Faith No More

Infobox musical artist
Name = Faith No More


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genre = Experimental rock, alternative metal, alternative rock, funk metal
Years_active = 1982 – 1998
Label = Slash, London, Reprise, Mordam
Associated_acts = Imperial Teen, Mr. Bungle, Faith No Man, Brujeria, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Dillinger Escape Plan
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members = List of band members

Faith No More was an American alternative metal band that formed in San Francisco, California from 1982 to 1998.cite book | title=Metal: The Definitive Guide | date=2007 | author=Garry Sharpe-Young | pages=482] Faith No More combined elements of heavy metal, funk, punk rock, progressive rock, hip hop, hardcore punk, thrash metal, and jazz, among many others, [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-314275-bio--Faith-No-More Faith No More Biography on Yahoo! Music ] ] and have been hailed as an influential rock band. [ [http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/faith_no_more Faith No More - Music on FoxyTunes Planet ] ]

History

Early days

Originally billed as Faith No Man, the group formed in 1982 with original members Mike "The Man" Morris, Mark Bowen, Roddy Bottum, Bill Gould, and Mike Bordin (who received the nickname "Puffy" for his hair). When the band decided to fire Morris due to his dictator-like behavior, they renamed themselves Faith No More, seeing as how "The Man" was no longer present in the group.

The band ended up playing with Bowen for a very short period before he was replaced with Jim Martin. A number of singers were tried, including a six-month stint by Courtney Love, who was fired after only four gigs.cite book | title=Metal: The Definitive Guide | date=2007 | author=Garry Sharpe-Young | pages=483] Eventually, Chuck Mosely was hired as the band's vocalist. Their self-financed debut "We Care a Lot" came in 1985 on Mordam Records in the US, which led to a deal with Slash Records. "Introduce Yourself" was released in 1987, and a revamped version of the single "We Care a Lot" saw minor success on MTV.

During this period, the band gained a reputation for serious infighting and friction. 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.

Height of success

Mosely was fired in 1988 due to his erratic behavior during sessions and at shows and the release party for the album Introduce Yourself. He was replaced with singer Mike Patton. Patton, who was singing with his high school band, Mr. Bungle, was recruited at Martin's suggestion after he heard a demo of Mr. Bungle's long-over death metal days. [cite journal |last=Cee |first=Gary |year=1990 |month=November 30, |title=Faith No More: Inside the insatiable Mike Patton |journal=Circus Magazine |volume= |issue=#369 |pages=pages 62-64 |id= |url=http://negele.org/db/index.php3?band=2&year=1990&month=11&day=30&id=1531 |accessdate=2008-09-26 |quote= ] Patton dropped out of Humboldt State University to join Faith No More, and in two weeks, had written all the lyrics for the songs that would make up the Grammy award-nominated "The Real Thing".

Listen
filename= FNM Epic Sample.ogg
title="Epic" (1989)
description=30 second sample from Faith No More's "Epic".
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The music video for "Epic" received extensive airplay on MTV in 1990, despite provoking anger from animal rights activists for a slow motion shot of a fish flopping out of water. [cite web | last = | first = | title = Inventory: 9 Music Videos Featuring Animals In Prominent Roles| publisher = A.V. Club| date = 9 April 2007 | url = http://www.avclub.com/content/node/60415/print/ | accessdate = 2007-06-04] [cite web | last = Lowell | first = Travis| title = Faith No More: The Real Thing Review| publisher = Toxic Universe| date = 20 June 2001 | url = http://www.toxicuniverse.com/review.php?rid=10001425 | accessdate = 2007-06-04] That same year, Faith No More gave memorable performances at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards (September 6) and on the 293rd episode of Saturday Night Live (December 1).

"From out of Nowhere" and "Falling to Pieces" saw releases as singles, and a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" was also produced during the recording sessions. In 1990, the band went on a extensive US tour, sending "The Real Thing" to Platinum status in Canada, the US, and South America. The album also had big sales numbers in Australia, UK, and the rest of Europe, pushing the total sales well above 4.0 million worldwide.

In 1991, the band contributed what is probably the most popular track from the motion picture soundtrack to "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" with the song "The Perfect Crime". Jim Martin also made a brief cameo in the film as "Sir James Martin" and head of the "Faith No More Spiritual and Theological Center".

Faith No More displayed an even more experimental effort 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"cite web | last = Erlewine | first = Stephen Thomas| title = Faith No More Biography | publisher = allmusic| date = | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:m7rvad5kv8wo~T1 | accessdate = 2007-06-04] and another writes that the single "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."cite web | last = Robbins | first = Ira| title = Faith No More Biography | publisher = Trouser Press| date = | url =http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=faith_no_more | accessdate = 2007-06-04] Listen
filename= FNM A Small Victory Sample.ogg
title="A Small Victory" (1992)
description=30 second sample from Faith No More's "A Small Victory".
format=Ogg

Aside from "A Small Victory" (which received a nomination for Best Art Direction at the MTV Video Music Awards), the tracks "Midlife Crisis" and "Everything's Ruined" were also released as singles. The album included a re-recording of the theme to the film "Midnight Cowboy", and later pressings included a 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 "The Real Thing" in the U.S., sold 665,000 copies there, and managed to outsell "The Real Thing" in many other countries. In Germany, the record was certified Gold for sales of more than 250,000 copies. The album also matched the sales of "The Real Thing" in Canada (Platinum), Australia (Gold), and surpassed it in the Netherlands, France, Russia, and the UK. After touring to support "Angel Dust" in the summer of 1993, long-time guitarist Jim Martin exited the band due to internal conflicts. It has been said he was fired, although Martin himself states it was his decision to leave. 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 guitar roadie.

Final releases

1995's "King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime" was a less experimental album, nevertheless varying in styles and moods from heavy and slow to jazzy. In the U.S., the album failed to get any sort of mainstream following, slipping out of the charts quickly. Singles included "Digging The Grave", "Evidence", and "Ricochet". "I Started a Joke" was also released as a single around that time, even though it is only available on certain versions of the album as a bonus track. The record did manage to go Gold in some countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Germany, which gave the album a respectable sales figure of around 1.5 million. However, this was significantly less than their previous albums, and the band accordingly decided to cut their world tour short by 4 months.Fact|date=March 2008 A 7 x 7-inch box set of singles was released, which 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 room mate of Billy Gould. The album debuted much higher than expected in some countries (for example, in Germany, the album debuted at #2 and stayed in the chart for 5 months). In Australia, "Album of the Year" went to #1 and was certified Platinum.The album charted in many countries in Europe.To date Album of the Year has sold around 1.5 million worldwide. The singles "Ashes To Ashes" and "Last Cup of Sorrow" had minimal success (notably, the music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow" was inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film "Vertigo"). "Stripsearch" was released as a single in various countries (excluding the U.S. and UK).

Faith No More’s end

In early 1998 the new flaring of break-up rumors on the Internet began. Starting with a rumor posted to the Faith No More newsgroup alt.music.faith-no-more claiming Mike Patton had quit the band in favor of side projects, this rumor, although denied at the time, proved to be at least partly true. The band canceled their planned support tour for Aerosmith and on April 19, 1998 Billy Gould began spreading the following by email and fax:

Faith No More played their last show in Lisbon, Portugal on April 7, 1998.cite web | last = | first = | title = Faith No More Biography| publisher = www.fnm.com| date = | url = http://www.fnm.com/band/ | accessdate = 2007-05-05] When Mike Patton was questioned in 2008 by co-hosts of Fuse TV's "Talking Metal" if a Faith No More reunion was a possibility, Patton responded "I highly doubt it", but also stated in a January 2008 interview with Artisan News that he "wouldn't rule it out", adding "I don't think we would need to reform the band, but maybe there's other things we could do together."

Post-breakup

After the dissolution of Faith No More, the members have gone on to numerous different projects.

Mike Patton went on to form his own record label, Ipecac Recordings, and returned to work with his band Mr. Bungle (which he had been playing with before FNM). Later, he worked with producer Dan The Automator on various albums, including "Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By". Other projects included collaborations with John Zorn, Björk, Rahzel, and Imani Coppola. He has also been active fronting several groups, including Tomahawk, Fantômas, and Peeping Tom.

Keyboardist Roddy Bottum formed Imperial Teen in 1996. Jim Martin has made guest appearances including "Antipop" by Primus, on Metallica's 1998 Garage Inc. playing with several other musicians on their cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone", as well as having released a solo album entitled "Milk and Blood" in 1996. He also appeared on Echobrain's self-titled debut album alongside former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted.

Mike Bordin regularly performs as a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band, as well as Black Sabbath, and performed with Korn for a tour when their drummer David Silveria had suffered a broken wrist. He played drums on Jerry Cantrell's album "Degradation Trip".

Billy Gould was a member of Brujeria, as well as founder of Koolarrow Records, and has also overseen the releases of various Faith No More compilations. He also played bass on Fear Factory's 2005 album "Transgression". [cite book | title=Metal: The Definitive Guide | date=2007 | author=Garry Sharpe-Young | pages=484] In 1998, Billy Gould produced the album "Vainajala" (1998) by the Finnish rock band CMX. He also toured with the German band Harmful, throughout Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and the Balkans in 2007. He produced their album "7", available on Koolarrow Records. In June 2008, Billy played a two night show with Jello Biafra (vocals), Ralph Spight (guitar) and Jon Weiss (drums) in celebration of Jello's 50th birthday.

Music and Popular Culture

"Midlife Crisis" has been used in "" and "Tony Hawk's Underground 2", and "From out of Nowhere" was featured in EA Sports' "Madden NFL 2005" and "NHL 2005". "Epic" is featured in the new "Street Fighter IV" trailer. "Epic" and "We Care a Lot" are playable tracks in "Rock Band", the latter being a downloadable track. [cite web|author=IGN|title=GC 2007: More Rock Band Track List Revealed|url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/814/814466p1.html]

"Easy" was subsequently used in a commercial for Levi's in 2006. A portion of the chorus from "We Care a Lot" has been used as the theme song for the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs". The lyrics to "Epic" were also featured in the Manga graphic novel "The Dirty Pair: A Plague of Angels", as characters recite lines from the song. "Falling to Pieces" was featured in Ridley Scott's 2001 war movie "Black Hawk Down", as background music while soldiers prepare for their mission. According to the Mark Bowden book upon which the film is based, when the soldiers were preparing for the actual 1993 mission, Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" was playing on the loudspeakers; however, Axl Rose refused to let the song be used in the film, so "Falling to Pieces" was used as a substitute. "Epic" was also covered by Atreyu on the re-released version of their album, Lead Sails Paper Anchor as one of three songs added.

Collaborations

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"). They also have collaborations with German industrial metal band Rammstein on two occasions (both on b-sides).

Legacy

Faith No More has been credited for influencing many of the nu metal bands of the '90s (such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park, among others) primarily due to "Epic"'s popularity and its rap and rock crossover. Bands rising at their prime, such as Metallica, Anthrax [cite podcast|url=http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=18836518&id=121068421 |title=The Kerrang! Podcast - 06 September 2007 |website= |host= |date=2007-09-06 |accessdate=2008-07-09] and Guns 'N Roses, [cite web |url=http://negele.org/db/index.php3?band=2&year=1992&month=12&id=1262 |title=Faith No More's finger to the world |accessdate=2008-08-30 |last=Witter |first=Simon |coauthors= |date=December 1992 |work= |publisher=SKY magazine ] have picked Faith No More as one of their favorite bands. They were voted #52 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". [cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62186/episode_wildcard.jhtml?wildcard=/shows/dynamic/includes/wildcards/the_greatest/hardrock_list_full.jhtml&event_id=862767&start=41 |title=100 greatest artists of hard rock (60 - 41) |accessdate=2008-07-09 |publisher=VH1]

Faith No More also became underground and alternative superstars and have also been covered on many occasions. The band Atreyu covered "Epic" in 2008. Their song "Midlife Crisis" has been covered by the band Disturbed and was originally going to be put on a Faith No More tribute album, but it was eventually released on the internet instead. They also re-recorded the song as a B-side track to their new album "Indestructible", but it has yet too see release. Ill Niño covered Zombie Eaters on their "The Under Cover Sessions" EP . "Mouth to Mouth" has been covered as well by the band Tub Ring on their Book of Water album.

Band members

*1981–1998: Billy Gould – bass
*1981–1998: Mike Bordin – drums
*1981–1998: Roddy Bottum – keyboard
*1988–1998: Mike Patton – vocals
*1997–1998: Jon Hudson – guitar

Discography

* 1985: "We Care a Lot"
* 1987: "Introduce Yourself"
* 1989: "The Real Thing"
* 1992: "Angel Dust"
* 1995: "King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime"
* 1997: "Album of the Year"

References

External links

* [http://www.fnm.com/ FNM.com] – home to FAQ, band history
* [http://www.pattonmad.com/Faith%20No%20More/FaithNoMoreDiscography.htm Faith No More Discography] - Full Discography, Pressing Info And Full Colour Images.