| Faith No More | |
|---|---|
Faith No More performing in Portugal in 2010. |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, California |
| Genres | Alternative metal, experimental rock, funk metal |
| Years active | 1981–1998, 2009–present |
| Labels | Slash, London, Reprise, Mordam |
| Associated acts | Imperial Teen, Mr. Bungle, Brujeria, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Pop-o-pies, Bad Brains, Ozzy Osbourne, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fear and the Nervous System, Jerry Cantrell, Peeping Tom |
| Website | www.fnm.com |
| Members | |
| Mike Bordin Billy Gould Roddy Bottum Mike Patton Jon Hudson[1] |
|
| Past members | |
| List of Faith No More band members | |
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, hailed as one of the most influential metal/rock bands of the late 80s and early 90s, and credited for inventing alternative metal[2][3] and as an influence on nu metal.[4] It was formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin.[2] A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike Morris was ousted, the group began calling themselves Faith No More. After going through a series of singers which included Courtney Love,[5] the band was joined by Chuck Mosley in 1983. The same year, Jim Martin was recruited to replace guitarist Mark Bowen.
Faith No More underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, We Care a Lot, in 1985. Within a year the band signed up with Slash Records, and in 1987 their second album Introduce Yourself was released. Membership remained stable until vocalist Mosley was replaced by Mike Patton in 1988. In 1989, the band released their highly successful album, The Real Thing, which featured their breakthrough hit single "Epic". The band's next album, 1992's Angel Dust, was also highly successful and spawned the hit "Midlife Crisis", which became their sole #1 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in their career. Faith No More however declined in popularity in the subsequent years. Longtime guitarist Jim Martin left the group in 1994 and was replaced by Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance. After the release of their next album, 1995's King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, Spruance was replaced briefly by Dean Menta, who would eventually be replaced by their current guitarist Jon Hudson. After releasing one more album, Album of the Year, in 1997, Faith No More broke up in April 1998, and all members began work on side projects.
On February 24, 2009, Faith No More announced that they would be reforming for a European tour with the same lineup at the time of their breakup.[6] In June 2009, they performed together for the first time in eleven years at the Brixton Academy in London, United Kingdom, as part of their The Second Coming Tour. Throughout 2010, the band continued to perform at multiple live venues. In September 2010, the band announced that the reunion tour would come to an end in December and plans for a new album had been scrapped,[7] although bassist Billy Gould has said recently that the band might continue. Faith No More returned again in November 14th 2011 at the SWU Music and Arts Festival, in the Brazilian city of Paulínia, as well as will on three other dates.[8] Trey Spruance joined the band onstage for the very first time to perform the King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime album in its entirety in Santiago, Chile in November 2011.[9] At one of the South American shows, the band debuted what may or may not be a new song.
Faith No More were formed in 1981. They recorded "Quiet in Heaven/Song of Liberty", released in 1982. The songs were recorded in Matt Wallace's parent's garage, where Wallace had set up and been running a recording studio while the band was still recording under the name Sharp Young Men[10] with Mike Morris, William Gould, Mike Bordin and Wade Worthington. Worthington left shortly thereafter. They changed their name to Faith No Man for the release of the single, which featured two of the three songs recorded in Wallace's garage,[11] and hired Roddy Bottum to replace Wade. Bottum, Gould and Bordin quit the band shortly after and formed Faith No More without any constant guitarists or vocalists until they eventually settled on Chuck Mosley and Jim Martin.[12]
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.[13]
Introduce Yourself was released in 1987, and a revamped version of their debut album's title track "We Care a Lot" saw minor success on MTV. Mosley was fired in 1988 due to his erratic behavior during sessions and at shows, notably the release party for the album Introduce Yourself during which he fell asleep on stage.[14]
Chuck Mosley 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.[15] Patton joined 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.[16]
The music video for "Epic" received extensive airplay on MTV in 1990, despite anger from animal rights activists for a slow motion shot of a fish flopping out of water.[17][18] 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 for non-vinyl releases. In 1990, the band went on an 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. "Epic" was released in 1989 and was a top 10 hit.
In February 1991, Faith No More released their only official live album, Live at the Brixton Academy. The album also included two previously-unreleased studio tracks, "The Grade" and "The Cowboy Song."
In 1991, the band contributed a track for 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"[19] 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."[20]
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 US, 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. According to Roddy Bottum, Martin was fired via fax. Bottum: “Jim Martin had always been very conventional in what he wanted to do with the band, very much a fan of guitar music only and metal specifically. During the recording of ‘Angel Dust’ it became apparent to both him and us that we were heading in very different directions.”[21] Martin himself states it was his decision to leave.[22] Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker was reportedly offered to join FNM after Martin's departure, but declined to join.[23] The position was filled by Mike Patton's bandmate from Mr. Bungle, Trey Spruance, who left soon after recording 1995's King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime; just before the band was to begin their world tour. Spruance was replaced by Dean Menta, the band's keyboard tech.
1995's King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime varies greatly from song to song in style; post-hardcore/punk, country, jazz, along with other signature FNM elements, are woven together seamlessly throughout the album, making it a favorite among loyal fans. Singles included "Digging the Grave", "Evidence", and "Ricochet". The album featured Mr. Bungle's Trey Spruance on guitar. The record went Gold in the UK, 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 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 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, 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 2 million copies worldwide. The singles "Ashes To Ashes" and "Last Cup of Sorrow" had minimal success (notably, the music video for "Last Cup of Sorrow", which featured actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, was inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo). "Stripsearch" was released as a single in various countries (excluding the US and UK). The band has not produced another album since then.
In early 1998 rumors of Faith No More's imminent demise 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. Faith No More played their last show in Lisbon, Portugal on April 7, 1998.[16]
The band canceled their planned support tour for Aerosmith and on April 20, 1998 Billy Gould released the following statement by email and fax:
| “ | After 15 long and fruitful years, Faith No More have decided to put an end to speculation regarding their imminent break up... by breaking up. The decision among the members is mutual, and there will be no pointing of fingers, no naming of names, other than stating, for the record, that "Puffy started it". Furthermore, the split will now enable each member to pursue his individual project(s) unhindered. Lastly, and most importantly, the band would like to thank all of those fans and associates that have stuck with and supported the band throughout its history. | ” |
After the dissolution of Faith No More, the members went on to numerous different projects:
When Mike Patton was questioned in 2008 by co-hosts of Fuse TV's Talking Metal On Fuse if a Faith No More reunion was a possibility, Patton replied "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."[26]
On February 18, 2009, it was announced that Jim Martin would not be participating in the rumored Faith No More reunion tour.[27] On February 24, 2009, Faith No More announced they would reform with the Album of the Year era line-up.[1][28] On March 2, 2009, it was confirmed that Faith No More would be headlining the Main Stage on June 12 at the Download Festival at Donington, England.[29] They also took part in the Highfield, Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany.[30] On March 24 it was announced that they would also headline the Greenfield Festival in Switzerland, as well as Hove Festival in Norway and Kaisaniemi Festival in Helsinki, Finland.[31][32] They were also a headliner at Pukkelpop (August 20–22 in Hasselt, Belgium).
On April 22, 2009, it was briefly announced on their website that Faith No More would be playing Reading and Leeds festivals, before being taken down due to conflicting info regarding the confirmation of their appearance on the bill.[33] On June 10, 2009, at their first show after their reunion they released new merchandise stating they were playing the festivals.[34] They were then added to the bill on June 15, 2009, as headliners of the NME stage. On July 3, 2009 they played on Roskilde Festival. On August 8, 2009, the day Faith No More performed in Portugal at the Sudoeste Festival and registered the highest attendance of the event. On August 14, they were headliners at the Spirit of Burgas Festival in Bulgaria. On August 12, 2009 they were on the stage for the first time at Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul in Turkey. On August 16, 2009 they performed at the Sziget Festival in Budapest and on August 20 they headlined the main stage at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium. On August 25, they played at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange to a sold out crowd. Their last show in Scotland was 12 years prior.[35] They also performed at the Rock En Seine festival on August 29 in Paris.
To coincide with the band's reunion tour, Rhino released the sixth Faith No More compilation, The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection, a double album that includes their hit singles and b sides & rarities, in the UK on June 8, 2009.[36] According to Killyourstereo.com, it is a possibility that Faith No More might be gearing up for a new studio album in the near future, although no release date has been set and it is unknown which label will handle it.[37][38]
In 2010, the band headlined the Australian Music Festival Soundwave.[39]
On August 28, 2009 they headlined the NME/Radio One tent at Reading Festival (and August 30 at Leeds Festival), playing a string of their old hits, such as "Epic" and "Midlife Crisis".[40] Also twice in the show they randomly broke into their version of the Eastenders theme tune,[41] which received a great response from the festival goers.[40] On September 2009, the band performed a sold-out concert, along with the Israeli rock band Monotonix before large crowds at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, Tel Aviv, Israel as part of the Heineken Festival. On October 21, 2009 Billy Gould announced via Twitter that Faith No More was actively pursuing US concert dates.[42] In January 2010, it was announced that the band would be performing at the Coachella Valley music festival.[43] During their Australian tour, the band added covers to their repertoire including "Switch" by Siouxsie and The Banshees.[44]
On March 2010, it was announced that Faith No More would play their first East Coast US concert in over a decade on July 5, 2010 in Brooklyn, New York. The response was so successful, another concert was added to the same venue with an earlier date of July 2[45] as well as a July 3 date in Philadelphia.
On April 14, 2010, prior vocalist Chuck Mosley made a surprise appearance on stage at a Faith No More concert in San Francisco, performing with the band for the first time since 1988. Chuck performed the songs "As the Worm Turns", "Death March", "We Care A Lot" and "Mark Bowen" with his own band, and was joined by Patton during the final encore to perform a duet on "Introduce Yourself".[46]
On April 15, 2010, it was announced that Mike Bordin had left Ozzy Osbourne so he could spend more time touring with Faith No More. He has since been replaced by former Rob Zombie drummer Tommy Clufetos.[47]
On July 19, 2010, Mike Patton announced on stage at Ilosaarirock in Joensuu, Finland that it was Faith No More's last appearance together. However, Faith No More later confirmed one more date as their final Reunion Tour Performance on December the 5th at Bicentenario de la Florida Stadium in Santiago, Chile.
Before the last show in Chile, Faith No More played two more US dates, at the Los Angeles Hollywood Palladium. The show on November 30, 2010 sold out, being the second date December 1, 2010. Finally, the band ended their tour with two dates in Santiago de Chile, the first as a part of the closure of the 2010 edition of the Chilean Telethon on December 4, the former being the next day at La Florida, Santiago with Primus and Monotonix.
Speaking to Consequence of Sound, Billy Gould hinted that even though the tour was coming to an end, Faith No More may continue as a band. He said: “I personally can’t see us not doing anymore shows again, I just don’t see it. There’s no point in not to do it. Why quit now? I think it’s just this tour… we did this tour and that’s what we decided to do. And we did it. We accomplished this goal, it worked out for all of us, and then we look at each other and say, ‘hey what do you want to do now?’ And I think that’s how it’s got to be.”[48]
He also spoke about the possibility of a new album from the band, saying at the moment it "hasn't been discussed". He said: “It’s the elephant in the room. It’s in everybody’s mind but everyone is afraid to talk about it. That’s the reality. All I can do is offer my own opinion, and I’m just 20% of the band. But my thing is, it’s like having a really great plate of food and throwing it on the ground. Everything is great for doing it and if we did it, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be because this is the best energy ever. And people have done a lot of other things since then that could bring a lot more to it than before. But that’s my take on it. I’ve got to let it go with that because if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to happen.”[49]
Faith No More will perform at the Maquinaria festival in Chile, as well as the final day of the edition of the SWU Music and Arts Festival, set to take place November 12–14, 2011 in Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil.[50]
Faith No More performed a "mystery song" during their set at their November 8, 2011 show in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[51][52][53] While the "mystery song" is not from any of the band's previous albums, it may or may not be a new song.
"Midlife Crisis" has been used in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Tony Hawk's Underground 2. "From Out of Nowhere" was featured in EA Sports Madden NFL 2005 and NHL 2005. "Ricochet" was used in the PlayStation game Foxhunt. "Epic" is featured in a trailer for Street Fighter IV, on the Burnout Paradise soundtrack, in the soundtrack for Saints Row: The Third and can be downloaded for Guitar Hero 5.[54]
Four songs have been featured in the Rock Band video game series, two as downloadable content: "Epic" appeared on the first Rock Band (game) and "We Care a Lot" was offered as a download. Years later, Rock Band 3 included "Midlife Crisis" and "From out of Nowhere" was offered as a download.
"Easy" was subsequently used in a commercial for Levi's in 2006 and in the German edition of SingStar Summer Party. A portion of the chorus from "We Care a Lot" has been used as the theme song for the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. "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. "We Care a Lot" was also included on the sound track to the 1997 John Cusack film Grosse Pointe Blank during a scene at the Grosse Pointe High School 10 year reunion of the class of 1986.
"Surprise, You're Dead" plays in the background in a scene from Gremlins 2: The New Batch and was also featured in the trailer for Violent Shit III: Infantry of Doom.
"The Perfect Crime" was used in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, which also featured a cameo for Jim Martin, who was brought from the past to a future day classroom in order to educate the students. Also within Bill and Ted's room, there is a Faith No More poster.
"Epic" has been used as the theme for UK national commercial radio station talkSPORT's live Premier League coverage for the 2011-12 season.
"Evidence" appears in the Australian version of SingStar Amped.
Nirvana's bassist and co-founder, Krist Novoselic, once cited Faith No More as a band that "paved the way for Nirvana" in the late 80's. [55]
The band is best known for combining elements of heavy metal with funk, hip hop, progressive rock,[56] alternative rock, hardcore punk, polka, easy listening, jazz, samba,[57] bossa nova,[58] hard rock, pop,[59] soul,[60] gospel[61] and lounge music[62] and have been hailed as one of the most influential metal/rock bands of the late 80s and early 90s, credited for inventing alternative metal[2][63] and as an influence on nu metal.[4]
Faith No More collaborated with the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. 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).
Faith No More became underground, metal and alternative superstars; they are hailed as "the kings of alternative metal" by fans and critics alike. The band has also been credited for influencing many of the nu metal bands of the 1990s[4] (such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Sevendust) primarily due to the popularity of "Epic" and other early material that featured rap and rock crossovers. Bands rising at their prime, such as Metallica, Alice in Chains, Anthrax[64] and Guns N' Roses,[65] have picked Faith No More as one of their favorite bands. They were voted #52 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".[66] July 2009 saw "Epic" come in at #46 in Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 Of All Time, as voted by the Australian public.[67]
Multiple bands have covered Faith No More's songs, including:
Media related to Faith No More at Wikimedia Commons
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[1]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/solesupremebeing/fnmtshirt.jpg){kind=link}