Epic (song)
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| “Epic” | |||||||||||
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"Flying Mike" reissue cover
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| Single by Faith No More from the album The Real Thing |
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| Released | January 30, 1990 | ||||||||||
| Format | CD Cassette Vinyl |
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| Recorded | December 1988 at the Studio D in Sausalito, California | ||||||||||
| Genre | Funk metal Rapcore Alternative metal |
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| Length | 4:51 | ||||||||||
| Label | Slash Records | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Music: Billy Gould Jim Martin Roddy Bottum Mike Bordin Lyrics: |
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| Producer | Matt Wallace | ||||||||||
| Certification | Gold | ||||||||||
| Faith No More singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Epic" was a breakthrough hit single by the alternative metal band Faith No More. It was released in 1990 and featured on their third album The Real Thing. It peaked at #9 on the Hot 100, and is the band's only Top 10 hit in the US thus far. It is also the band's most popular song and a staple in their concerts.
Like all of the songs from The Real Thing, there is no interpretation of what the song is about because singer Mike Patton wrote the lyrics to follow the rhythm rather than focusing on a topic. Several sources, including MuchMusic, claims that the song is about masturbation.
This song combines heavy metal with rap, paving the way for rap metal and funk metal. Some rap and hip-hop artists have cited this song as a major influence in how they shout and syncopate their lyrics with heavy guitar-driven riffs.
"Epic" has been covered both in concerts and on the Kerrang Higher Voltage CD, a compilation of artists covering other songs, in this case Welsh rock band, The Automatic covered the song. The CD was released 20 June 2007.[1] The Metalcore band Atreyu also covered the song on their album Lead Sails Paper Anchor. A master track of the song also appears in the music video game Rock Band. A shortened version of the song is also featured in the racing game, Burnout Paradise. The song also appeared in a commercial for the console versions of Street Fighter IV, with the announcer stating about the game's "epic return".
"Epic" was ranked #30 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs,[2] and #67 on their 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders list.[3]
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[edit] Music video
The music video for "Epic", which featured surreal images combined with performance footage of the band soaked by an artificial rainstorm on a sound stage, was subject to controversy because of the perceived treatment of a fish, which appears to be out of the water and dying on camera - it was in fact slow motion footage; the fish was returned to its tank alive in a matter of seconds.
During an interview, the band joked that the fish seen flopping around in the music video belonged to Icelandic singer Björk, which they claimed to have stolen from her at a party. There are also stories of Björk giving the fish to the keyboardist, (this is not true), Roddy Bottum after a poetry reading in San Francisco.[4]
Guitarist Jim Martin was a schoolmate, close friend and fan of the early Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. In the video he can be seen wearing a T-shirt with a photo of Cliff with the words 'A Tribute to Cliff Burton'. In addition, Mike Patton can be seen wearing a Mr. Bungle T-shirt in the video. The T-shirt read "There's A Tractor In My Balls Again" and was sold at Mr. Bungle concerts. However, in order to secure MTV airplay the word "Balls" had to be obscured, so the bottom portion of the screen was mirrored.
[edit] Track listing
- UK & International release
The initial release of "Epic", released in the UK, Germany, Japan and Internationally. The 7" editions only had tracks 1, 2 and occasionally 3, Track 5 was exclusive to Japanese issues.[5]
- "Epic"
- "War Pigs" (Live at Berlin September 9, 1989)
- "Surprise! You're Dead!" (Live at Sheffield)
- "Chinese Arithmetic" (Live at Sheffield ‡)
- "Epic" (Live †) (Japanese bonus track)
‡ includes ad-lib from "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock.
- American release;
This version was released in America as a "Slash sticker" labelled 7" and as a cassette with a "Burning Splash" sleeve.[5]
- "Epic" (Radio Remix Edit) – 3:59
- "Edge of the World" – 4:09
- Australian release
The 7" and cassette versions of this release only had tracks 1 & 2, unlike the 12" which featured all 3.[5]
- "Epic" – 4:51
- "The Morning After" – 3:44
- "We Care A Lot" (Live at Brixton) – 3:50
- UK & International reissue
Reissue version of the single "Epic". The 7" vinyl and cassette versions only had the first two tracks.[5]
- "Epic" – 4:51
- "Falling To Pieces" (Live at Brixton) – 4:45
- "Epic" (Live at Brixton) – 4:55
- "As the Worm Turns" (Live at Brixton) – 2:46
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart | Peak |
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| Australian Singles[6] | 1 |
| Modern Rock[7] | 2 |
| Hot 100[7] | 9 |
| Mainstream Rock[7] | 25 |
| UK Singles[8] | 37 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kerrang issue 1164 June 20th 2007
- ^ "VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs", 1-4 May 2006, VH1 Channel, reported by VH1.com; last accessed September 10, 2006
- ^ "VH1 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders", VH1 Channel, reported by VH1.com.
- ^ Epic by Faith No More Songfacts
- ^ a b c d The Discography on the Faith No More website, also available as a text document
- ^ australian-charts.com, Faith No More singles search
- ^ a b c Billboard.com chart history for Faith No More
- ^ everyhit.co.uk, an archive containing all UK top 40 charts
| Preceded by "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single August 25, 1990 - September 15, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Blaze of Glory" by Jon Bon Jovi |
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