Faith No More
photo: jose rubio · cc by-sa 2.0 ↗Faith No More coalesced in San Francisco in the early 1980s, becoming one of alternative metal's most restless and unpredictable bands. Their 1989 breakthrough 'The Real Thing' and its hit 'Epic' fused rap cadence, funk bass, metal riffing, and soaring melody — a genre-blurring approach that later acts built entire careers on. Fronted from 1988 by the chameleonic Mike Patton, they proved heavy music could be eclectic, theatrical, and slippery all at once.
Faith No More's metal underpinnings run back to Black Sabbath, an influence the band has acknowledged; when they drop the funk and irony, they lean on the same slow, crushing, minor-key riffing Sabbath invented.
listen forSet Sabbath's doom-defining 'Black Sabbath' against Faith No More's thrashing 'Surprise! You're Dead!' — both wield a heavy, ominous riff as the whole architecture, letting dread do the work.
The band's early members counted gothic rock and post-punk acts like The Cure among their formative influences, and that moody, atmospheric streak colors Faith No More's darker, more brooding songs.
listen forPlay The Cure's gloomy, bass-led 'A Forest,' then Faith No More's 'Midlife Crisis' — both build a cold, unsettled mood from a prominent bassline and reverbed space rather than sheer aggression.
Faith No More's signature move — welding funk to metal — sits in a lineage that traces back to the elastic, groove-first funk pioneered by Sly and the Family Stone, whose slap-driven low end and rhythmic, chanted vocals echo through the band's bounciest material.
listen forCompare the deep, popping funk of Sly's 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' with Faith No More's 'We Care a Lot' — both let a springy bass groove and chanted, rhythmic vocals carry the song.