Faith No More

Faith No More have been one of my favourite acts for years, so I've decided to write a bit about them, and the reasons why I like them so much and why I think they are well worth listening to.

Dubbed the God Fathers of nu-metal, the band have pioneered their own sound, a heavy mix of metal and funk. Releasing 7 albums over 12 years, and several successful singles such as “Epic” , “Evidence” and “Ashes To Ashes” the band were a long standing hit. They were well known for their eccentric live performances witch were often off the wall. Towards the end of the 90's, the members started to become more involved with other projects, before the band eventually spilt up in April 1988. The band went off in their own directions, but after 11 years, the band decided to get together again, reform the band, and go on a world tour.



One of the reasons that I love Faith No More is that they are so different from any other band, you only need to listen to one track to notice that. But it is not just individual tracks that set them out from the crowd. Over the many albums and singles that they have release, FNM have covered a world of completely different styles, covers and originals. For example, one of their biggest ever hits, was “Epic”. A heavy metal song with a slow grove, heavy distorted guitar, Hard hitting drums, old school rapping and, for want of a better work, an epic chorus. However another one of their biggest hits was “Evidence”. This song is more of a pop funk feel, with tasty guitars licks, a relaxed grove between the drums and bass, and with Mike Patton singing in a deep soft tone. If you listened to the two tracks one after the other, you wouldn't believe that they were the same band. And this is what I think makes FNM so special, because nobody else is doing anything like that.



FNM are best know for their heavier tracks, so I really think I should talk about them. Their heavier tracks are certainly very different from anyone else's. There is much more grove, and a sound that not many other bands use, witch is the mix of distorted guitars, and an electric keyboard. This technique creates a big wall of sound which is almost deafening live but it brings the music to life and everyone listening can feel that. Some of the tracks that they use this technique in are “Everything's Ruined”, “Kindergarten” and “Epic”.

One of the other things that set FNM apart from other metal groups, it that they heavily incorporate the use of Dynamics and grove in their music. A really good example of this, and one of my all time favourite tracks, is “Ashes to Ashes”. The tracks starts with a distorted guitar, on its its own, playing the main riff. The guitar drops out after 4 bars, as the band come in to start the verse. Consequently the volume goes right down and a mellow grove comes in. The keys sit underneath the vocalist, who is singing softly anyway. The guitar comes in during the verse, quietly echoing the main riff. And the pre-chorus comes in, the whole band start to crescendo and the heavy riff comes in before hitting the chorus where everyone plays as loud as they can making a big sound and then dropping down again for the verse. This makes the track so much more exciting, and interesting to listen to. And live it builds up an incredible atmosphere and then climaxing in the chorus's.



I had the pleasure of seeing FNM live at Download festival last year, and it was one of the most electric and energetic shows that I have ever been to. Even though it had been eleven years since they last performed, they still managed to get everybody moving, the atmosphere was incredible and FNM's performance was excellent and the band defiantly still had a sense of humour.. Possible the best show I have ever been to.

There is so much i could write about them, so much more that i want to. And i probably will. But for the moment, im going to leave you with this video of them performing "Caffeine" at download when i saw them.