Faith No More have been effected by covid-19 - they have been forced to reschedule and reschedule again tour dates. We are looking forward to 2021 with hope but as the world faces each day with increasing fear of the devastating effects this virus will have on the music business we look at what Faith No More could release to distract their fans.
1. Album Number Eight
As far as we know there are no plans to release a follow up to 2015's Sol Invictus. Roddy Bottum made it clear speaking to Kerrang! that the upcoming 2021 global tour would be a nostalgic return, "I think our legacy speaks for itself in the way the world is right now. It’s refreshing and it’s appropriately provocative to throw ourselves into the world again."
He added, “You know, there’s no plans right now to record any new music.”
However, we do know that during the recording sessions for Sol Invictus several incomplete songs didn’t make the cut and the band have unused material.
Could these months of housebound living be the excuse the boys need to get into their home studios. With plenty of available uninterrupted time could this be an opportunity for Bill Gould to begin piecing together an new album in Estudio Koolarrow. After all we know Mike Patton is capable of sending his vocals 'through the mail'.
Maybe the band's next release is already in the works, remember how secretive they were concerning Sol Invictus. New Faith No More music would certainly help wile away the hours in these uncertain times.
2. Introduce Yourself Deluxe Edition
In 2015 Rhino released deluxe editions of FNM’s third and fourth studio albums The Real Thing and Angel Dust. Deluxe editions of King For Day... and Album of the Year followed in the year after, these completed the catalogue of re-issues of the FNM/Patton era. These vamped up charming packages contained remastered tracks, b-sides and more.
In 2016 FNM took it upon themselves to issue a deluxe band edition of their 1985 debut We Care A Lot, this was the ultimate treat for fans of the Chuck Mosley era.
Yet one studio album stills remains to have the same treatment, the band’s sophomore release and final recording with Chuck, Introduce Yourself. This tremendous record is an important milestone in the band's history and deserves a deluxe edition. Imagine which demos (other than The New Improved Song) and added extras we might get.
3. FNM Live DVD
There are numerous live shows from throughout FNM’s career that were professionally filmed. It’s not hard to find clips on YouTube - Rock In Rio II from 1991, Nulle Part Ailleurs in 1995, Hordern Pavillion in 1997, Maquinaria 2011 - the list goes on.
FNM haven’t released an official full live DVD since You Fat Bastards in 1991. This show was released by Slash to meet demand with no new material ready, surely FNM realise that fans are in dire need of this right now!
4. Live At The Brixton Academy Reissue
Similarly to Introduce Yourself, this album is overdue a reissue and would go some way to satisfying the above point in our list.
In 2021 we will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the original release. The 90/91 audio and video release only included 75% of the actual live performance and for some unknown reason the track order was shuffled. To see and hear this famous show in it’s original entirely would be fantastic. Also during the afternoon of April 28th 1990 the band conducted several interviews (one made available on a Metal XS compilation video), and a promo video for Falling To Pieces was filmed - what a joy the DVD extras might be!
5. The Ultimate FNM Documentary Lots of bands have released a documentary or two - some detail the making of an album, some their entire career. Yet FNM have never narrated their story to anyone and no film maker has had the forethought to create a documentary. We know MTV filmed a lot of footage in SF studio Coast Recorders during the making of Angel Dust, that would make for some fun viewing.
The album with the most intriguing back story is King For A Day. The band moved out of their comfort zone with a new producer and new guitarist. They suffered with Roddy's personal troubles, were involved in car crashes and confrontations - the script writes itself.
Imagine if Mike Patton’s favourite director David Lynch put his twist on the whole sordid adventure, narrated by Patton fan Danny DeVito! Come on!
6. The Seagull / Shuffle Song
One deep cut that wasn’t made available on the deluxe edition of Angel Dust was this 1992 recording. A short segment made it's way onto YouTube but the band have been reluctant to share the whole song. To hear this would be almost like hearing new material and a treat for fans.
7. Angel Dust / King For A Day Demos
No band really wants the demo versions of their songs shared. It's like an artist sharing a sketch or a director sharing rehearsal footage - but fans love that shit! We love to hear a song in the making, the idea behind the polished album version. There are demos from 85 and 87 featuring Chuck that have been made available, you can listen to demos of songs from The Real Thing and Album Of The Year on Youtube - but demo versions from 92 to 95 are nowhere to be found.
8. Classic T-Shirt reissues
There are thirty five years of awesome FNM t-shirt designs. Most are now hard to find and reach ridiculous prices on eBay. It's always a delight to see new designs in the FNM store and with next years tour there will no doubt be a fresh range of shirts available. But how about reprinting classic tour shirts - the green splat / eyeball from 92, or the snarling dog from 95?
Why stop at shirts, we would go nuts for a pair of FNM sneakers.
9. Funko Pop Figurines
Remember those Ipecac Uinpos dolls from 2008?
OK, this item on the wish list is a little crazy but other bands such as Queen, G'n'R Nirvana and Metallica have had collectable big headed action figures created in their image. Hell, their is even a Weird Al Yankovich funko.
How cool would a series of FNM funko pop dolls be - different ones spanning their career and depicting each era of the band.
10. The Photographic History of FNM
We have had three books which tell the story of FNM’s history - Steffan Chirazi’s The Real Story, Greg Prato’s The Faith No More and Mr. Bungle Companion, and Adrian Harte’s Small Victories. None are official biographies of the band, however Small Victories is the closest we may ever get and fills that hole. Chirazi’s book in particular contains some amazing photography from artists like Ross Halfin and Mark Leihola. Over the years we have seen FNM pose for photos in many guises - from the goofy facial expressions in 90 to moody thrift shop posers in 95. A compendium of the band's photographic history would be extremely cool and would illustrate their ever developing image perfectly.