What follows is the last Bio of Faith No More, it was
announced in the Spring of 1998 the band decided to
call it quits. So keep that mind when reading the
following Bio, there are plans for a greastest hits
album, we will update our information on FNM at that
time.
In case you didn’t know, Faith No More was on the
verge of a split just a few months ago. After 15 years
and seven albums, they were going to call it a day.
The members were going to set out for greener
pastures, take time off to travel Europe and maybe
even find themselves in the process. Over. Done.
Kaput. At least that’s what the music industry gossip
mongers thought. “There has been speculation that
the band was going to break up since the first album,”
laughs Billy Gould, who with keyboardist Roddy
Bottum and drummer Mike Bordin started Faith No
More in 1982. “There have been points every year or
so for the past 10 years where it looked like the band
might not go on. It happens once every six weeks.”
Not that the breakup rumors were entirely unfounded.
What with vocalist Mike Patton devoting heaps of
time to completing his second solo album and touring
with Mr. Bungle, Bottum starting up Imperial Teen
and Bordin playing with metal veteran Ozzy
Osbourne, what was any concerned fan to think?
Sure several band members took time off to work on
some of their personal projects, but after all those
things had run their course everyone was ready to
come back home to Faith No More, refreshed and
ready to make another record. Judging by the
explosive material on its seventh disc, Album Of The
Year, Faith No More is in rare form. Tempering the
aggressive urgency of its last record King For A Day,
Fool For A Lifetime, the band returns to the splashy
melodies and big sonic themes of its past work -
1989’s double platinum The Real Thing, 1992’s Angel
Dust - with its latest outing.
“If you look at all our records, you can see we’re
following a certain path,” Gould says. “Even though
we’re on the path, we’re not sure where it’s going.
But in retrospect, we see that we need to be doing
what we’re doing while we’re doing it. King For A Day
was a very angry record, and it was a stripped down
record. We made it like that intentionally because we
all needed the feeling of getting punched in the face.
This record has a moodier vibe.”
Faith No More started rehearsing material for Album
Of The Year after cutting short its tour for the last
album. They had planned on coming home early to
complete work on the new album as quickly as
possible. It was a nice concept, unfortunately there
were several unforeseen snags that hampered the
recording process. First of all, the group had to get
down to the business of finding a new guitarist, a
process that took nearly half a year. Founding
member Jim Martin had left Faith No More in 1994
and Mr. Bungle’s Trey Spruance had recorded all the
guitar parts for King For A Day. Enter Jon Hudson, a
former roommate of Gould and member of the band
Systems Collapse. With Hudson Aboard, Faith No
More proceeded to write and record 10 songs. But
the were just warming up. Those sessions were put
aside and work on the new album continued. Faith
No More knew then that they were in for a long haul.
Album of The Year was recorded in stages while
various band members were on the road and involved
in other side projects. Gould, who co-produced the
disc, had to juggle the work in progress around
whoever was in town on any given day. While certain
songs (Ashes To Ashes, Paths Of Glory) were from
the initial session, the group proceeded to record a
whole new batch of songs that refined its signature
sound. The first product of the second session turned
out to be the album’s first single Last Cup of Sorrow.
“I think the record came out well,” Gould says. “When
I look at what we had a year ago, I’m really glad we
took the time to redo it. It’s just stronger.” The band
recruited engineer Roli Mosimann (The The, Young
Gods) to join them in galvanizing their sound, but his
input went far beyond the typical mixing desk duties.
Mosimann introduced Faith No More to computer
compositional techniques for the first time in its
career. The band had typically recorded its songs
straight to analog tape in the classic rock tradition.
When Mosimann added modern technology to the
equation, it added juice to an already electrifying
sound. It provided the foundation for a record which
has judiciously been titled Album Of The Year by its
creators. “We’re just making writer’s jobs easier for
them,” Gould shrugs.
