With the impending seventh studio album, Sol Invictus, from Faith No More coming this May, what better time than now is there to look back on their amazing career and highlight three of their best albums? And let’s not do this just because Sol Invictus will be the band’s first album in 18 years, let’s also do this because Faith No More truly is one of the best and most talented bands out there with an influential legacy that spans multiple genres and generations.
How deep is that legacy and influence? Well, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic said that Faith No More “paved the way for Nirvana,” and such legendary bands, or members thereof, as Metallica, Alice in Chains, Guns N’ Roses, and Anthrax have listed Faith No More as a favorite band. Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has said that his life changed the moment he saw Faith No More perform at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. And if you have a pair of ears to hear with, you can plainly hear Faith No More’s influence on Nu Metal bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Sevendust.
With such a lengthy list of vocalists and other members, such as Courtney Love and Chuck Mosley (really, where would Faith be without him?), let’s focus on the Mike Patton era. I know, I know, how can one ignore Introduce Yourself with such classics as “Introduce Yourself,” “Chinese Arithmetic,” and “We Care a Lot”? It seems blasphemous. However, as important as the Mosley era was, it was the addition of Mike Patton that thrust Faith No More into the mainstream.
So, let’s get to it. Here is the Faith No More holy trinity!
The Real Thing (1989)
This gem is probably the most beloved album in the entire Faith No More catalog, and with good reason. This is the album that contains “Epic,” the track that gave way to the band’s meteoric rise, achieving the band’s first number 1 hit single, on the ARIA Charts, and their only top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100, making it to number 9. It also has fan favorites like “From Out of Nowhere,” “Falling to Pieces,” “The Real Thing,” and “Zombie Eaters,” the latter of which could have inspired the intro music to The Walking Dead.
The Real Thing was the first album to feature Mike Patton, of the experimental band Mr. Bungle, replacing Chuck Mosley on vocals. In an unprecedented two weeks, Patton wrote the lyrics for the already-recorded album, and upon the album’s success he was accused by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis of ripping off his style.
As mentioned in the intro, Metallica has cited Faith No More as a favorite band. Reasons for this might have something to do with the late Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton, being in a band, Agents of Misfortune, with Faith No More’s former guitarist, Jim Martin, in the 1970s. During that time, Martin wrote The Real Thing’s “Surprise! You’re Dead,” which is probably the album’s thrashiest track.
Find out the next album to make our list of the best Faith No More albums after the jump…
