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Faith No More

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Faith No More
File:Faith No More promo photo 1997.jpg
Faith No More in 1997
Background information
OriginSan Francisco, California
Years active1982–1998
MembersRoddy Bottum
Billy Gould
Mike Bordin
Mike Patton
Jon Hudson
Past membersChuck Mosley
"Big" Jim Martin
Dean Menta
Trey Spruance
Mark Bowen
Courtney Love
Wade Worthington

Faith No More was an alternative metal/rock group that formed in San Francisco, California in 1982 and disbanded in 1998.

Their music combined elements of heavy metal, pop, rap and funk.

History

Faith No More formed in 1982 out of the ashes of Faith No Man, a band formed and headed by Mike "The Man" Morris. Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin, and Bill Gould left Faith No Man. They chose the name Faith No More at the suggestion of a friend (as "The Man" was no more). After cycling through a few guitarists, the members recruited Jim Martin. A number of singers were tried, including a six month stint by Courtney Love as confirmed by Mike Bordin in a 1997 interview. An airing on San Franciso Public Access TV has since surfaced of her performing with the band during their alleged "Goth phase". Chuck Mosley would later became the band's full time singer and appeared on their first two records. A well known song from this era is probably "We Care a Lot" satirized the prevalence of charity-related rock efforts such as Live Aid and "We Are the World".

The band gained a reputation for serious infighting and friction. In a notorious interview[citation needed] in 1987, Mosley claimed that Martin had hit him with a bottle, and there were frequent rumours of physical confrontations between band members. Indeed, in a short history of the band in one issue, the British music newspaper Melody Maker observed that the band's internal relationships had descended into "pathological hatred". Bordin in particular seemed to be very much the "whipping boy" of the band and the butt of numerous cruel pranks and practical jokes. It is doubtful that the band would have stayed together had they not been successful after their second album, Introduce Yourself.

Mosley was fired in 1988, and replaced with singer Mike Patton, who was singing with his old high school band Mr. Bungle. Patton dropped out of Humboldt State University to join Faith No More and went on to record the Grammy award winning album The Real Thing.

The Real Thing (or TRT for short) has been described as "not quite early Brian Eno joins Led Zeppelin and Funkadelic." [1] The video for "Epic", which featured slow motion footage of a fish flopping out of water, received extensive airplay on MTV in the summer of 1990, despite provoking anger from animal rights activists. That same year, Faith No More gave memorable performances at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards (September 6) and on Saturday Night Live (December 1).

Faith No More displayed a distinctly experimental bent on their next album, Angel Dust. One critic writes that the album is "one of the more complex and simply confounding records ever released by a major label," [2] and another writes that "'A Small Victory', which seems to run Madame Butterfly through Metallica and Nile Rodgers … reveals a developing facility for combining unlikely elements into startlingly original concoctions." [3] Angel Dust featured the singles "Midlife Crisis" and "A Small Victory", as well as a re-recording of the theme to the film Midnight Cowboy. Later pressings of the album also included their cover of the Commodores classic "Easy", which in some parts of the world became the band's biggest hit. Angel Dust, though not as successful as TRT in the U.S., sold 700,000 copies there, and did manage to outsell TRT in many other world charts. In Germany, for example, the record was certified Gold for sales of more than 270,000 copies. Along with heavy airplay of "Easy" and "Midlife Crisis", the album became a bit of a sleeper hit in the U.K., South America, Europe and Australia.

After touring to support Angel Dust in the summer of 1992, longtime guitarist Jim Martin left the band during the early stages of recording their follow-up, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime in 1995. He was replaced by Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance, who also left soon after; just before the band was to begin their world tour. Spruance was replaced by Dean Menta, the band's keyboard roadie.

KFAD/FFAL remains the band's most heavily criticised album, varying in styles and moods from heavy and slow to spasmodic and jazzy. KFAD/FFAL did however sell acceptably in the U.K., Germany and Australia. In the U.S. the album failed to get any sort of attraction or following, slipping out of the charts quickly. Sales (about 1.5 million) were below that of Angel Dust. The band accordingly decided to cut their world tour short by 4 months, deleted the singles "Gentle Art Of Making Enemies" and "Take This Bottle", and released a 7 x 7-inch box set of singles that included the B-sides and some interviews between the songs.

Album of the Year was released in 1997 and featured yet another new guitarist, Jon Hudson, who was a former roommate of Billy Gould. The album debuted much higher than expected in some countries, for example Germany (#2, later going gold) and Australia (#1, going platinum). In an additional 12 countries in Europe, it went either gold or platinum. In the U.S. the reaction was slow for the album; however, just as interest was picking up on their tours and album they called it a day. Singles "Ashes To Ashes" and "Last Cup Of Sorrow" had minimal success. Electro-tinged ballad "Stripsearch" was released as a single in various countries (excluding the U.S. and U.K.). "She Loves Me Not" was cancelled as a single which was a little indicator of their imminent break-up.

In April 1998, after 16 years as a band, Faith No More dissolved.

Side projects and collaborations

In 1991, the Faith No More song "Perfect Crime" appeared on the soundtrack for Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. "Big" Jim Martin also appears briefly in the film.

The song "We Care A Lot" was used in the Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin movie Bio-Dome (1996) and the John Cusack/Minnie Driver comedy-thriller Grosse Pointe Blank, and has also been used as the theme for the Discovery Channel's show "Dirty Jobs".

Faith No More collaborated with the Boo-Yaa TRIBE for the song "Another Body Murdered" on the 1993 Judgment Night soundtrack.

In 1998, the Sparks album Plagiarism was released featuring two collaborations with Faith No More ("This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" and "Something for the Girl with Everything").


Patton went on to collaborate with John Zorn, and has been active with several other groups, including Tomahawk and Fantômas.

In 2002, Math-Metal band The Dillinger Escape Plan released an EP on Epitaph Records with Mike Patton; "Irony Is a Dead Scene".

Guitarist Jim Martin went on to collaborate with Anand Bhatt. He has made guest appearances including Antipop by Primus, as well as having released a solo album titled Milk and Blood (1996).

Keyboardist Roddy Bottum formed Imperial Teen.

Mike Bordin regularly performs as a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band, as well as Black Sabbath and he was also a member of Korn for a tour when their drummer David Silvera had a problem with his wrist.

Billy Gould is a member of Brujeria, as well as founder of Kool Arrow Records, and has also overseen the releases of various Faith No More compilations.

Influence

Faith No More has been credited with the influence of the rap metal music genre. Many credit Aerosmith and Run DMC as its creators with "Walk This Way", though Faith No More had done it a year before with "We Care a Lot". "We Care a Lot" and Faith No More were not well-known at the time; still many rap/rock artists trace their influence back to Faith No More's 1989 commercial success, "Epic".

Outrageous Mike Patton / FNM Moments

  • During the 1992 Angel Dust tour with Guns N' Roses:
    • At one show in Lisbon, the band invited the audience to throw garbage on stage. Patton then rummaged around and ate some of the trash. video
    • At another show in South America, the crowd was throwing empty plastic water bottles at the band. Someone threw a bottle on-stage that had urine in it. At one point in the concert, Mike Patton opened the bottle and poured the contents over his head, plunging the entire audience into shocked silence.
    • Patton defecated in an orange juice carton and then sealed it and returned it to Axl Rose's tourbus vending machine.
  • During the MTV Music Awards performance of Epic in 1989, Patton flopped around on stage like the controversial dying fish from the video. video
  • At a 1995 concert in Chile, the crowd began to spit on the band. Patton encouraged this and even invited people to spit in his open mouth while he was singing. video
  • During a European tour, Patton defecated on a park bench in front of Kensington Palace.
  • Roddy Bottum frequently made references to his homosexuality in an effort to alienate the crowd.
  • Mike Patton regularly did backflips while singing on stage. He often landed painfully on his ass, but would get right up and continue singing without interuption. video
  • Faith No More was famous for showing their disdain for MTV...on MTV. This can be seen in the Hanging with MTV performance during the Angel Dust era, where the band continuously interupted a flustered VJ while she was trying to introduce the next video. video

Band members

Band member Instrument(s) Dates Albums recorded
Roddy Bottum keyboards 1982-1998 all
Billy Gould bass 1982-1998 all
Mike "Puffy" Bordin drums 1982-1998 all
"Big" Jim Martin guitar 1983-1993 We Care a Lot, Introduce Yourself, The Real Thing, Angel Dust
Mike Patton vocals 1988-1998 The Real Thing, Angel Dust, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, Album of the Year
Chuck Mosley vocals 1983-1988 We Care a Lot, Introduce Yourself
Jon Hudson guitar 1997-1998 Album of the Year
Dean Menta guitar 1995-1997  
Trey Spruance guitar 1995 King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime
Mark Bowen guitar 1983  
Courtney Love vocals 1983  
Wade Worthington keyboards 1982  

Discography

Studio albums

File:Faith No More - The Real Thing-front.jpg
Cover from The Real Thing.

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

  • 1987 "We Care a Lot"
  • 1988 "Anne's Song"
  • 1989 "From Out Of Nowhere", UK #23
  • 1990 "Epic", US #9, UK #25
  • 1990 "Falling To Pieces", US #92
  • 1991 "A Perfect Crime", from the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Soundtrack
  • 1992 "Midlife Crisis", UK #10
  • 1992 "A Small Victory", UK #29
  • 1992 "Everything's Ruined", UK #28
  • 1993 "Easy", US #52, UK #3
  • 1993 "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive", UK #3
  • 1994 "Another Body Murdered" (with Boo-Yaa TRIBE), UK #26
  • 1995 "Digging the Grave", UK #16
  • 1995 "Ricochet", UK #27
  • 1995 "Evidence", UK #32
  • 1996 "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies"
  • 1997 "Ashes To Ashes", UK #15
  • 1997 "Last Cup Of Sorrow" UK #51
  • 1997 "Stripsearch"
  • 1998 "I Started a Joke"

Videography

Music videos

(In chronological order)

  1. We Care A Lot
  2. Anne's Song
  3. Epic
  4. Falling To Pieces
  5. From Out Of Nowhere
  6. Surprise! You're Dead!
  7. Midlife Crisis
  8. A Small Victory
  9. Everything's Ruined
  10. Easy
  11. Another Body Murdered
  12. Digging The Grave
  13. Ricochet
  14. Evidence
  15. Ashes To Ashes
  16. Last Cup Of Sorrow
  17. Stripsearch
  18. I Started A Joke

Other Music Videos

  1. From Out Of Nowhere (Live)
  2. Caffeine (Live From Hanging With MTV) [There are a few more songs that were recorded from this show but only few saw the light.]
  3. Everything's Ruined (Live) [Billy wears a bumble bee suit in this video. It was a TV appearance.]
  4. This Guy's In Love With You (Live In Sydney)

VHS Releases

  1. You Fat Bastards: Live At Brixton Academy
  2. Video Croissant
  3. Evidence
  4. Who Cares A Lot: Greatest Videos

DVD Releases

Rhino Records (This Is It: The Best of Faith No More, Introduce Yourself (Re-release)) plans to release "Live At Brixton" and "Who Cares A Lot" both combined into one 2 DVD "box set". The release date is due for May 23rd, 2006, along with the Firecracker DVD, and the Peeping Tom debut album on May 30th.

Bibliography

  1. The Real Thing (Tablature book)
  2. Angel Dust (Tablature book)
  3. The Real Story (Story about Faith No More)
  4. King For A Day...Fool For A Lifetime (Tablature book)
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