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Starting with the careening "From Out of Nowhere" driven by Roddy Bottum's doomy, energetic keyboards, Faith No More rebounded excellently on The Real Thing after Chuck Mosley's was fired. Given that the band had nearly finished recording the music and Mike Patton was a last minute recruit, he adjusts to the proceedings well. His insane, wide-ranging musical interests would have to wait for the next album for their proper integration, but the band already showed enough of that to make it an inspired combination. Bottum, in particular, remains the wild card, coloring Jim Martin's nuclear-strength riffs and the Bill Gould/Mike Bordin rhythm slams with everything from quirky hooks to pristine synth sheen. It's not quite early Brian Eno-joins-Led Zeppelin-and-Funkadelic…

No-Man is a British duo formed in 1987 by Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree). The name No-Man was adopted in 1990 and first used on the self-released June 1990 single release, "Colours". Originally creating a sample-based proto-trip hop / ambient styled music, No-Man’s sound has become more organic, eclectic and band-oriented in subsequent years. Drawing from a diverse mix of Singer-songwriter, Post Rock, Minimalist, Progressive rock, Jazz, and Contemporary Ambient sources for inspiration, No-Man's sound is distinctive, yet difficult to categorise. On labels such as One Little Indian, Sony, Adasam and Kscope, the band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles / outtakes collections, most notably, 2006's career retrospective, "All The Blue Changes"…

No Doubt’s 2010 installment in Universal’s ongoing Icon series is a retitled reissue of the excellent 2003 compilation The Singles 1992-2003. Spanning 15 tracks, the disc is sequenced like a concert, favoring forward momentum over chronological history, and that's a point in its favor since it shines a spotlight on individual songs, not eras. More than anything, this highlights No Doubt's consistency as a singles band, since the defining breakthrough single, "Just a Girl," is as exciting as both the band's pre-fame "Trapped in a Box" and the sexy neo-electro grind of "Hella Good." It also shows that even if lead singer Gwen Stefani grew increasingly assured and sexier over the years (compare the seductive "Underneath It All" to the breathy, naïve "Don't Speak") and even if she was always rightly the focal point, the band itself is a muscular, versatile, tuneful outfit, rooted in ska revivals like "Spiderwebs" but equally convincing when turning out spiky pop like the glorious "New," the hard-rocking "Sunday Morning" and "Ex-Girlfriend," the sighing ballad "Simple Kind of Life," or the rubbery, reggae-inflected "Hey Baby".

Indiana's Straight No Chaser is an all-male a cappella ensemble known for their sophisticated vocal harmonies and popular holiday-themed albums. Taking an unconventional approach from their beginnings at Indiana University in 1996, the male a cappella ensemble Straight No Chaser worked up a repertoire that included not only traditional songs, but also modern pop tunes performed without the use of instruments. Various local performances, including a storied early-morning appearance at the university's annual 36-hour dance marathon, caught the public's attention and helped the ensemble gather a fan base on campus. The original lineup of the group released several albums, toured the Midwest, and even competed nationally at Carnegie Hall before the students graduated and went their separate ways.

Faith No More's 1997 release Album of the Year featured the talents of another new guitarist, Jon Hudson, who replaced Dean Menta (Menta only toured with the group in support of King for a Day before being dismissed). Like King for a Day, Album is more straightforward musically than past releases and remains one of FNM's most focused and concise works. Recorded in bassist Billy Gould's home studio, Album of the Year would turn out to be their last studio recording before splitting up in 1997. A trio of outstanding tracks - "Stripsearch," "Last Cup of Sorrow," and "Ashes to Ashes" - blend hard rock and pop melodicism the way only FNM can, while "Helpless" is an unpredictable composition that alternates between heavy guitar riffing and Mike Patton's tempered vocals…