Album of the Year is the sixth studio album by Faith No More, released on June 3, 1997, by Slash and Reprise Records. It is the first album to feature the band’s current guitarist Jon Hudson, and was their last studio album before their eleven-year hiatus from 1998 to 2009. The album spawned three singles: “Ashes to Ashes“, “Last Cup of Sorrow”, and “Stripsearch”.
The photograph on the front cover depicts Czechoslovakia’s first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who is also regarded as the country’s founding father. The album jacket depicts the funeral of Masaryk, with the words “pravda vítězí” (truth prevails), the motto of the Czech Republic, adorning his coffin.
The artwork was reflected with the band frequently wearing suits during their tour in support of the album, a trend that carried over to their 2009 reunion tour.
While the album sleeve did not feature printed lyrics, Mike Patton and Billy Gould did submit official lyrics to fnm.com, which was a fan controlled site prior to the band’s reformation in 2009.
Tracklist:
- Collision
- Stripsearch
- Last Cup Of Sorrow
- Naked In Front Of The Computer
- Helpless
- Mouth To Mouth
- Ashes To Ashes
- She Loves Me Not
- Got That Feeling
- Paths Of Glory
- Home Sick Home
- Pristina
Faith No More
Mike Patton: vocals
Jon Hudson: guitar
Billy Gould: bass, producer
Roddy Bottum: keyboards
Mike Bordin: drums
Production
Roli Mosimann: producer, mixing
Paul Ceppaglia: mixing assistant
Atom: engineer
Mike Bogus: engineer
Daniel Presley: engineer
Jonathan Burnside: co-engineering
Howie Weinberg: mastering
Katherine Delaney: art direction, design
