Jim Martin (musician) - Faith No More

Faith No More

Martin joined Faith No More in 1983, two years after the group's formation. He played on their albums We Care a Lot, Introduce Yourself, their breakthrough album The Real Thing with new vocalist Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosely, and Angel Dust.

Following the release of Angel Dust, Martin left the group for reasons that remain unknown. On his now-defunct website, Martin stated The Real Thing was FNM's ideal album, both in the creative process and the touring afterward. The musical about-face that the band took with Angel Dust, including the change in focus from guitars to vocals, did not sit well with Martin. The extent to which Martin did or did not contribute to song writing and recording on Angel Dust is a subject that the band has never directly addressed, except to recognize his major influence on the track "Jizzlobber." The band fired Martin by fax on November 30, 1993, after the band had not progressed as they would like in rehearsals and song-writing. As an indication of the gulf that had formed between Martin and the rest of the band, they had recorded and released "Another Body Murdered" (with Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. for the Judgment Night soundtrack) without his participation. Similarly, Martin produced and recorded material for the film Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey movie without the participation of other members of the band. Producer Matt Wallace later mentioned in The Real Story (a biographical book about Faith No More) that the death of Martin's father was a factor in the guitarist's departure.

On February 18, 2009 Roadrunner Records announced that Martin would not be participating in the rumored Faith No More reunion tour. On February 23, 2009, it was announced as part of a press release by Mike Patton that Faith No More would be reuniting for a string of European tour dates., On February 25, shortly after Patton's press release, Bill Gould announced a Faith No More reunion tour and identified the line-up, which excluded Martin. On July 16, 2010, Sirius XM Liquid Metal DJ Troy Hinson, reported that while he was backstage at Faith No More's Philadelphia appearance, Patton told him that Jim Martin was offered a chance to play with the band at one of their three San Francisco reunion tour dates in order to play the album Angel Dust in its entirety. Jim Martin declined.