The Real Thing

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 metal, 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.