Song · Faith No More
“Midlife Crisis” by Faith No More
From the album Angel Dust (1992)
“Midlife Crisis” by Faith No More appears on 19 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1992 and 2023. It was first released in 1992 on the album Angel Dust. Its best result is #12 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #36 alternative song of 1992 and #2,145 alternative song of all time.
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"Midlife Crisis" was the first single from Angel Dust, Faith No More's fourth album, released by Slash in 1992, and it became their only number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart while reaching 10 in the UK. All five members share the music credit, Mike Patton wrote the words, and Matt Wallace produced and mixed with the band.
It's alternative metal that won't sit still, sneaking in prog-rock ambition and hip-hop swing, with Jim Martin's guitar and e-bow smearing color across the groove. Patton flatly denied it was about a midlife crisis, since he had no idea what one felt like. He said it was about manufacturing emotion, wallowing in feelings until you've more or less invented them, and admitted that, in a pointed way, it was partly about Madonna, whose image he felt bombarded by at the time.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 43 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 | 107 |
| 1992 | 65 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 | 91 |
| 1992 | 12 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992 | 105 |
| 1992 | 43 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 | 101 |
| 1992 | 62 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 222 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) | 497 |
| 1994 | 407 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
| 1994 | 443 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) | 500 |
| 1996 | 462 | Q101 | Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) | 500 |
| 1996 | 488 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) | 498 |
| 1999 | 505 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 332 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2002 | 135 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 927 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2005 | 101 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of the '90s (August 2005) | 106 |
| 2006 | 262 | Live 105 | Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) | 500 |
| 2007 | 384 | KROQ | KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) | 500 |
| 2021 | 346 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2023 | 492 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Also listed as: MidLife Crisis.
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