The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion

by Greg Prato

Place any musical style in front of Faith No More, and seemingly, a timeless song of their own would soon be created. Between 1985-1997, Faith No More issued six full-length recordings (including such classic titles as 'The Real Thing' and 'Angel Dust') and in the process, influenced countless musicians throughout the world. But that's not to say it was smooth sailing - members coming and going, inter-band bickering, never being the toast of the critics, etc. And much of the same could be said about the zanier Mr. Bungle, which also featured FNM singer Mike Patton. Now, for the first time ever, there is a book that explores and analyzes both bands' histories - 'The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.' Interviews Wes Borland (Black Light Burns/Limp Bizkit), Max Cavalera (Soulfly/ex-Sepultura), Johnny Christ (Avenged Sevenfold), Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses), Everlast (House of Pain/solo artist), Mike Fleischmann (Vision of Disorder), John Garcia (Vista Chino/ex-Kyuss), Mitts (Madball), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Jason Newsted (Newsted/ex-Metallica), Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Devin Townsend (Devin Townsend Project/ex-Strapping Young Lad), Ville Valo (HIM), and Jeff Walker (Carcass). Finally, a complete and thorough overview of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle's careers…strap yourself in and/or hold on tight!

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Music Biography

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2013

About the author

Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, whose writing has appeared in such renowned publications as Rolling Stone. He is the author of several popular books, 'A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,' 'Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,' 'Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, 'No Schlock . . . Just Rock!,' 'The Eric Carr Story,' 'MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,' 'Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets,' 'Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets,' 'Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984,' and 'The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.'

Reviews

[Agi]

I have mixed feelings toward this book. As a FNM-fan I was really-really happy when I heard about this book, therefore I couldn't wait to read it.
What I liked: the structure of this book and how Prato let the musicians speak. He collected the materials from different interviews (not only his but by many others)and put into one coherent text. I also liked that he quoted by (not always FNM-fan) well-known musicians as well (members of Kyuss, Soundgarden, Sepultura, HIM, Korn, Ozzy and many-many others).

What I didn't like: I started to count the word of "aforementioned" (together: 21; 5 times on the first 17 pages), since not once I found it twice on the same page. I remember that the very first (and only one) synonymus phrase was on the page of 130 ("previously mentioned"). Despite I am not an English expert (but I am good at linguistics), I found it a little bit annoying.

I also missed a chapter about Peeping Tom and Mondo Cane. I know that the title says FNM and Mr. Bungle, but there were chapters about other side(?) projects, so I believe those "aforementioned" ones could have been mentioned, too. If Patton shitting habits got one whole chapter, why those can't get any?

On the whole, I really like the book, and I appreciate Greg Prato's efforts very much to write this book. Along with the book, I listened to Mr. Bungle again (I hadn't done it for years) and I recollected my memories of FNM-concerts in Hungary again.
So, long story short: Thank you!

[Rodney]

I must first mention that I may be biased, as I love both of these bands and consider them integral to my sense of what music is and can be. That being said, I really think that the author did a great job. There is a lot to take away from this book. The facts and interviews are presented objectively, are organized chronologically and flow well. I felt as though I was walking through my past, albeit with some great new information, as I read. I really liked the Bungle sections, as the band has often been very elusive. It even had me listening along at many points to the album featured in the chapter I was reading. In short, I really enjoyed this from start to finish. If you are into either of the bands, or Mike Patton, you really should get this.

[Stephen Hines]

The parts of this book that actually focused on the histories and legacies of these two great bands were amazing. Unfortunately, the author (inexplicably) felt compelled to insert the thoughts of rock star wannabes such as Wes Borland, Mitts, and Everlast. Who the hell cares what they think of FNM or Mr. Bungle? The biographical content in the book was so minimal that it was depressing.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦]

Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…
“FNM has always stood out as some sort of unique beast - part dog/part cat, its music almost as schizophrenic as its members..”

The year was probably 1989 to 1990, and I was 12/13. Having enjoyed a random mix of UK and US pop/rock/rap/dance in the previous few years I’m guessing the driving influence probably did come from MTV watching - the video for Epic was on a lot and it felt like something that I did need to feel, see and hear on those days. Did I get the album bought for my birthday? I love a good bass and drum led guitar song but this was different from anything else at the time, so exciting. And the band were total individuals. The lead singer was beautiful and danced like a kid; the guitarist looked like an American 70s rocker; the bass player a contemporary rocker; the drummer always in the zone looking dedicated and comfortable and the blond pop looking keyboard player that I still try and emulate on daft piano moments, as he looked literally lost in music. A group of misfits that weren’t afraid to drop pop nods into their musical world without embarrassment. I devoured my copy of The Real Thing on tape and learning the printed lyrics and playing it over and over again. No one else at my school seemed to be into them but in my mind they were missing out as that album genuinely had a bit of everything on it. I’ve spent the past week listening to the book, having to stop it to drop into the music, and I think that it will always be in my top 20 albums of all time - just amazing.

I was a bit older when Angeldust era came around but I remember rushing to town to buy Midlide Crisis on numbered cassette single (on I think the day of release which was a Saturday?) - I was so excited that I sat on the back staircase of Kidderminster Woolies and put it straight on the old Walkman and again was blown away - what a change but wowsers - my favourite band had grown up from the first couple of albums and still kicked ass! Still an amazing song now, and one day I shall own a drum kit simply to play this set of beats. And then again it was a random album of mixtures with notables for me being a small victory, be aggressive and the fabulous everything’s ruined. And then the wonderfully cynic heavy Easy came out, more people started paying attention and I tutted and said ‘told you!’.

Life got busy so I didn’t buy the next few albums but every few years I end up revisiting their music from all eras (Ricochet got me through a lot of 2023 driving away from/towards stupid moments!) and I’m still finding original things - oh my word, the covers? The Patton vocal range that was so individual and changing but he made look effortless? The ability to walk away and come back. But it was all about the fun that they seemed to be having - fans of music cheekily knowing that they could do what they wanted. And the Mr Bungle bits too! Was this the best book ever written about musicians? No (hint - listening to the audiobook on a faster speed makes it sound more normal!) but for me it made me smile for the memories and the history. Did I miss Jim in the second half of the book and the careeer? Yes! Am I sad that I’ve just been reminded that Chuck passed away in 2017? Of course. Am I flabbergasted that it took this book to make realise the aural similarities with RHCP? Oh my word… Do I still love the fact that Patton has one of the widest vocal ranges ever recorded? Too right… long may my timely returns into the back catalogue continue… and one day I shall get my much dreamed of flaming drop into water tattoo

[Alex]

Cobbled together from various articles printed about the band over the years. Unimaginative and poorly written.

[Samuel Goff]

I am much interested in the subject matter or this rating would have probably been lower. Prato has an annoying knack of referring to parts of the body with cutsey names like a head is a "noggin" a chin is a "chinny-chin-chin."The writing as sort of juvenile and I am big fans of both bands so there was not any new information to glean. But I love Faith No More and Mr. Bungle so much it's hard to give to bad a rating considering the subject matter.

[Simon Sweetman]

A decent effort at cataloguing the intwined life of two key 90s bands — and tries its best to trace Mike Patton’s muse. A really fun read all up.

[Sorcha Ní Bhraoin]

I loved reading it only because I'm a die hard so any material I can find will always be met with my open arms. However, the authors writing style was underdeveloped.

[Christopher]

Decent book, but I can't figure out why our humble (as he states a few times) author even decided to include Mr. Bungle in his "companion". It seems he dismisses a lot of their work casually and barely covers the band members or their work at all compared to the space he gives FNM. Probably Bungle could've been covered in a chapter in a "Faith No More" companion rather than including Mr. Bungle in the title.
Plus, a lot of space is given to members of unassociated bands giving their impressions of FNM and Bungle. Who cares (a lot) what they think?

[Blue Mountains Library]

Read this based on a review because I am a huge Mike Patton fan. Didn’t expect much but found out a number of things about the bands that I had not previously read. Easy to tell the author is a rock/metal guy, any of the music that strayed away from those genres did not receive unbiased treatment. For hardcore fans only.

ANON