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By Janiss Garza
Updated July 10, 1992 at 04:00 AM EDT
On the wings of their quirky, psycho-rap hit single "Epic," Faith No More's third album, The Real Thing, flew past the platinum mark. So what do they do for an encore? They create what is probably the most uncommercial follow-up to a hit record ever. Angel Dust takes the group's already offbeat blend of funk, rap, and metal and dives headfirst into a miscellany of convoluted arrangements and sardonic commentary. "Land of Sunshine" is a wicked carnival of cheery sarcasm and heavy rhythms, while the snotty "Be Aggressive" has a delightfully nasty groove and a chorus led by cheerleaders. But will people take kindly to a song like "MidLife Crisis," which has "your menstruating heart" as one of its key phrases, or the confusing noise and discord called "Malpractice"? Probably not, and one gets the feeling that Faith No More couldn't care less. 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. B