Faith No More, a San Francisco-based band, have recorded approximately 100 songs over the course of their career; this includes material from six studio albums, one live album, and numerous B-side tracks and out-takes. Faith No More were founded in 1981 as Sharp Young Men, [1] and changed their name to Faith. No Man before releasing the 1982 double A-side single "Quiet in Heaven" / "Song of Liberty". [2] Upon assuming the name Faith No More, the band's first two full-length albums, We Care a Lot and Introduce Yourself , were driven mostly by new vocalist Chuck Mosley and the "metallic guitar" of Jim Martin, blending elements of rap and heavy metal music. [3] Mosley was later replaced by Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton, [4] who added lyrics to the already-written music for 1989's The Real Thing . [5] Their next studio album, Angel Dust , moved away from the band's rap-influenced sound to experiment with different musical genres; [6] a trend which became much more pronounced on the 1995 album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime . [7]
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Between the recording of the latter two albums, Martin left the band. Reports are mixed as to whether he quit or was fired; [8] however he had stopped contributing to the band's output during the recording of Angel Dust, [9] leaving bass player Billy Gould to record guitar parts for "Another Body Murdered", the band's contribution to the Judgment Night soundtrack. [10] Martin's guitarist role was filled during the recording for King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime by Patton's Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance, and on the accompanying tour by roadie Dean Menta. [11] While recording their final album, Album of the Year , the band was joined by guitarist Jon Hudson. Hudson was also present for the band's collaboration with Sparks, [3] which produced two songs, including the single "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us". [12] In 1998, they released the compilation Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits , which contains a number of previously unreleased songs. [13]
Among Faith No More's best known songs are "We Care a Lot", an "antiprotest" [14] song which exists in a different version on each of the Mosley-fronted albums; [15] "Epic", a breakthrough hit which spent three weeks at number one in Australia and made the top ten in the United States; [16] [17] and "Midlife Crisis", which has featured in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas . [18] The band officially split up in April 1998, reforming again in 2009 for a series of tours. [3] The band's first album since reuniting, Sol Invictus , was released in 2015, [19] preceded by the single "Motherfucker". [20]
