Faith No More Spotlight
It's been awhile since I did a highlight on an influential musical band in my life; so here's another one: Faith No More. This power quintet (give or take a few guitarists over the years) fused heavy metal with rap, blues, lounge , flamenco, gospel, big band, carnival, and pop music in no way that I have ever seen elsewhere. I would truly rank them up there with some of the greatest rock groups of all time. However; their eclectic range of musical compositions had the effect of getting them ignored by much mainstream media. The band broke up in 1997, but they managed to release approx. 5-6 albums of material over that time period.
Here's some of what I enjoyed about Faith No More: their musical talent (FNM definitely composed some breakthrough, original material); lead vocalist Mike Patton's range (the man could switch from impossibly high C-note screaming to low rumbling death metal vocals to finally some amazingly beautiful notes; not to mention as one colleague of mine dubs it, his ability to use his voice as a percussive instrument); and their irony. FNM showed just how easy it was to "manufacture" music in our day and age by complementing their unique metal sound with "catchy" pop tunes that sounded like they came off an easy listening radio station. Their music became a way of saying "Next time you think some of these top 40 billboard guys have amazing talent, check out the joke songs that we released on our album which sound as if they came from these top 40 guys, and think again."
I really enjoy originality and authenticity in music and you find it in droves in Faith No More's music. Definitely check out their albums Angel Dust, and King for a Day...Fool for a Lifetime.
Unfortunately, there isn't much on the web for you to sample of Faith No More. Their main website www.fnm.com is still up, but all of its audio and video files are down.
Mike Patton is currently in a group called Fantomas. You can check them out at http://www.ipecac.com/bio.php?id=3
Former guitarist Jim Martin has a website up at http://jimmartin.tarantella.net/
Keyboardist Roddy Bottum is also currently in a group called Imperial Teen. You can find them at www.imperialteen.com
