Faith No More
Faith No More was an American 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 Roddy Bottum and drummer Mike Bordin are the longest-tenured members of the band, having been involved since its inception. The band underwent several early lineup changes, and some major changes later. The final lineup of Faith No More consisted of Gould, Bordin, Bottum, lead guitarist Jon Hudson, and vocalist/lyricist Mike Patton.
After releasing six studio albums, including best-selling records The Real Thing and Angel Dust, Faith No More officially announced its breakup on April 20, 1998. The band had since reunited, conducting The Second Coming Tour between 2009 and 2010, and releasing its seventh studio album, Sol Invictus, in May 2015, after which they went on hiatus. In November 2019, the band announced that it would reunite to embark on a 2020 UK and European tour, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Touring was due to recommence with 2021–2022 dates, but the tour was cancelled with Patton citing mental health reasons, and the band has no current plans to resume activity.
History
Early days (1979–1984)
The genesis of Faith No More was the group Sharp Young Men, formed in 1979, by vocalist Mike Morris and keyboardist Wade Worthington. Drummer Mike Bordin and bassist Billy Gould joined afterwards. Morris called the name "a piss-take on all the 'elegant' groups at the time." Later, he proposed the name Faith In No Man, but eventually the band settled on Bordin's suggestion, Faith No Man. The band recorded "Quiet in Heaven/Song of Liberty", released in 1983. The songs were recorded in Matt Wallace's parents' garage, where Wallace had set up and been running a recording studio while the band was still recording under the name Sharp Young Men, with Morris, Gould, Bordin and Worthington. Worthington left shortly thereafter. The band's name was changed to Faith No Man for the release of the single, which featured two of the three songs recorded in Wallace's garage, and Roddy Bottum replaced Worthington. Bottum, Gould and Bordin quit the band shortly after and formed Faith No More. They chose the name in September 1983 to accentuate the fact that "The Man" was "No More".Their first show as Faith No More included Joe Pop-o-Pie and Jake Smith on guitar. By 1984, Mark Bowen played on guitar with Joe Pop-o-Pie.
The band played with several vocalists and guitarists, including a brief stint with Courtney Love, until it settled on vocalist Chuck Mosley in 1983 and, later, guitarist Jim Martin. Their first release under the Faith No More name was a self-titled cassette in 1983, which featured a live performance from that year on Side A, and a 20-minute instrumental track on Side B.
''We Care a Lot'' and ''Introduce Yourself'' (1985–1988)
After the name change, the band initially started recording We Care a Lot without backing from a record label and, after pooling their money, recorded five songs. This gained the attention of Ruth Schwartz, who was then forming the independent label Mordam Records, under which the band, after getting the necessary financial support, finished and released the album. It was the first official release for both the band and the label.In late 1986, Faith No More was signed to Los Angeles label Slash Records by Anna Statman. The label had recently been sold to the Warner Music Group subsidiary London Records, ensuring a widespread release for the band's following albums. Introduce Yourself was released in April 1987, and a revamped version of their debut album's title track "We Care a Lot" saw minor success on MTV. Mosley's behavior had started to become increasingly erratic, particularly during a troubled tour of Europe in 1988. Incidents include him allegedly punching Billy Gould on stage, the release party for the album Introduce Yourself—during which he fell asleep on stage—and one of Mosley's roadies getting into a fistfight with Martin during the European tour. Mosley was eventually fired after the band returned home from Europe. Gould reflected, "There was a certain point when I went to rehearsal, and Chuck wanted to do all acoustic guitar songs. It was just so far off the mark. The upshot was that I got up, walked out and quit the band. I just said: 'I'm done—I can't take this any longer. It's just so ridiculous'. The same day, I talked to Bordin, and he said: 'Well, I still want to play with you'. Bottum did the same thing. It was another one of these 'firing somebody without firing them' scenarios."
Mike Patton joins and ''The Real Thing'' (1989–1991)
Mosley was replaced with singer Mike Patton in 1988. Patton, who was singing with his high school band, Mr. Bungle, was recruited at Martin's suggestion after he heard Mr. Bungle's first demo tape, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny. According to Patton, he first met the band during a 1986 gig at "a pizza parlor" in his hometown of Eureka, California. Two weeks after joining Faith No More, he had written the lyrics to the songs that made up the Grammy award-nominated The Real Thing, which was released in June 1989."Epic" was released in January 1990 and was a top-10 hit. The music video received extensive airplay on MTV in 1990, and angered animal rights activists for a slow-motion shot of a fish flopping out of water at the end of the video. That same year, Faith No More performed at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards and on the 293rd episode of Saturday Night Live. "From Out of Nowhere" and "Falling to Pieces" were released as singles, and a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" was produced for non-vinyl releases. In 1990, the band went on an extensive U.S. tour, sending The Real Thing to Platinum status in Canada, the U.S., and South America. The album also had big sales numbers in Australia, U.K., and the rest of Europe, pushing the total sales well above 4 million worldwide.
In February 1991, Faith No More released its only official live album, Live at the Brixton Academy. The album includes two previously unreleased studio tracks, "The Grade" and "The Cowboy Song". The same year, the band contributed the song "The Perfect Crime" to the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Martin also made a brief cameo in the film as "Sir James Martin" as the head of the "Faith No More Spiritual and Theological Center". Patton's original band Mr. Bungle went on to sign with Slash and Reprise Records's parent label Warner Bros. Records in 1991, after the worldwide success of The Real Thing.
''Angel Dust'' (1992–1994)
Faith No More displayed an even more experimental effort on its next album, Angel Dust, released in June 1992. One critic wrote that the album is "one of the more complex and simply confounding records ever released by a major label" and another 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."Aside from "A Small Victory", 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' "Easy", which in some parts of the world became the band's biggest hit. Angel Dust charted one spot higher on the Billboard 200 than The Real Thing, but was not as commercially successful in the U.S., selling 665,000 copies there. It outsold 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 and Australia, and surpassed it in the Netherlands, France, Russia, and the U.K. Worldwide sales are around 3.1 million copies.
In 1993, the band collaborated with American Samoan rap group Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. on the song "Another Body Murdered" for the soundtrack of the film Judgment Night. After touring to support Angel Dust in the summer of 1993, longtime guitarist Martin left the band due to internal conflicts. He was reportedly unhappy with the band's change in musical direction on Angel Dust, calling it "gay disco". According to Bottum, Martin was fired via fax. Martin himself states it was his decision to leave. Both Godflesh guitarist Justin Broadrick and Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker were reportedly invited to join Faith No More after Martin's departure, but declined. The position was filled by Mike Patton's Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance, who left after recording 1995's King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, just before the band was to begin its world tour. Spruance was replaced by Dean Menta, the band's keyboard tech.
''King for a Day...'', ''Album of the Year'' and break-up (1995–1998)
Faith No More's fifth studio album, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, was released in March 1995, and varies greatly from song to song in style; punk, country, jazz, bossa nova, thrash metal, gospel music, along with other signature FNM elements, are woven together throughout the album. Singles included "Digging the Grave", "Evidence", and "Ricochet". The album featured Mr. Bungle's Trey Spruance on guitar. The record went Gold in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Germany, which gave the album a respectable sales figure of around 1.5 million copies; this was significantly lower than the sales of their previous albums. 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 June 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. In Australia, Album of the Year went to No. 1 and was certified Platinum. The album charted in many countries in Europe. To date, Album of the Year has sold around 2 million copies worldwide. The singles "Ashes to Ashes" and "Last Cup of Sorrow" had minimal success. "Stripsearch" was released as a single in various countries. The album received largely negative reviews from U.S.-based critics at the time. Rolling Stone magazine wrote in June 1997 that " are floundering around desperately, groping for a sense of identity and direction in a decade that clearly finds them irrelevant", while Pitchfork Media stated "Album Of The Year leaves one feeling like waking up and finding last night's used condom – sure, the ride was fun while it lasted, but what remains is just plain icky. And you definitely don't want it in your CD player." Following the album's release, Faith No More toured with Limp Bizkit in 1997, who were frequently booed by Faith No More's fans.
In early 1998, rumors of Faith No More's imminent demise began; commencing with a post to Faith No More newsgroup alt.music.faith-no-more claiming Mike Patton had quit the band in favor of side projects. This rumor, denied at the time, proved to be at least partly true. Faith No More played their last show in Lisbon, Portugal on April 7, 1998. The band cancelled their planned support tour for Aerosmith and on April 20, Billy Gould released a statement by email and fax, saying "he decision among the members is mutual" and "the split will now enable each member to pursue his individual project unhindered." The band "thank all of those fans and associates that have stuck with and supported the band throughout its history."