Faith No More

Faith No More was formed after the breakup of Faith No Man. They underwent several lineup changes including a period of where they would play 'open mic' shows where they'd invite people to take on vocal duties. Courtney Love and Paula Frazer were two of the temporary vocalists which occasioned the mic at these shows.

Finally they settled on Chuck Mosley (Vocals), Roddy Bottum (Keyboards), Billy Gould (Bass Guitar), Mike Bordin (drums) and Jim Martin (Guitar). They released their debut album 'We Care A Lot' on Mordam Records in 1985.

They were soon signed to Slash Records and released Introduce Yourself in 1987. This album spawned their first hit We Care A lot, a track which appeared on their debut album and got the band national recognition and regular college radio airplay. Up until this point, the band was largely known for their post-punk/new wave sound and the rap infusion on We Care A Lot. Due to tensions within the band Chuck Mosley was fired prior to the recording of their third studio album The Real Thing. Mosley was replaced by Mike Patton.

The Real Thing was released in 1989 to critical and commercial acclaim. It featured another rock/rap hit called 'Epic' plus a string of other minor hit singles. 'The Real Thing' was the first album by the band to achieve platinum sales figures in the US. 1991 saw the band release their stop gap live album 'Live At The Brixton Academy' (earlier released on video in 1990) which was followed by their fourth studio album 'Angel Dust' the second with new vocalist Mike Patton. The album met critical and commercial success and is often deemed their most important record and is often cited as the album which gave birth to Nu-Metal. This album enjoyed darker themes; genre changes from track to track and benefitted from Patton's maturation and his vocal versatility. The overall shift in artistic direction saw another rift open, often publically between the band and guitarist Jim Martin. Jim Martin was sacked via fax following the 'Angel Dust' tour in late 1993.

In 1995 after auditioning several guitarists including Killing Joke's Geordie Walker, the band hired Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance and recorded 'King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime'. Trey Spruance completed the record but made it clear that touring the record would not be possible. The band hired Dean Menta to fill in for the tour. The album had a mixed critical response which was followed by lukewarm sales. The poor response to the album led the cancellation of part of their European 1995 tour in support of the album.

During the writing for 'Album Of The Year' the band realised that Dean Menta was not a good fit and so hired their fourth official guitarist, Billy Gould's former room-mate Jon Hudson. Hudson was heavily involved in the writing of the album, helping with all three of the bands released singles from 'Album of The Year'. The album was received well both critically and commercially compared to 'King For A Day' but it became clear that due to conflicting side projects that Faith No More would either have to end or be put on hiatus. With Mike Bordin joining Black Sabbath, Mike Patton committed to Mr. Bungle for the foreseeable future and Roddy Bottum moonlighting with Imperial Teen the band chose to split amidst weeks of rumour and speculation. The announcement was made by Billy Gould via email on April 20th 1998,

On February 24, 2009 the band announced their reunion. A world tour primarily of festivals ensued with the band teasing the possibility of a new album. They played their San Francisco show with both Mike Patton and Chuck Mosley. They announced that their tour would end on December the 5th at Bicentenario de la Florida Stadium in Santiago, Chile and this would be their final show. It was initially thought that this would be the bands second official split however Billy Gould has stated the door is open for Faith No More to work together at a later date.