cover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Bottum stated that he chose the name because it "summed up what [they] did perfectly" in that "it's a really beautiful name for a really hideous drug and that should make people think."<ref name=zonrod>Template:Cite web</ref> Similarly, the artwork contrasted one beautiful image with a gruesome one by depicting a soft blue airbrushed great egret on the front cover (photographed by Werner Krutein) while on the back is an image of a cow hanging on a meat hook (created by Mark Burnstein).<ref name=dusted /> Both bassist Billy Gould and Mike Bordin said that the image on the rear of the album is not based on support for vegetarianism but rather a preview of the music, suggesting its combination of being "really aggressive and disturbing and then really soothing", the "beautiful with the sick".<ref name=metmans-dec92 /><ref name=dusted>Template:Cite web</ref>

The photo of a group of Russian soldiers with the band members' faces inserted was edited by Werner Krutein and used as the cover of the "Midlife Crisis" single. The band had originally planned for this but then did not like the final product.<ref name=metmans-dec92 /> Mike Bordin described the situation:

Writing and recording

Writing process

The writing for Angel Dust took up most of 1991<ref name=chriazi81>Template:Harvnb</ref> with large portion of the songs being written by either Billy Gould, Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin, and for the first time, Mike Patton.<ref name=zonrod /><ref name=reflex25 /><ref name=chriazi81 /> Regarding this Patton said:

Some attributed this to its sonic difference with its predecessors, however, Mike Patton credits it to being "better at playing what [they] hear in [their] heads"<ref name=reflex25 /> and went on to say that "before, we used to kinda cheat around, and play around what it was. We could never translate it into the band, and we're getting better at doing that. Like, we wanted to do a real lazy, sappy kinda ballad, so we covered the theme from Midnight Cowboy! And there's even a song that sounds like The Carpenters!"<ref name=reflex25 /> In a trend that started when then-vocalist Chuck Mosley lived in Los Angeles while the rest of the band resided in the Bay Area, the band would record demo tapes of the songs and exchange them between each other in Los Angeles before sending them to Jim Martin so that he could work on his guitar arrangements, after which he would send them back for approval.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Album producer Matt Wallace stated there was a great deal of tension between Jim Martin and the rest of the band that made the recording sessions difficult. Speaking on the acrimony, Wallace said:

The lyrics for Angel Dust were written for the most part by vocalist Mike Patton. He got his inspiration for the lyrics from many different places such as questions from the Oxford Capacity Analysis, fortune cookies and late-night television. After engaging in a sleep deprivation experiment, he wrote "Land of Sunshine" and "Caffeine":<ref name=reflex25 /> Patton added that, "I drove around a lot in my Honda, drove to a real bad area of town, parked and just watched people. Coffee shops and white-trash diner-type places were great for inspiration."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patton described "RV" as being a character sketch based on the "white-trash" people he was observing during the making of the album. He said in 1992, "it's the white trash saga: You wake up, you do nothing and you talk a lot of shit... and that's what the song does."<ref name="az">Template:Cite web</ref>

Songs with lyricists other than Patton include "Be Aggressive" by Roddy Bottum (about fellatio);<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Everything's Ruined", by Mike Patton and Billy Gould; "Kindergarten" by Mike Patton and Roddy Bottum; and "Jizzlobber", by Jim Martin and Mike Patton, which according to Patton, is about his fear of imprisonment. However, Gould, in response to a question by a fan, suggested that the song is about a porn star.<ref name=agnelofweird /> "Be Aggressive" has homosexual undertones, with Bottum having come out as gay around this time. He said in December 1992 that "what I like about 'Be Aggressive' is that even though it's macho in a homosexual way, lots of FNM listeners probably imagine that it is a woman who is getting down on her knees and swallowing rather than a man. I guess it's easier for people to understand and deal with it that way."<ref name="vox"/>

In addition to exploring instrumental film music with their cover of the Midnight Cowboy theme, the band was experimenting with doing other songs in non-rock genres during this time, including country music on "RV" (which had a working title of "Country Western"), German polka music on the B-side "Das Schützenfest" and R&B/soul music on the bonus track "Easy", which was a cover of the 1977 Commodores song.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ad29">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They would continue to explore doing songs in different genres on their next two releases, with 1995's King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime having a significant number of tracks which weren't written in the style of rock songs.<ref name="foll">Template:Cite web</ref> In an August 1992 interview, Gould said "we don't play any style of music that you can put your finger on" and that "we don't have to be a heavy metal band". He added that, "in a way, it is kind of bad when I say that because a lot of heavy metal people [get] pissed off".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Recording process

For the recording of Angel Dust, Faith No More were once again assisted by Matt Wallace, who had produced all of the group's previous studio recordings. They entered Coast Recorders in late 1991, originally set to track a total of 17 songs; however after writing two more while in studio ("Malpractice" being one of them), a total of 19 were recorded.<ref name=making-MBinter /><ref name="bg">The Making of Angel Dust, Billy Gould interview. MTV. Retrieved February 26, 2008</ref> At that time, the final song titles had not been chosen so they were often referred to by the following working titles, some of which continued to be used internally by the band, including on their live set lists:

• "Triplet" – "Caffeine"
• "Madonna" – "Midlife Crisis"
• "Macaroni and Cheese", "Country Western Song" – "RV"
• "Arabic", "The Arabian Song" – "Smaller and Smaller"<ref name=creammmtae>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "F Sharp" – "Kindergarten"
• "I Swallow" – "Be Aggressive"<ref name=creammmtae/>
• "Japanese" – "A Small Victory"
• "Action Adventure" – "Crack Hitler"
• "The Sample Song" – "The World Is Yours"
• "The Carpenters Song" – "Everything's Ruined"
• "The Funk Song" – "Land of Sunshine"
• "The Shuffle Song"/"Seagull Song" – Unpublished recording.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

While 13 tracks were released on the standard album, the sessions also produced a cover of the Commodores' "Easy", a reworking of the previously recorded 1985 track "As the Worm Turns", and a song called "The World Is Yours". In 1992-93, "Easy" and the re-recorded version of "As the Worm Turns" were both included on certain editions of Angel Dust, in addition to appearing on other releases such as EPs and singles. Aside from featuring Mike Patton instead of their earlier singer Chuck Mosley, one of the major differences between the 1985 "As the Worm Turns" and the re-recording is the incorporation of DJ scratches on the newer version. "The World Is Yours" was posthumously released on the band's first compilation album Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits, which came out in October 1998, six months after Faith No More's original split. While the songs "Das Schutzenfest" and the Dead Kennedys cover "Let's Lynch the Landlord" were both released along with "Easy" on an EP in late 1992, at least one of these songs was not actually recorded during the Angel Dust sessions: "Let's Lynch the Landlord" was recorded in Bill Gould's bedroom<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and produced by the band,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> prior to the Angel Dust sessions, for Virus 100, a Dead Kennedys tribute album. While it is unclear as to whether or not "Das Schutzenfest" is from the Angel Dust sessions, Matt Wallace is listed as the engineer for this song<ref name="ReferenceA">"Songs to Make Love To", album credits</ref> but is given no producer credit (in contrast with the co-producer credit he is given for Angel Dust). Their cover of "Let's Lynch the Landlord" was done in the style of a lounge song, although the original Dead Kennedys version was a punk song.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When the album was being written in 1991, the band went on a month-long tour of Argentina, Brazil and Japan,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where they debuted early versions of "The World Is Yours," "RV," and "Caffeine". This run of shows occurred between August and October 1991, and ended with a single show in Oakland, California on October 12, 1991, as part of the Day on the Green festival. The first performances of "The World Is Yours" and "RV" came during an August 31, 1991 concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the two songs would go on to be played several more times during the mini-tour, with "Caffeine" added during the tour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The other songs from the Angel Dust sessions only started being performed live in 1992. To date, the 1991 performances of "The World Is Yours" remain the only times the song is known to have been played live.

Samples

There were many samples used on Angel Dust, to the point that it was called a "gratuitous"<ref name=bamfeb2693>Template:Cite web</ref> amount and record label executives were concerned about the volume of samples used.<ref name=reflex25 /> They came from such sources as Simon and Garfunkel, Diamanda Galás, Z'EV, and The Wizard of Oz.<ref name=reflex25 /> The Simon and Garfunkel sample is from the first bar of their song "Cecilia" and appears throughout the drum track of "Midlife Crisis". "Malpractice" contains a four-second sample of the second movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 as performed by the Kronos Quartet, on their album Black Angels; track 8, "Allegro molto", at 2:10. It features in four points towards the end of the song at 2:56, 3:02, 3:22 and 3:26. Many of the original samples used in the songs were recorded by Roddy on a Digital Audio Tape recorder whilst "just whilst wandering out and about".<ref name=kerrangrodagainstthe /> "Crack Hitler", as well as featuring samples of sirens in the background,<ref name=reflex25 /> features a sample in the intro of Iris Lettieri reading a flight announcement at the Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She then tried to sue the band for using her voice without permission.<ref name=kerrangrodagainstthe>Template:Cite web</ref> There are also samples of aboriginal chanting, amongst the sound effects from Sound Ideas, in the background of "Smaller and Smaller".<ref name=rollingstone>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Also, a brief succession of sounds, including a police car siren and a warp noise, similar to what Frank Zappa abundantly made use of on his album Joe's Garage is recognizable in the song "A Small Victory". The song "Midlife Crisis" contains a sample of "Car Thief" by the Beastie Boys. The intro of "Caffeine" features sounds of animals, of which monkeys and a wolf can be distinguished. The B-side "The World Is Yours" features the most samples of any of the songs on the album by far, and was even referred to as "The Sample Song" by the band. The intro alone features a death sentence by rapid fire (the words "Aim. Fire!" can be heard), and an elephant. The bridge of the song includes a recording of R. Budd Dwyer's suicide that was broadcast in 1987.

"Be Aggressive" has cheerleaders chanting the song title throughout the verses. These chants were made specifically for the album, rather than being samples, and featured four 15 to 17 year old cheerleaders (who performed the song live with the band in 1992).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The chants were meant to resemble cheerleaders cheering on a football team, even though the protagonist in the song is someone performing oral sex.<ref name="vox">Template:Cite web</ref> Some would later note similarities between "Be Aggressive" and Marilyn Manson's 2003 song "mOBSCENE", which had cheerleaders repeatedly chanting "Be Obscene".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Touring and promotion

Faith No More started the tour to promote Angel Dust shortly after the album's completion on the European leg of the Use Your Illusion Tour with Guns N' Roses and Soundgarden,<ref name=lobgroad>Template:Cite web</ref> which Bottum described as a "complete European vacation" due to their light concert schedule.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In an interview taken on June 6, 1992, Billy said: Template:Cquote They continued on this tour through the North America leg with Guns N' Roses and Metallica,<ref name=lobgroad /> before being fired from the tour<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and splitting off on their own European tour. It included shows in Finland, Sweden,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Denmark, Norway, seven performances from November 4–11 in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, 3 more performances in Germany, Belgium, Germany again, the Netherlands. For the European shows, they were supported by the female fronted band L7. They then toured the British Isles, and continued to be supported by L7. They toured Wales, England, where they played at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on November 23, then performed for three nights straight at the Brixton Academy from November 25–27 and on the following night at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, before going through Ireland<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Scotland, where they played the first 4 nights of December in the Barrowland Ballroom. The band then went back through England, Belgium, had 3 performances from the December 8–10 in France, 3 performances from the December 12–14 in Spain, France again, Italy, Switzerland and Austria again before having a break for Christmas and New Year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On January 13, 1993, they performed "Midlife Crisis" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which was taped in Burbank, California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They began touring America again in mid January 1993 in Seattle, Washington,<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> and finishing in Utah a month later in mid February.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From April to May 1993, the band embarked on a run of shows in the Pacific, first playing in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then on the islands of Guam and Saipan (which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands).<ref name="fnmlive93"/><ref name="015goul"/> These run of concerts concluded with a four show tour of Japan, a thirteen show tour of Australia and a two show tour of New Zealand (that was later extended to five shows).<ref name="fnmlive93"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Australian tour covered seven of the eight states and territories in the country, including the island state of Tasmania.<ref name="fnmlive93"/> The only state/territory that wasn't covered in the Australian tour was the remote Northern Territory.<ref name="fnmlive93"/> Following the performances in these countries, the band was going to tour Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia in mid-May 1993, but cancelled these planned shows and instead did another three concerts on New Zealand's South Island.<ref name="fnmlive93">Template:Cite web</ref> While in Guam during April 1993, Gould remembered that they went to a military bar that was showing hardcore pornography on the televisions, saying that later this bar started playing a karaoke version of "I Started a Joke", by British-Australian group the Bee Gees. A few years later, Faith No More released a studio cover of "I Started a Joke", with Gould claiming that the experience in Guam had inspired them to record the cover. He recalled in 2015, "it was like God speaking to us: 'You have to do this song.'"<ref name="015goul">Template:Cite web</ref>

The band returned to Europe for a show in Germany on May 29 and the following day in Vienna then in Budapest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On June 2 they played at Rotterdam Ahoy followed by 4 performances in Germany from June 3–7 and one in Slovakia on June 10. On June 14 and June 16, they played their first shows in Russia and the newly independent nation of Slovenia.<ref name="fnmlive93"/> Towards the end of June they performed on individual nights in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Portugal<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> then a few days later on July 3–4 in Torhout and Werchter, Belgium followed by one last show in Germany, on July 9, and a headline show at Ruisrock Festival in Turku, Finland July 10 before the final show of the tour in Stratford Upon Avon on July 17.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The July 17, 1993 show was their last where Jim Martin was a member, with the final song of the set being "Epic".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band had planned to tour Peru, Brazil and Venezuela in August 1993,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but these dates were cancelled due to the issues with Martin.<ref>Faith No More - MTV Na Estrada documentary, 1995. MTV Brasil. [1]</ref> The band did not perform another show until early 1995, after their next album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime had been recorded.

Live performances and setlists

Despite reportedly being unhappy with the band's change in direction on Angel Dust, Martin has since claimed that he was pleased with their live performances on the Angel Dust tour. He said in 2012, "live performances were always very strong. From my perspective, we came across a lot heavier than the records. Over time, the chord progressions and the arrangements would morph in subtle ways that would make the set heavier than the studio version."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The songs "Malpractice" and "Smaller and Smaller" were rarely or never played on the Angel Dust tour and subsequent tours. "Malpractice" would be performed a few times during the band's Second Coming Tour in 2009, before again being dropped from their setlist in following years. It has been claimed that "Malpractice" and "Smaller and Smaller" were both performed twice on the Angel Dust tour, although the details of these performances are in question, and no live recordings have ever surfaced.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="rev"/> In a 2012 interview, Gould stated that they didn't perform "Smaller and Smaller" since it was mid-tempo in nature, and having too many of those types of songs in their setlist would make their shows "boring". Gould said, "for some reason or another, we tend to gravitate towards what is called 'mid-tempo' in our writing... In other words, songs that are not fast, but not exactly ballads either." He added that, "'Smaller and Smaller' while pretty grandiose in concept, always felt too long and too plodding to even consider doing live. And truth be told, we were never quite as attached to that one as some of the others."<ref name="rev"/>

During the tour, the band's intro music included "The Final Countdown" by Europe, "Foreplay" by Boston, "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer and the "Theme From Shaft" by Isaac Hayes, with the band also once using the theme music from the television series Get Smart.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At their late 1991 shows in Japan and South America, they used Toto's Dune soundtrack song "Big Battle" as intro music. For outro music, they used "Garden" by Pearl Jam and "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra at two separate shows in 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Faith No More covered snippets of various different songs from other artists during the touring cycle, including "Bad" by Michael Jackson, "Bring Me Edelweiss" by Edelweiss, "Christianity Is Stupid" by Negativeland, "The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" by Ween, "Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic, "Finally" by CeCe Peniston, "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue, "Ha Ha Ha" by Flipper, "In Heaven" by David Lynch, "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam, "Jump Around" by House of Pain, "Keep on Loving You" by REO Speedwagon, "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Mistadobalina" by Del tha Funky Homosapien, "My Name Is Prince" by Prince, "Outshined" by Soundgarden, "Saturday Night" by The Bay City Rollers, "Sex Bomb" by Flipper, "Skinflowers" by The Young Gods, "So What'cha Want" by the Beastie Boys, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, "Street Tuff" by Rebel MC, "Turned Out" by Helmet, "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors, "Two Tickets to Paradise" by Eddie Money, "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith, "Warm It Up" by Kris Kross, "Forward Ever Backward Never" by WestBam, "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's, "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by The New Kids on the Block.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patton would later do a full cover of "Under the Bridge" with his other band Mr. Bungle, as part of a 1999 Halloween concert parodying the Red Hot Chili Peppers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Like on their previous tour for The Real Thing, Faith No More covered songs from commercials by Nestlé and German candy company Haribo during this tour.<ref name="stats">Template:Cite web</ref> At a September 1991 show in Brazil, the band also covered a soccer chant; further, at several 1993 shows, they included covers of Angelo Badalamenti's theme to the television series Twin Peaks.<ref name="bra">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Critical reception and legacy

Angel Dust was met with extensive critical acclaim. One critic wrote that the album is "one of the more complex and simply confounding records ever released by a major label"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and similarly, another called it "the most uncommercial follow-up to a hit record ever".<ref name="weekly" /> After hearing the album, the band's label warned them that releasing the album would be "commercial suicide".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The single "A Small Victory" is described as a song "which seems to run Madame Butterfly through Metallica and Nile Rodgers, reveals a developing facility for combining unlikely elements into startlingly original concoctions".<ref name="trouser press">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The songs "Malpractice" and "Jizzlobber" have been called "art-damaged death metal" and "nerve-frazzling apocalyptic rock" by contrast with the "accordion-propelled" Midnight Cowboy theme cover that follows.<ref name="rolling" /> AllMusic calls the album a "bizarro masterpiece", citing the vocals as "smarter and more accomplished" than its predecessor The Real Thing.<ref name="allmusic" /> It gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it one of their album picks.<ref name="allmusic" /> Kerrang! was less enthusiastic, considering Angel Dust's variety of styles "a personality disorder, of sorts, which undermines its potential greatness."<ref name="kerrang" /> In 1992, Spin commented that "there are slow, scary songs, and not as much funk-metal thrash as the average fan would expect."<ref name="sep">Template:Cite web</ref> Entertainment Weekly gave it a B rating in 1992, commenting "is Angel Dust a brave slap in the face of record sales or a self-conscious attempt to unnerve newfound fans? Whatever it is, at least it’s not boring."<ref name="weekly"/>

The album was also called an "Album of the Year" in 1992 by seven different publications in four countries, making the top 10 in three of them and the top position in one, and was also named the "Most Influential Album of all Time" by Kerrang! despite an initially lukewarm review.<ref name=kerr50infl/> Brad Filicky of CMJ New Music Report praised the album in 2003, reflecting, "Faith No More was often lumped in with the funk metal masses that were so popular in the early 90s, but after the success of The Real Thing, the group's first album with Mike Patton, FNM grew tired of the trappings and limitations of the genre. So, rather than release that era's equivalent of Significant Other, the band flipped the script entirely and dropped an experimental bombshell on the scene."<ref name="cmj">Template:Cite web</ref> The 2009 book Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal describes the album as "a notoriously difficult album to listen to aside from the radio-friendly cover of the Commodores' 'Easy'."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Angel Dust as 65th on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a 2018 Louder Sound article, Hoobastank singer Doug Robb listed it as one of the ten albums that changed his life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oceansize frontman Mike Vennart has also named it one of the albums that changed his life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance labelled it as a "glorious record" in 2016.<ref name="culturecreature.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2023, Rolling Stone ranked the album's second track, "Caffeine", at number 55 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time" list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Alex Tefler of The Philadelphia Inquirer refers to Angel Dust as "one of the most deliriously strange records ever to appear on a major label."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Covers

In February 2001, it was announced that Disturbed would be contributing a cover of "Midlife Crisis" for an upcoming Faith No More tribute album,<ref name="mtv">Template:Cite web</ref> and in April 2001, Disturbed covered the song live twice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The tribute album was additionally set to include covers by Fear Factory, Papa Roach and Taproot, but it never came to fruition due to issues between the different record labels of these bands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Disturbed's cover of "Midlife Crisis" was eventually released in 2009, through Covered, A Revolution in Sound, a covers album by various artists released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Warner Bros. Records, the parent label of both Disturbed and Faith No More.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Disturbed's cover was also included on their own rarities album in 2011, titled The Lost Children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2002, a different tribute album for Faith No More was released by Underground Inc., titled Tribute of the Year. This tribute album featured mostly independent artists, rather than the more well-known artists announced for the cancelled 2001 tribute album. It included covers of "Everything's Ruined" by Daiquiri, "Kindergarten" by The Drowning Session, "Malpractice" by The Rib, "Be Aggressive" by Sump Pumps, "Jizzlobber" by Grim Faeries and "A Small Victory" by Germ Theory. "Midlife Crisis" was covered twice on the album; by Bile and Sickend, while the Angel Dust outtake "The World Is Yours" was also covered on the album by The Donkey Punch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2002, Norwegian symphonic black metal band Trail of Tears covered "Caffeine", as a bonus track for their album A New Dimension of Might.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2003, American heavy metal band Machine Head released a cover of "Jizzlobber".<ref>https://blabbermouth.net/news/machine-head-cover-songs-posted-online</ref> Lullaby versions of "Easy", "Midlife Crisis", "A Small Victory" and "Kindergarten" were released in 2014 by music collective Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star, as part of an album of lullaby covers for Faith No More.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, "Midlife Crisis" was covered by Breaking in a Sequence, a band formed by ex-Korn drummer David Silveria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Bonus discs

There were several different bonus discs released with various editions and formats of the album.

Free Concert in the Park

This disc came with the third and fourth pressings of the Australian release, it contains four tracks labeled to be from a free concert at Munich, Germany on November 9, 1992. Although the date is correct, the venue is not, as it was recorded at Grugahalle Essen. Template:Small.<ref name="discog" />

1. "Easy" – 3:06
2. "Be Aggressive" – 4:12
3. "Kindergarten" – 4:15
4. "Mark Bowen" – 3:17

Woodpecker from Mars

This disc was a promotional release on Limited Edition pressings of Angel Dust in France. On the back it reads "ne peut être vendu séparément, offert avec l'album 'Angel Dust' dans la limite des stocks disponibles",<ref name="discog" /> which translates to "offered with the album Angel Dust while stocks last, not to be sold separately"

1. "Woodpecker from Mars" Template:Small
2. "Underwater Love" Template:Small

Midlife Crisis 12"

This disc was released with limited edition UK LPs as a double vinyl pack. The first disc (with or without the bonus disc) lacked the tracks "Crack Hitler" and "Midnight Cowboy"; the track "Smaller and Smaller" appeared as the last track (Cat no. 828 326–1).<ref name="discog" />

1. "Midlife Crisis (The Scream Mix)" – 3:56
2. "Crack Hitler" – 4:39
3. "Midnight Cowboy" – 4:13

Interview disc

This disc was a promotional release on Limited Edition pressings of Angel Dust in Europe released on August 24, 1992 (Cat no. 828 321–2), and was also released separately in a slimline case (Cat no. FNMCD3). The questions were printed inside the packaging with answers on the CD listing 18:41.<ref name="discog">Faith No More Discography. FNM.com. Retrieved June 5, 2016</ref> Template:Track listing

Personnel

Faith No More

• Mike Bordin – drums
• Roddy Bottum – keyboards
• Billy Gould – bass
• Jim Martin – guitar
• Mike Patton – vocals

Production

• Matt Wallace – producer, engineer, mixing
• David Bryson – co-mixing
• Adam Munoz, Craig Doubet, Gibbs Chapman, Lindsay Valentine, Nikki Tafrallin – assistant engineering
• John Golden – mastering
• Kim Champagne – artwork direction
• Ross Halfin – band photo
• Wernher Krutein – bird photo, Red Square photo adaptation
• Mark Burnstein – meat photo

Accolades

Accolades for Angel Dust

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
1992	Musik Express Sounds	Germany	"Albums of the Year"	1	<ref name=aoty1>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	Raw	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"	8	<ref name=aoty2>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	Vox	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"	10	<ref name=aoty3>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	The Face	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"	17	<ref name=aoty4>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	The Village Voice	United States	"Albums of the Year"	26	<ref name=aoty5>Template:Cite news</ref>
1992	Muziekkrant OOR	Netherlands	"Albums of the Year"	36	<ref name=aoty6>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	Q	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"	*	<ref name=aoty7>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
1995	Raw	United Kingdom	"90 Essential Albums of the 90s"	*	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1996	Visions	Germany	"The Best Albums 1991–96"	*	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1999	Panorama	Norway	"The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970–98"	3	Template:Citation needed
1999	Visions	Germany	"The Most Important Albums of the 90s"	22	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2000	Terrorizer	United Kingdom	"The 100 Most Important Albums of the 90s"	*	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002	Revolver	United States	"The 69 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time"	36	Template:Citation needed
2003	Kerrang!	United Kingdom	"50 Most Influential Albums of All Time"	1	<ref name=kerr50infl>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2006	Metal Hammer	United Kingdom	"The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s"	*	Template:Citation needed
2022	Guitar World	United States	"The 30 greatest rock guitar albums of 1992"	2	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Angel Dust

Chart (1992)	Peak position

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Angel Dust

Chart (1992)	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	33
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	47
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	38

Release histories

• In 2008 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remastered re-released Angel Dust on CD and LP.

Vinyl history

Vinyl release history for Angel Dust

Region	Date	Label	Catalog	Notes	<ref name=discog/>
United Kingdom	June 8, 1992	Slash, London	828 326-1	Limited edition, includes the Midlife Crisis 12".	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			828 401-1	Does not include tracks 11 & 13
			828 321-1
Netherlands
Germany					<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Colombia
Brazil		Slash, London, PolyGram		Does not include tracks 11 & 13

CD history

CD release history for Angel Dust

Region	Date	Label	Catalog	Pressing	Notes	<ref name=discog/>
United States	June 16, 1992	Slash, Reprise	9 26785-2	First		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Canada	June 16, 1992		CD 26785-2			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United Kingdom	June 8, 1992	Slash, London	828 321-2		Early copies came with the Interview bonus disc.
Germany						<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
France					Early copies came with the Woodpecker from Mars disc.
Brazil		London, PolyGram	828 321-2
Australia		Slash, Liberation	TVD93363 RMD53363		'Red Square' picture disc.	<ref name=RMD53363>Template:Cite web</ref>
Japan	June 12, 1992	Slash, London	POCD-1081		with extra track "As the Worm Turns".
South Africa		Slash, RPM	CDSLASH2
Czechoslovakia		Slash, London, Globus	210 134-2		Gold Edition, 1000 individually numbered copies with gold discs.
United Kingdom	January 29, 1993	Slash, London	828 401-2	Second	with extra track "Easy".	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Japan			POCD-1111		with extra tracks "Easy" and "As the Worm Turns".
Brazil		London, PolyGram	828 401-2		with extra track "Easy".
Australia		Slash, Liberation	D30953 PRD93/7		'Bird photo' picture disc with "Easy" and Free Concert in the Park.	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			TVD93378 RMD53378	Third	'Bird photo' picture disc with "Easy" and Free Concert in the Park.
		Slash, London	828 401-2		Polydor generation re-release
United Kingdom		Slash, Liberation	TVD93378 RMD53378		'Bird photo' picture disc with "Easy" and Free Concert in the Park.	<ref name=ausdouble>Template:Cite web</ref>
			3984 28200 2		with extra track "Easy".	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United States	July 2008	MoFi, Rhino	UDCD 787	First	Album has been completely remastered from the original master tapes by Rob LoVerde at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab under license from Warner Bros. Incorporated. Manufactured by Rhino. Does not contain extra track "Easy".	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cassette history

Cassette release history for Angel Dust

Region	Date	Label	Catalog	Notes	<ref name=discog/>
United States	June 8, 1992	Slash, Reprise	9 26785-4	Early copies came in a rectangular LP art picture box.	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United Kingdom		Slash, London	828 321-4
Germany
France
Brazil
Australia		Slash, Liberation	??? ???
Brazil		London, PolyGram	828 401-4	Second pressings with extra track "Easy"
United Kingdom	January 29, 1993	Slash, London
Poland		PolyGram	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notes

• Template:Cite book