"Epic" is a song by alternative metal band Faith No More. The song was a breakthrough hit single. It was released in 1990 and featured on their third album The Real Thing. It peaked at number nine on the Hot 100, and was the band's only Top Ten pop hit in the United States. It is the band's most popular song and a staple in their concerts.

This song features a combination of 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. Such artists include the Welsh rock band The Automatic; the CD was released 20 June 2007. The Metalcore band Atreyu also covered the song on their album Lead Sails Paper Anchor, and the Swedish indie band Love Is All planned to cover it in their 2008 tour. 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 number thirty on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs, number sixty-seven on their 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders list, and in 2009, it was named the 54^th best hard rock song of all time also by VH1.

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 treatment of a fish, who is out of 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, whom they claimed to have stolen from her at a party. There are also stories of Björk giving the fish to the keyboardist Roddy Bottum after a poetry reading in San Francisco.

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 shirt that reads "There's A Tractor In My Balls Again".

Reception

"Epic" was the band's most popular single and was generally well-received; according to Rolling Stone, however, it set a standard that Faith No More did not match with its later albums. Both the Philadelphia Daily News and Los Angeles Times praised the song, citing the song as "radio-ready" and "radical," respectively. However, the New York Times also cited Faith No More as "style-crunching," using "Epic" as their example.

Track listing

UK & International release

The initial release of "Epic", released in the UK, Germany, Japan and Internationally. The 7" editions only had Tracks One, Two, and occasionally Three. Track Five was exclusive to Japanese issues.

American release

This version was released in America as a "Slash sticker" labelled 7" and as a cassette with a "Burning Splash" sleeve.

Australian release

The 7" and cassette versions of this release only had tracks 1 & 2, unlike the 12" which featured all 3.

UK & International reissue

Reissue version of the single "Epic". The 7" vinyl and cassette versions only had the first two tracks.

Chart performance

Chart	Peak
Australian Singles	1
Modern Rock	2
Hot 100	9
Mainstream Rock	25
UK Singles	37

Covers

Swedish indie band Love is All covered the song on the B-side to their What's Your Rupture? 7" "Wishing Well." American metal band Atreyu also features a cover of the song on the 2008 re-release of their album, Lead Sails Paper Anchor. Pop-punk band Ludo has been performing a cover of the song on their most-recent tour.

Footnotes

References

1. Kerrang! issue 1164 June 20th 2007
2. "VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs", 1-4 May 2006, VH1 Channel, reported by VH1.com; last accessed September 10, 2006
3. "VH1 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders", VH1 Channel, reported by VH1.com.
4. Epic by Faith No More Songfacts
5. The Discography on the Faith No More website, also available as a text document
6. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/145467-love-is-all-cover-faith-no-more-add-dates
7. http://www.smartpunk.com/product.php?item_id=26669