Analyzing the Metalness of Faith No More

I have been thinking about this for some time. In my post on true metal vs. false metal, Kelly posited that he and I have some bands that we disagree on whether they are metal or not. He stated that he believes Slipknot is a metal band that I do not and asserted (correctly) that I believe Faith No More is a metal band and he does not. While I certainly understand his viewpoint that Faith No More is not a metal band, after all they have played many different styles over the years, respectfully I do not agree with it. As I have mentioned before, I believe that to be considered a metal band, a band must have one release that is predominantly metal. They may not be metal throughout their careers, but they must be metal on at least one album. I believe Faith No More qualifies under this rule. Faith No More has several albums that can be considered metal albums.

Kelly set forth his own test on Full Metal Attorney, and I still believe Faith No More qualifies under his test. He has two criteria, it must have ties to the sound of Black Sabbath, and it must sound like metal. Again, I believe Faith No More qualifies more often than not.

I will take these two criteria into consideration as I analyze each of Faith No More's full-length album under vocalist Mike Patton.

THE REAL THINGThe Real Thing was the breakthrough album for Faith No More. This album thrust the band into the mainstream with several big hits including "From Out of Nowhere", "Falling to Pieces", and of course "Epic". The album is a combination of a variety of styles including metal and funk.

The metal influence is fairly clear early on. Many of the songs have an underlying thrash metal-inspired guitar riff driving the song. Other elements such as slap bass style and heavy keyboards add on, but the thrash riffs are frequently present. The riff is even present during "Epic" which features rapped vocals by Mike Patton. Guitarist Jim Martin is clearly a metal guitarist and has been in a thrash metal band by the name of Voodoocult after leaving FNM and also doing two solo heavy metal albums in the late 1990's/early 2000's. Drummer Mike Bordin is also clearly a metal-influenced musician and parlayed this into stints with Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as Jerry Cantrell.

The track "Surprise! You're Dead!" is one of the most metal songs the band has ever done. Featuring a strong thrash metal riff and some maniacal vocals including bloodcurdling screams from Mike Patton, this is an absolutely mind-blowing song. "Zombie Eaters" also features very strong metal influences after the initial soft parts and building into the climax. This continues throughout the title track. The band also covers the Black Sabbath classic "War Pigs". The only track on the album that does not have a metal base is the jazzy lounge song "Edge of the World".

This album, to me, sounds like clearly a metal album. There are some other elements present, but the basis is in metal with some heavy keyboard use to provide some melodies. This album can easily be recognized as a predominantly metal album. The guitar and drumwork provides the foundation for the band's sound on this release.

ANGEL DUSTThis album builds on some of the melodies from the previous albums. The keyboards and slap bass have taken on an even more prominent role in the band's sound. Guitar solos have also become more prevalent this time around. The sound overall is a bit more upbeat and funky, even though the subject matter remains dark. This album features the hit "Midlife Crisis".

As far as songs go, "Caffeine" features a repeating powerful metal riff. It is probably the most metal song on the album. "Midlife Crisis" also has, at its core, a metal riff. It is somewhat buried, but definitely present. "Smaller and Smaller" is another fairly clear metal track with a faster Sabbathian riff as its main melody. "Everything's Ruined" also features a metal riff in the bridge to the chorus. Other songs to feature metal elements include the dark and doomy "Malpractice", the more upbeat and funky thrash of "Kindergarten", and the slow-burning rage of "Jizzlobber".

There are a few more non-metal tracks on this album, such as "RV" and "Midnight Cowboy". "Be Aggressive" is mostly a funk rock track and features very little metal influence. It's also pretty damn funny. "Crack Hitler" is another extremely dark funk song.

There are several songs on here that focus more on the funk element of the band's music, but most of the songs remain rooted in metal. This album also appears to me to be a predominantly metal album and fit the criteria set forward by Kelly in his post.

KING FOR A DAY...FOOL FOR A LIFETIMEI reviewed this album in detail recently. It's a departure for the band as the various elements and styles are not combined into a coherent mix this time around. Instead, this album finds the band experimenting with different styles of music that are then released as full, individual songs. The metal songs on this album are more stripped-down and easily identifiable as such, and the non-metal songs bear very little metal influence.

Since I discussed this album in depth very recently, there's no point in rehashing things. At least half of this album's tracks are metal enough to have this album considered predominantly metal. Metal is the most frequent style at play on this album, even though there are several songs that clearly have little to no metal elements.

ALBUM OF THE YEARFaith No More's final full-length album so far finds the band stripping its sound down even more. This is also the only Patton-era FNM album I have a hard time classifying as predominantly metal. It's my least-favorite album from that time in the band's history as it is far softer and laid back. It still has its moments, but it is clear that the magic was gone by this point.

The album starts off promisingly with the track "Collision" which sounds like an outtake from the Angel Dust album but without all the intensity. It does feature a heavy guitar riff at its core, but is not clearly metal. "Stripsearch" features a metal riff at the very end of the song, but nothing more. "Last Cup of Sorrow" is built around a distorted heavy metal riff but does not use it to its full effect. "Mouth to Mouth" also has a slight metal riff as its foundation, although it is much more rhythmic than melodic.

The only tracks that are clearly metal are the skeletal riffs of "Naked in Front of the Computer", and "Got That Feeling". Each of these tracks feature shadows of the former thrash influences of the band's first two albums under Patton.

Many of the other songs feature large influences from other styles of music. There are several slower ballad-type songs on this album. Album of the Year fit in very well with the era's alternative rock mainstream, although few people really knew about it because most metal bands had been relegated to the underground, even those attempting to change with the times. It is unclear if FNM were changing with the times, or if this was a natural progression. I lean towards the latter given the band's other influences even at its most metal times.

CONCLUSION
As I alluded to, I believe Faith No More fits the criteria set out by Kelly in his post about defining metal. The band had thrash influences early in its history which covers the first prong of Kelly's test. In addition, the thrash riffs were a major part of the core of many of the band's songs. It is true that FNM had many other influences and played a lot of songs that would be difficult to classify as metal, but I believe their metal influences for the most part win out over the other influences.