"Stripsearch" is a song from

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

's studio sixth album, '' Album of the Year'', and was set for release as a single in November 1997. Promotional CDs were produced and released and the single was added to radio playlists. However, the release was cancelled as the record company London Recordings decided to release their 1995 cover of "

I Started a Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea (album), ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the al ...

" by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

instead.

Musical style

The song was based on a song written by guitarist Jon Hudson, composed in simple MIDI format, hence the heavy electronic sound.

Music video

The video for "Stripsearch" was filmed in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

during 1997. It was directed by

Philipp Stölzl Philipp Stölzl (born 1967 in Munich) is a German director. He began to direct music videos in the mid-1990s and directed his first feature film in 2002. Life and career Philipp Stölzl was trained as a set and costume designer at the Münchner ...

, based on a screenplay written by

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Gould was born on April 24, 1963, in Los Angeles, and he is of Scottish and Hungarian desce ...

. In the video,

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock bands Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. He has also fronted and/or played with Tomahawk, The ...

walks through parts of the city. At about halfway through he arrives at a military checkpoint and stands at the back of a queue also containing the other members of the band. When he reaches the front, he hands over his passport for inspection. The man inspecting it finds something wrong with the papers and calls the guards on Patton, who tries to get away and is pinned to the floor at gunpoint and arrested. The video then shows still images set earlier in the day, highlighting previously unseen details that point to Patton being a criminal.

Reception

Tom Phalen of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

said in 1997 that, "despite the inherent brutality of the title, tis almost ethereal." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote that the song had "smooth trip-hop rhythms" and "loose, swoozy guitar that sounds like it was recorded in the middle of

Monument Valley Monument Valley (, , meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, with the largest reaching above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeas ...

." In their review of the 2016 deluxe edition for ''Album of the Year'',

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

praised the "chilled-out paranoia" of the song. Australian radio station

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

ranked it 64th on their annual "

Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...

" list for the year of 1997.

Track list

#"Stripsearch" #"Collision" (Live from Night Town,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

on August 27, 1997) #"The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" (Live from Night Town,

on August 27, 1997) #"Ashes to Ashes" (Live at Phoenix Festival '97 on July 27, 1997)

Charts

References

{{Authority control Trip hop songs Faith No More songs 1997 singles Songs written by Billy Gould Songs written by Mike Patton Songs written by Mike Bordin Slash Records singles 1997 songs Songs written by Jon Hudson Strip search Music videos shot in Germany