BILL GOULD Is 'Okay' With FAITH NO MORE Being An Influence On 'Nu Metal'

In a new interview with Brazil's Rock On Board, FAITH NO MORE bassist Bill Gould was asked about the supposed influence of his band's "Angel Dust" album, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and FAITH NO MORE's earlier recordings on the so-called "nu metal" movement of the mid-to-late 1990s. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If that's what happened, I'm okay with that. Sometimes I can listen to some things and I can say, 'Okay, I can see where they got this maybe for that — maybe.'

"I just think of us like us," he continued. "We are very unique. We have our own fingerprint, if that makes any sense. And it's really a combination of these people that come together and this is what we make.

"I just don't see us compared to nu metal," Gould added. "I mean, you can compare us to THE STRANGLERS maybe; maybe you can compare us to ROXY MUSIC, but not really — just in a very superficial way. And I think that we're just kind of our own thing, really."

In the past, KORN singer Jonathan Davis has been vocal about FAITH NO MORE's influence on the development of the hard rock genre, saying in a 2015 interview: "My favorite FAITH NO MORE record is 'The Real Thing'. That's when [singer] Mike Patton took over. That's the one. [Although] I do like 'We Care A Lot'. We got a lot of our influences from 'The Real Thing'. It showed everybody you could do heavy music and not be 'metal.' It was something completely different."

In a January 1997 interview with Guitar World, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch listed "The Real Thing" as an album that changed his life, recalling: "I was about 17 when I first heard it, and [at the time I was] listening to a lot of METALLICA, 24-7 SPYZ, LIVING COLOUR and FISHBONE. I dug them all, but FAITH NO MORE moved me in a different way, a way more than anything else. It totally changed my direction. It said to me that you didn't have to follow a certain path, that you could just create anything, go out and mess around with anything, that there were no rules. I remember seeing them open up for METALLICA, and everyone started booing them going, 'Rap sucks.' I was so bummed. I felt like screaming at everyone, 'Quit fucking booing them and listen.' They all just heard the rap beat and didn't give them a chance. Then, six months later, they were all over MTV and the same fuckers who were booing were probably lining up to see them."

KORN's other guitarist, James "Munky" Shaffer, also praised "The Real Thing", recalling: "[KORN bassist] Fieldy and I were big FAITH NO MORE fans. In the late '80s, they were playing a kind of funk rock; so were the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, but we tended to lean more towards the minor progressions. When Patton joined in '89, they dropped a single called 'From Out Of Nowhere' and we were sold all the way. At that point we became real fanatics — started researching the guy and going up to San Francisco to see them play. Every song on this record was super inspiring to us. The song structures and Patton's sense of melody — it was alternative metal at its best."

Last September, FAITH NO MORE scrapped all of its previously announced fall 2021 performances, saying Patton was unable to perform as hoped due to mental health issues, partially exacerbated by the pandemic. The other members of FAITH NO MORE issued a statement expressing their disappointment about the tour cancelation while also throwing their support behind their bandmate.

FAITH NO MORE initially reunited for touring purposes in 2009, 12 years after issuing its previous studio set, "Album Of The Year", and followed that up with 2015's "Sol Invictus".