Mike Patton's Week – Continued – Faith No More

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While they may seem relatively tame compared to Mike Patton’s other bands/projects, FNM’s desire to keep reinventing themselves is what separates them from the rest of the crowd (also consider numerous line-up changes and a stint with Courtney Love as a vocalist in the early 80s and the band’s frequent genre-hopping). Given that they incorporated elements of anything from jazz to thrash metal into their music, defining the band’s genre/style is anything but easy.
Initially the band was known as Faith No Man and included bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Mike Morris and drummer Mike Bordin.  Eventually, Mike Morris and Wade Worthington were replaced with Chuck Mosley and Roddy Bottum and renamed themselves into Faith No More. Chuck Mosley era brought the band their first sizable hit – “We Care A Lot” off of their 1985 album of the same name.
In 1988 Chuck Mosley was replaced with Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton and the band’s 1989 album “The Real Thing” resulted in megahit “Epic”. Throughout their next couple of albums, the band experimented actively with all kinds of genres/styles (their choice of covers alone says something – Commodores, Black Sabbath, Bee Gees, Dead Kennedys and even movie composer John Barry whose “Midnight Cowboy” theme appears at the end of “Angel Dust” album). They also collaborated with Boo-Yaa Tribe, Sparks and Rammstein.
Their last record – 1997 “Album Of The Year” – once again saw the band branching out in all sorts of directions. “She Loves Me Not”, an eighth track off the album, was inspired by lounge music and almost didn’t make it to the record, according to Billy Gould. The video for “Last Cup Of Sorrow” was based on Alfred Hitchock’s movie Vertigo and featured all members of the band as well as Jennifer Jason Leigh who is being chased by Mike Patton’s character.
As of 2010, the band is back together and they’re currently on their “Second Coming” tour. In one of the most surprising twists, Chuck Mosley appeared on stage with FNM on April 14, 2010 and performed songs “As The Worm Turns”, “Death March”, “We Care A Lot”, and “Mark Bowen” on his own and was later joined by Mike Patton when they performed “Introduce Yourself” together. It was also announced that drummer Mike Bordin had left Ozzy Osbourne in order to concentrate on touring with Faith No More.
Fun Facts:
FNM songs were covered by Helloween, Apocalyptica, Machine Head, 36 Crazyfists and Tub Ring, among many others.
The band’s songs appeared in commercial for Levi’s and Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs” and it was also used in movies “Grosse Point Blank” and “Black Hawk Dawn”.
Tribute Album:
Tribute Of The Year (Underground Inc., 2002)- 2xCD / 30 covers by Tub Ring, Hate Dept., SMP, Bile and many others.
Current Lineup:
Billy Gould (Black Diamond Brigade, Brujeria, Faith No Man, Harmful, Shandi’s Addiction)
Jon Hudson (Systems Collapse)
Mike Bordin (Faith No Man)
Mike Patton (Fantômas, Fantômas Melvins Big Band, The, Hemophiliac, House Of Discipline, Lovage, Maldoror, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Weird Little Boy)
Roddy Bottum (Faith No Man, Imperial Teen)
Former Members:
Chuck Mosley (Bad Brains, Cement)
Courtney Love (Babes In Toyland, Hole, Holez)
Dean Menta (Duh)
Jim Martin (Fang, Voodoocult)
Selected Discography:
We Care A Lot CD / LP / Cass (Mordam, 1985 / Konkurrent, 1985 / Liberation, 1995 / 1998 / London, 1996 / Polygram + London, 1996)
Introduce Yourself CD / LP / Cass (Slash, 1987 / Liberation, 1987)
The Real Thing CD / LP (Slash, 1989 / Liberation, 1990)
You Fat B**tards – Live From The Brixton Academy CD / LP / Cass / VHS (Slash, 1991 / Polygram, 1991)
Live At The Brixton Academy CD (Polydor KK, 1991)
Soil X Samples 8: Season Greetings 7″ (Slash, 1992) –  Single which includes Faith No More cover of “Easy” and live version of L7’s “Slide”
Angel Dust CD / 2xCD / LP / 2xLP (Slash, 1992 / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, 2008)
Songs To Make Love To CD-Single (Slash + Reprise, 1993)
Video Croissant VHS / Laserdisc (Slash + London, 1993 / Warner Reprise Video + Slash, 1993 / Polydor, 1993)
King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime CD / LP / Cass / 7×7″ (Slash, 1995 / Polydor KK, 1995)
Album Of The Year CD / LP (London, 1997 / Warner Music Australia, 1997 / Slash, 1997)
This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us (with Sparks) CD-Single (Roadrunner, 1997)
Who Cares A Lot?  Greatest Videos VHS (Warner Reprise Video, 2008)
Who Cares A Lot? The Greatest Hits CD / 2xCD (Slash, 1998)
This Is It (The Best Of) CD (Rhino Entertainment Company, 2003 / Rhino + Reprise + Slash + Warner, 2003)
The Works – A 3CD Retrospective 3xCD (Rhino, 2008)
Selected Compilation Tracks:
“The Perfect Crime” on Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (Interscope, 1991)
“We Care A Lot” on Never Mind The Mainstream…The Best Of MTV’s 120 Minutes Vol. 2 (Warner Special Products + Rhino, 1991)
“Edge Of The World (Live At Brixton)” on Raw Cuts Volume 2 (Raw Magazine + Polydor + London, 1991)
“Let’s Lynch The Landlord” on Virus 100 (Alternative Tentacles, 1992)
“Another Body Murdered” (with Boo-Yaa Tribe) on Judgment Night (Music From The Motion Picture) (Epic, 1993)
“Digging The Grave” on Echoes Of Darkness (Polygram TV Belgium, 1997)
“RV” on Future Vintage (Warner Music UK, 2003) – also includes Mr. Bungle track “The Air Conditioned Nightmare”
“A Small Victory” on Essential Music Videos – Extreme Alternative (Flashback, 2004)
“Midlife Crisis” on Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Official Soundtrack (Interscope + Rockstar Games, 2004)
“Midnight Cowboy” on Word Of Mouth (Warner Music UK, 2004) – also includes Mr. Bungle track “Retrovertigo”
“We Care A Lot” on Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The 80s Underground (Rhino, 2004)
Further Reading:
Members of Faith No More Tribute Band Surprised Band Hasn’t Helped Them To Get Laid