Record reviews

Faith No More

Album: “Sol Invictus”

Grade: A

Eighteen years after releasing their last studio album, Faith No More returns in rude, crude health.

“Sol Invictus” kicks off in menacing fashion with the album’s eponymous, piano-led track, before exploding into life with single “Superhero” that — thanks to a repetitive vocal line — outstays its welcome despite a blistering start.

Thankfully, it’s all uphill from there. From “Sunny Side Up” — a pop-rock ode to positivity (complete with tongue-in-cheek lyrics: “Rainbows will bend for me (curvy)/ Honey bees will sting for me (stingy)” — to the album’s closing track, “From the Dead,” Faith No More 2.0 doesn’t set a foot wrong over the course of the next 30 minutes.

As ever, the band’s not-so-secret weapon is frontman Mike Patton, whose voice is capable of flipping from touching falsetto to larynx-ripping raw screams within a single line.

In the stunning “Cone of Shame,” Patton begins the track crooning over a spaghetti Western-influenced guitar line before morphing into a Tom Waits-ian, smoke-addled narrator, shape-shifting, finally, into a demonic presence — multitracking a series of guttural wails as the song reaches its crushing conclusion.

“Sol Invictus” shimmers to a glorious, harmonic close with the lines: “Back from the dead/ I can see the end — welcome home my friend” — and it’s good to have them back.

—Matthew Kemp, Associated Press

Snoop Dogg

Album: “Bush”

Grade: B

Weed. Appearances on “Empire” and ESPN. The Snoop Lion reggae episode. Put those aside. Snoop Dogg has been a sensual, elastic hip-hop voice ever since he set gin to juice. Yet, it is only when working with producer Pharrell Williams that the Doggfather’s flow is in flower and his freak flag is at full mast. Beyond its cartoonish exterior, “Bush” is high-octane, sexily psychedelic G-funk, with hints of George Clinton’s Parliament sound in its buoyant sonic blend.

Start with “So Many Pros” and its rolling congas, thrumming bass, silly backing vocals, and Snoop’s singsong, processed vocals (yes, vocals): pure Parliament but caramel-coated, atomic-dogged Parliament. Same with the slick, soulful “California Roll,” rich with its patented, breathy Stevie Wonder harmonica solo. Same with the sweet-and-sour rap of “Peaches N’ Cream.”

—A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer