Faith No More

Faith No More were formed in the San Francisco area in 1983 by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, drummer Mike Bordin, bassist Bill Gould, guitarist Jim Martin, and singer Chuck Mosley. They were one of many experimental �industrial� music ensembles, but they soon changed tactics and developed a composite, spectacular style.

Faith No More (Mordam, 1985), later retitled We Care A Lot, is an exercise in fusion/fission of genres as diverse as hardcore, funk, heavy metal, hip-hop, and progressive rock. The title track (their epic anthem) and the synth-pop of Greed are the two singles that brought them fame. The rest is still somewhat unsettled, caught between tradition and innovation. The instrumental tracks are the most disoriented, from the baroque guitar solo in the Yes tradition on Jim to the mechanical, grotesque heavy-metal step of Pills For Breakfast. The oppressive avant-garde atmospheres are echoed (albeit in very different styles) by the glam-rock of Mark Bowen, the rap of Why Do You Bother, and the fairground-like roundelay of As The Worm Turns. Sinister waves of electronics, metronomic cadences, and punctuated screams still evoke the hordes of new-wave androids.

Introduce Yourself (Slash, 1987) perfected the balance of parts and, thanks also to greater maturity in execution and arrangement, transformed the group into stars. Packed with sound effects, unusual percussion, sophisticated arrangements, and immersed in the enveloping blasts of electronic keyboards, the album is a concentration of brilliant ideas on how to use �genre� to build sui generis compositions: from the progressive heavy metal with ethno-funky Peter Gabriel-style accents of Faster Disco to the rap of Anne's Song, with a romantic synth counterpoint that gradually gains symphonic depth.

On the lighter side there is the title track, which toys with heavy-metal barrages, hip-hop absurdity, and 1960s-style clapping; on the tragic side, Chinese Arithmetic, suffocated by a dark atmosphere, deafening noise, and sonic walls in the style of MC5. All the tracks are full of pathos, becoming more intense the more violent they are, almost as if denying themselves�their own syntax and reason for being�from the guerrilla crescendo of Crab Song to the exhausting charges of Blood (perhaps the most thrilling episode). With this work, Faith No More definitively shed all labels: they have nothing in common with hardcore or heavy metal, the funk-punk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or the experimentation of Primus.

Mr. Bungle�s singer Michael Patton was recruited by Faith No More for Real Thing (Slash, 1989). His presence was decisive in steering the reckless super-crossover toward the charts. While retaining some abrasiveness�like the supersonic boogie of From Out Of Nowhere (synth fanfares, guitar flurries, and all) and the brutal title track�the group veers toward a more civilized AOR. Bolstered by heavy-metal earthquakes, a memorable operatic melody, strangled-voice hip-hop interludes, and gloriously symphonic arrangements, Epic became a colossal hit. Further memorable hooks (and evocative electronic accompaniments) elevated Falling To Pieces to the heaven of hard-rock ballads. Patton is a less vibrant singer than Mosley, and the sound dangerously approaches that of Rush; yet, even if somewhat inferior to its predecessor, Real Thing remains a milestone of the genre. The distinctive sounds are mainly Jim Martin�s guitar�one of the most piercing in heavy metal�and Roddy Bottum�s keyboards, which get their chance to shine on the instrumental nonsense of Woodpeckers From Mars.

However, Patton had not abandoned Mr. Bungle, whose debut album Mr Bungle (Slash, 1991) was released shortly thereafter. The music is infinitely more experimental and ironic. The ten tracks form a bawdy, satirical concept influenced by Frank Zappa and George Clinton. The sound draws heavily from music hall, cabaret, jazz, and especially progressive rock, with little from heavy metal. The comedic sketch of Quote Unquote relies on a kaleidoscope of styles, constant tempo changes, Brechtian operatic recitations, stormy symphonic passages, organ chorales, free-jazz jams, and circus equestrian acts. Slowly Growing Deaf launches into hard-rock riffs and flamboyant glam vocals but loses its way in frenzied funk. The childlike theatrics of Squeeze Me Macaroni are again inspired by early Frank Zappa�a chameleon-like suite that changes face with every verse. Stub vies for the title of most schizophrenic track, with rural fairground madness, 1950s-style melodies, bizarre sounds (even a video game), frenzied folk dances, soundtracks, and operetta airs. The joyful ska of Egg (ten minutes) plunges into yet another decadent melodrama (more Kim Fowley than David Bowie).

In Carousel, the horns lead a clownish fanfare. It is one of the few more cohesive and linear tracks, but it unleashes a pyrotechnic outro that borders on a surreal music box. Finally organizing the heap of ideas, the band reaches The Girls Of Porn, a funky, jazzy, vigorous (and risqu�) song that would have fit well on Frank Zappa�s Roxy And Elsewhere. The closing Dead Goon indulges in a nod to their death-metal roots. The sheer volume of ideas is staggering; each track surpasses the previous in complexity and eccentricity. Their music is not only wild and rocambolesque�it is omnivorous. Patton indulges in his personal show of horror and pornography, supported by Trey Spruance�s guitar and Trevor Dunn�s bass (both also on keyboards), Danny Heifetz on drums, Theo Lengyel on alto sax, and Clinton McKinnon on saxophone and clarinet.

The following year, Faith No More released Angel Dust (1992), a work that further diluted their stylistic hybrid in favor of a more homogeneous and linear approach. The most notable feature is a tormented symphonic ecstasy, a darkly tragic atmosphere, and a pronounced hostility toward whistlable choruses. Beginning with the grotesquely operatic overture of Land Of Sunshine, the album descends into the circles of deepest despair, with dramatic peaks in Caffeine, full of suspense, electronic chorales, and anguished screams, and in the Freudian sonic inferno that is Jizzlobber. The only moment of respite might be the lush harmony of A Small Victory, which is also the most melodic and danceable track.
For the rest, the work traverses extreme moods�from the Kinks-like satirical vignette of Midlife Crisis to the harrowing documentary style of Smaller And Smaller, from the �cursed� spleen of Everything�s Ruined to the catastrophic thrash of Malpractice�always in dark and solemn tones. These sketches (long and short, almost always anomalous within the band�s production, dense with dissonant marches, distorted samples, conversational recitatives, vaudeville waltzes) form a vast and frightening human comedy.
In effect, it is a concept album, almost a rock opera, a kind of existential thriller whose theme is the inevitable defeat of the individual. Infinitely less �fun� than the previous bestsellers, Angel Dust boldly indulges in these menacing climates, in cosmic pessimism, and in manic depression. This time it is Patton who stands out: his vocal versatility, frenetically alternating between muezzin-like moans and psychotic Axl Rose-style screams, carries the melodrama.
Martin and Bottum reveal themselves to be close kin to Roxy Music (and perhaps even Procol Harum...), the romantic dandies of art-rock.

By the time of King For A Day (Slash, 1995), little was left of the original line-up: Roddy Bottum (keyboards), Mike Bordin (drums), and Bill Gould (bass). The guitarist is Trey Spruance and the singer is Michael Patton, the same members as Mr Bungle.
The album is the most eclectic of their career, and at the same time the lightest. The funky-soul of Evidence comes from a cross between Soul II Soul and Al Green. The gospel of Just A Man, the bossa nova of Caralho Voador, and the Indian-flavored requiem of Ricochet, however, repeatedly stumble into a void of emotion. Partially redeeming them is the ballad Take This Bottle, halfway between country and Guns N� Roses. The band only redeems themselves when they release the punk-rock single Digging the Grave, a sort of meeting between Nirvana and Green Day.
Continuing their tradition of sudden stylistic shifts, FNM deliver Cuckoo for Caca, which starts with a galactic riff and a metronomic cadence before degenerating into syncopated hardcore with psychedelic organ; the title track, closest to the decadent and futuristic moods of Roxy Music; and Star A.D., featuring big band horns, a 3/4 time signature, tribal drums, a saxophone solo, ska guitar bursts, techno-rock organ, and funky bass.
The album is primarily a personal showpiece for Patton, a singer with a chameleonic range capable of mimicking the falsetto of �sweet� soul, the shout of rhythm and blues, the growl of hardcore, and the declamatory style of hip-hop. Tracks like The Gentle Art of Making Enemies live solely on his vocal transformations.

Faith No More deserve historical and artistic recognition for transcending genre boundaries and creating a polyglot, eccentric hard rock, almost the antithesis of the dramatic pomp typical of the genre.

Meanwhile, Mr Bungle released their second album Disco Volante (WB, 1995), containing at least one track worthy of the first album, Carry Stress In The Jaw, and Patton released his first solo album Adult Themes (Tzadik, 1996), an experimental collage of noises created with mouth and microphone.

Disco Volante is an overly experimental record, a barrage of unfinished ideas perhaps inspired by John Zorn�s frenetic hardcore-jazz, but ultimately resembling more the cauldrons of fragments of the Half Japanese. The orchestration has expanded enormously (from clarinet to glockenspiel), yet no track is truly orchestral, as every piece dies before it fully becomes music.

Faith No More's keyboardist Roddy Bottum switched to guitar and vocals and formed Imperial Teen with Sister Double Happiness' drummer Lynn Perko. Their Seasick (Slash, 1996) is surprisingly quiet power-pop with a shadow of the Pixies (Imperial Teen, You're One, Water Boy, Butch).

What Is Not To Love (Slash, 1998) is even more subdued and melodic, and perhaps a bit too predictable. The single Yoo Hoo borrows the riff from Velvet Underground's Waiting For My Man. On (Merge, 2002) is a divertissment of joyful and harmless dance-pop a` la B52's (Ivanka, Baby, Undone).

After the artistic flop of King For A Day, Faith No More attempted a last desperate ditch to keep making sense. Unfortunately, Album Of The Year (Warner, 1997) showed only their weak points. Unredeemed by the faceless grunge of Collision, by the progressive-rock of Last Cup Of Sorrow, and by the demented funk-metal of Mouth To Mouth, and generally embarassed by trivial songwriting (Ashes To Ashes, Got That Feeling), the band called it quits.

Pranzo Oltranzista (Tzadik, 1997) is the first album credited to Mike Patton, and it is a 30-minute tribute to the founder of Futurism, Marinetti, with help from the likes of Marc Ribot and John Zorn.

Mike Patton also sang in the supergroup Fantomas (Ipecac, 1999), boasting Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins on guitar, Dave Lombardo of Slayer on drums, and Trevor Dunn of Mr Bungle on bass. Patton composed all the music. The album is an explosive essay in heavy-metal, Dadaism and abstract sound-painting. Over the course of thirty untitled miniature tracks, the quartet scurries along a vast range of styles and ideas, from the grindcore pulses of to the fangy riffs of 3 and 7. Tracks such as 15 (panzer-grade progressions, Tyrolean lament, radio noise, furious arpeggio) or 22 are pure and simple collages of microscopic sonic events. The amount of ideas is spectacular, although none of the ideas are spectacular in themselves. Patton vomits a recital of avant-garde lieder in a setting of dissonant chamber music. Where these experiments could lead shows up in the gothic melodrama of 4 (a concentrate of free cacophony, screams and epileptic beats), 12 (free-form warbles over an organ requiem), and 18, a cross between Diamanda Galas and Napalm Death, pieces that coin a new language for the rock song. In short, Fantomas do everything the opposite of what is normally expected of a supergroup. The leftovers on this album last about an hour and could constitute material for a separate album.

California (Warner Bros, 1999), the third Mr Bungle album, is another chaotic assembly of semiotic signs, except that this time they are funneled through well-structured (and catchy) songs. Sweet Charity lines up western soundtracks, cocktail jazz, exotica, tv themes, operatic singing and doo-wop vocalizing in the parodistic style of early Frank Zappa. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, that romps through a rapid-fire procession of vocal styles of the 1950s and 1960s, is virtually another homage to Zappa.
None Of Them Knew They Were Robots is a swing novelty in the vein of Brian Setzer with dancing organ, cartoonish sound effects, roaring standup bass, feisty horns and an ever changing breakneck rhythm. Ars Moriendi is a comic rendesvouz of ethnic folk styles played with grindcore intensity.
The avantgarde cut-up techniques that Patton has learned from the likes of Frank Zappa and John Zorn have been coerced into a virtuoso compositional science of shifting tempos and derivative arrangements. Layers of studio treachery disorient the listener, and the melody is often like a moving target, but ultimately everything makes sense, and what was raw creative exuberance on Mr Bungle has now evolved into a refined musical language.
But the joke wears thin after the fifth song. A couple of more experimental pieces, Spruance's Golem II (a hybrid of Kraftwerk, George Clinton and Phish) and Patton's Goodbye Sober Day (a confused merry-go-round of ethnic and heavy-metal sounds), are not enough to provide a viable exit strategy for the concept.

For Fantomas' The Director's Cut (Ipecac, 2001), Patton recruited Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle) and Buzz Osborne (Melvins): what a waste. All they can do is parody 16 tv and movie soundtracks.

Maldoror is a collaboration with Merzbow.

Tomahawk is a supergroup formed by Mike Patton, Jesus Lizard's guitarist Duane Denison, Cows' bassist Kevin Rutmantis, and Helmet's drummer John Stanier that released Anonymous (Ipecac, 2007) Mit Gas (Ipecac, 2008).

Mike Patton has also recorded with Ikue Mori and John Zorn the album Hemophiliac (Tzadik, 2002). The trio of sax, voice and computer improvises with the fury of Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Sharrock.

Millennium Monsterwork 2000 (Ipecac, 2002) documents a live performance by Melvins and Fantomas.

Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental offshoot of Mr Bungle led by Trey Spruance. First Grand Constitution and Bylaws (Web Of Mimicry, 1998), Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws (Web Of Mimicry, 1999), Eyes of Flash Eyes of Flame (Web Of Mimicry, 2000), and Book M (Web Of Mimicry, 2001) mix Middle Eastern and Indian music, Ennio Morricone's soundtracks and dance beats. Book of Horizons (Web of Mimicry, 2004) evokes suspense-filled James Bond movies (The End Times), Ennio Morricone's melancholy themes (The Exile, absolutely worthy of the master's repertory, and Book T Exodus), swirling Middle-eastern dances (The 4, The 3), apocalyptic grindcore (Exterminating Angel, Hypostasis Of The Archons), Frank Zappa-esque orchestral music (The Owl In Daylight, DJ Revisionist), and even circus music (Welcome To The Theatron Animatronique).

Mr Bungle's guitarist Trey Spruance is also active in Asva with guitarist John Schuller, bassist Stuart Dahlquist, Burning Witch's drummer, vocalist Jessika Kenney and an organist: Futurist's Against the Ocean (Web of Mimicry, 2005) contains four lengthy doom/droning tracks a` la Earth. What You Don't Know Is Frontier (Southern, 2008), featuring a new vocalist (Holly Johnson), a new guitarist and a new organist (Troy Swanson), is an even denser drone-fest for vocals, guitars, percussions, keyboards and wind instruments.

Path Of Most Resistance (Mimicry, 2007) compiles tracks from Secret Chiefs 3's albums. Xaphan - Book of Angels Volume 9 (2008) is Secret Chiefs 3 (eleven players) playing John Zorn's Masada Book Two.

Fantomas' Delerium Cordia (Ipecac, 2004) is a 74-minute chamber concerto for rock band, vocalist and electronics that ranges from gentle to bombastic, from harrowing to demented, from cacophonous to delirious, its sculpting of ambience inspired by progressive-rock, glitch electronica, post-rock and dark metal (and perhaps decades of cinematic soundtracks).
The suite opens in an atmosphere of suspense with gothic overtones: ghostly sounds, monk-like chanting, massive riffs. But then a mad musique-concrete collage of voices, noises and instruments sends the whole concept spinning into a post-psychedelic dimension. At 40 minutes a strong wind sweeps all the music away. More musique-concrete passages ensue, with a brief reference to Karlheinz Stockhausen's Hymnen. Then Fantomas turns to "deep listening" music, although its form of minimalism is constantly in motion. Sonic events keep happening even though little seems to be changing, whether cadaveric whispers or rain and birds in the woods or vehement guitar riffs. The last nine minutes are virtually silence.
Alas, such an ambitious concept lacks focus and cohesion. It is the atonal equivalent of a melodic fantasy but too often it sounds like a casual collection of musical ideas rather than an organic piece of composition/improvisation. It is both pretentious and visionary, but also self-indulgent (there are almost 20 minutes total of near silence). Pared down to a 15-minute suite, this would have been a classic of a new genre. At 74 minutes, this is yet another manifestation of the borderless ego of musicians who live in the age of cheap CD manufacturing.

Romances (Ipecac, 2004) is a collaboration between Mike Patton and Kaada.

Trevor Dunn, in the meantime, vented his free-jazz ambitions with the albums credited to the Trio Convulsant: Debutantes & Centipedes (october 1997 - Buzz, 1998), with drummer Kenny Wollesen and guitarist Adam Levy, and Sister Phantom Owl Fish (february 2004 - Ipecac, 2004), with Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Ches Smith (drums). Fantomas' Suspended Animation (Ipecac, 2005) returned to the cartoonish-thrash Raymond Scott-ian format of Fantomas' debut. Reneging on its predecessor's monster suite (but actually recorded at the same time), their fourth album was convoluted, hysterical and (mainly) fragmented (most tracks lasting about one minute). Basically, the supergroup (Patton, Slayer's Dave Lombardo, the Melvins' Buzz Osbourne, Mr Bungle's Trevor Dunn) moved from one ambitious project (the super-extended suite) to another ambitious project (the super-frantic collage). Neither was fully satisfying, although both prove Patton's stature as a composer, leader and vocalist.

General Patton vs The X-ecutioners (2005) is a collaboration with DJ crew X-Excutioners.

Mike Patton took a holiday from his experimental projects to deliver the mildly entertaining Peeping Tom (Ipecac, 2006), a collection of pop songs wrapped in electronic garments that are more typical of hip-hop music than of hard-rock. While one or two numbers are catchy (Moho, Don't Even Trip), most of the album wants to rely too much on Patton's lyrics (gasp) and on his vocals.

Since 2001 Trevor Dunn plays contrabass in a New York-based duo with Stars Like Fleas' harpist Shelley Burgon. They recorded At Blim (2005) with koto player Brett Larner. Baltimore (Skirt, 2006) is a collection of harp and bass duets that belong to the realm of dissonant and improvised chamber music. They mostly sound like Keith Rowe or Fred Frith toying with other instruments rather than the usual guitar. Except that they occasionally pick up rhythm, in which case they sound more like a distorted, cacophonous version of the Penguin Cafè Orchestra. Shelley Burgon comes through as one of the most original harp improvisers since Zeena Parkins and Carol Emanuel, and one with a vast range of sound, from abstract noise to jazzy counterpoint.

Mike Patton also scored the soundtrack for the films Crank High Voltage (Lakeshore, 2009) and Solitude of Prime Numbers (Ipecac, 2011).

Imperial Teen continued to reunite and record although at longer and longer intervals: The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band (2007) contains It's Now and little else. Feel the Sound (2012) contains a couple of decent songs (Runaway and Last to Know) that would have made for a decent single, but instead melt down in an awful album.

Mike Patton came up with his most delirious project when he decided to remake Italian pop songs backed by a symphonic orchestra and a choir on Mondo Cane (2010), one of the most bizarre cover albums of all time. Another Italian-themed work, The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2011) was the score to a film adaptation of Paolo Giordano's novel.

Sol Invictus (2015), Faith No More's first album in 18 years, with the same lineup of back then, i.e. Mike Patton (vocals), Mike Bordin (drums), Roddy Bottum (keyboards, vocals), Billy Gould (bass) and Jon Hudson (guitar), contains the catchy Sunny Side Up and Motherfucker. next to more traditional prog-metal songs like Superhero and Separation Anxiety.

Faith No More's original vocalist Chuck Mosley died in 2017.

Trio-Convulsant (Dunn, Halvorson and Smith) returned with Séances (january 2022 - Pyroclastic, 2022), that also adds Folie à Quatre, i.e. Carla Kihlstedt (viola, violin), Oscar Noriega (bass clarinet), Mariel Roberts (cello) and Anna Webber (flutes)