A Small Victory is the 10th track and the second single from Faith No More‘s fourth studio album Angel Dust, released as a single on August 3, 1992. The song was later remixed by Youth of Killing Joke and released later the same month.
It was their last single to chart on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 11, and reached the top 30 in Finland and the United Kingdom. When asked about the song’s meaning, Mike Patton said:
“It’s kind of about, well my dad was a coach, so I grew up and I always wanted to win. And well, I found out that I just can’t win every game… darn it.”
The cover from A Small Victory features a World War II photograph of a soldier loading shells, which originally featured on the cover of Life in September 1939.
Tracklist:
- A Small Victory (Video edit)
- A Small Victory
- Let’s Lynch The Landlord (Biafra)
- Malpractice
The video from A Small Victory was directed by Marcus Nispel, known for his work with C+C Music Factory. On September 2, 1993, the music video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction, but lost to Madonna‘s song Rain off her album Erotica.
Faith No More
Mike Patton: vocals
Jim Martin: guitars
Billy Gould: bass
Roddy Bottum: keyboards
Mike Bordin: drums
Additional Personnel
Martin Glover: remixes
John Brough: engineer on remixed tracks
Green Ink: sleeve artwork
Ross Halfin: band photo
