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Biography

Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Faith No More was originally formed as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Mike Morris, and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, who along with Gould and Bordin, formed Faith No More. After going through a series of singers which included Courtney Love, Chuck Mosley joined the band in 1983. The same year, Jim Martin was recruited to replace guitarist Mark Bowen. That lineup released the band's 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 Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton in 1988. In 1989, the band released their successful album The Real Thing, which featured their breakthrough hit single "Epic".

The band's next album Angel Dust (1992), was also successful and spawned the hit "Midlife Crisis", which became their sole No. 1 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in their career. Angel Dust is widely considered to be one of the most influential albums of the '90s. 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 King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime (1995), 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 (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. In June 2009, they performed together for the first time in 11 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, although bassist Billy Gould said that the band might continue. Faith No More returned again in November 14, 2011 for a South American tour starting at the SWU Music and Arts Festival, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well on three other dates. 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.

History

Early years, We Care a Lot and Introduce Yourself (1981–1988)

Faith No More's precursor, Faith No Man, 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, with Mike Morris, Billy 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, and hired Roddy Bottum to replace Worthington. 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.

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.

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.

Mike Patton joins and The Real Thing (1989–1991)

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. 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.

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. 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".

Angel Dust (1992–1994)

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" 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."

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. Worldwide sales are around 3 million copies.

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: "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." Martin himself states it was his decision to leave. Both Godflesh guitarist Justin Broadrick and Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker were reportedly offered to join FNM after Martin's departure, but declined to join. 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 and just before the band was to begin their world tour. Spruance was replaced by Dean Menta, the band's keyboard tech.

King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, Album of the Year and break-up (1995–1998)

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 No. 2 and stayed in the chart for 5 months). 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 (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).

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.

The band canceled their planned support tour for Aerosmith and on April 20, 1998 Billy Gould released a statement by email and fax, saying "[T]he decision among the members is mutual" and "the split will now enable each member to pursue his individual project(s) unhindered." The band "thank[ed] 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:

Reformation (2009–present)

Rumours that Faith No More would reunite for shows in the U.K. in the summer of 2009 were circulating in late November 2008, but were originally dismissed by bassist Billy Gould. He explained: "If anything like this were to happen, it would have to come from the band, and I haven't spoken with any of them in over a year. So as far as I know, there isn't anything to talk about, and I'm pretty sure that if you were to contact Patton, he would tell you the same thing." However, on February 24, 2009 after months of speculation and rumors, Faith No More announced they would be reforming with a line-up identical to the Album of the Year era. A prior statement from frontman Mike Patton's publicist suggested they would be touring Europe.

In March 2009, it was confirmed that Faith No More would be headlining the Main Stage at the Download Festival in Donington Park, U.K. in June. They were also confirmed for the Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany, Greenfield Festival in Switzerland, Hove Festival in Norway and Roskilde Festival in Denmark, among other dates. Shortly after the confirmation for the Download Festival appearance, the group rehearsed for the first time in over 10 years. Gould posted a comment on the rehearsal on his Twitter account saying that the band's "first rehearsal was good! Much better than expected. By the end of May we should be completely dialed in." Asked if the band were planning any shows in the U.S., Gould stated that they were "not out of the question". However, when Patton was asked in April about the odds of a U.S. leg of the tour, he replied, "very slim."

In April 2009, it was confirmed on the band's website that they would be appearing at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, before being taken down due to conflicting info. In June, at their first show after their reunion they released new merchandise stating they were playing the festivals.

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. In May 2009, Killyourstereo.com reported that it was a possibility that Faith No More might be gearing up for a new studio album in the near future. However, in an August 2012 interview, Mike Patton said that Faith No More was not planning to record any new material.

The tour continued into 2010 with appearances at the Soundwave Festival in Australian cities throughout February and March.

After an eleven month hiatus, Faith No More played four shows in South America in November 2011. On the first date (November 8, 2011), the band played a "mystery song," which led to speculation of new material.

Faith No More was supposed to headline the Sunday date (on July 8, 2012) at the Sonisphere Festival UK festival, which would have took place at the Knebworth House venue, but its organizers had to cancel the festival in March 2012. However, they played Sonisphere France the day before.

Musical style and influences

The band have a wide range of influences, including Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, Killing Joke, Frank Zappa, Funkadelic, Bad Brains, Metallica, Parliament, Brian Eno, Run-D.M.C., Napalm Death and Burt Bacharach. While Faith No More's first single "Quiet in Heaven/Song of Liberty", was a "solid post-punk/pre-goth single", the band is well known for combining elements of heavy metal with funk, hip hop, progressive rock, alternative rock, hardcore punk, polka, easy listening, jazz, samba, bossa nova, hard rock, pop, soul, gospel, and lounge music.

Legacy

Nirvana's bassist, and co-founder, Krist Novoselic cited Faith No More as a band that "paved the way for Nirvana" in the late 1980s.

Bands rising at their prime, such as Metallica, Alice in Chains, Anthrax and Guns N' Roses, have picked Faith No More as one of their favorite bands. They were voted No. 52 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". In July 2009, "Epic" came in at No. 46 in Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 Of All Time, as voted by the Australian public.

Faith No More became underground, metal, and alternative superstars, and are hailed as "the kings of alternative metal" by fans. Faith No More has also been credited for influencing nu metal bands, such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Sevendust. Primarily due to the popularity of "Epic", and other early material that featured rap and rock crossovers. Disturbed have covered "Midlife Crisis" and the track 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 album Indestructible, but was instead released on Covered, A Revolution in Sound.

Concert tours

1982–1984: Early Days
1985–1986: We Care a Lot Tour
1987–1988: Introduce Yourself Tour
1989–1991: The Real Thing Tour
1992–1993: Angel Dust Tour
1995: King for a Day Tour
1997–1998: Album of the Year Tour
2009–2012: The Second Coming Tour

Members

Mike Bordin – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1981–1998, 2009–present)
Billy Gould – bass, backing vocals (1981–1998, 2009–present)
Roddy Bottum – keyboard, backing vocals (1981–1998, 2009–present)
Mike Patton – lead vocals (1988–1998, 2009–present)
Jon Hudson – guitars, backing vocals (1996–1998, 2009–present)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

1993 – Nominated for category Best Hard Rock Performance for "Angel Dust"
1991 – Nominated for category Best Hard Rock Performance for "Epic"
1990 – Nominated for category Best Metal Performance for "The Real Thing"

MTV Video Music Awards

1991 – Nominated for category Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video for "Falling to Pieces"
1990 – Nominated for category Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video for "Epic"

Discography

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

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