I guess most of you know everything about FNM's drummer, so let's make it short:
Mike "puffy" Bordin was born in SF and grew up next to Cliff Burton of Metallica.They had a band called EZ Street, named after a strip joint in San Mateo.
Bordin is the moving force behind Faith No More, along with the bassist Billy Gould, and together they wrote many FNM songs.
Bordin has a very strong work ethic.
He is a left handed, and a Phenomenon rock drummer. Ozzy Osbourne said that he is "like an animal". And when Korn asked Bordin to drum for them, Mike Patton of FNM said that once korn will see Bordin at work, it's gonna make them fire their own drummer …
Bordin is my favorite drummer, the first one from a very respected list:
Gene Hoglan - death Clem Burke - blondie Clive Burr - iron maiden Josh Freese - suicidal tendencies and many many more
Back to Bordin: When a musician gets your heart when you are a teen, He can't disappoint you. As a fan, you love all of the songs. But still, as a retrospective - its nice to pick the top. Not what Bordin himself thinks of his top- although it's interesting - but what I think. So here it is, the Greatest FNM drumming performances.
10 in number, And they are all good; there is no need for a "countdown".
Midlife Crisis
that’s what you get when you are composing drums, when listening to "Cecilia" (Simon & Garfunkel)
from there, Somehow , an unforgettable drum part was born, a fire that start you up like the bell ringing for Jean Piaget's dog, The same fire that makes the crowed scream and jump along with it.
In the middle of the song, comes the sample of "car thief" (beasty boys). In live concerts, puffy gets some seconds here to make a semi - drum solo, and he always makes it a little different.
But if you stop analyze and justfeel, the whole drumming work in this song is exactly like the song itself:
different, unique, mysterious.
The last to know
if you will try to air-drum this, you will find it as a soul – therapy, a meditative experience. You're consciousness is somewhere out there, swept away with the amazing song melody.
For this kind of experience, you need a drum composing that's not taking the attention from the song, but being as one with it.I couldn't find anything like this in other songs that I had known.It works together perfect.
War pigs
A bad - ass song,for a bad - ass drummer.
It's a song about stupid wars, or something, right? I didn’t notice, because of the personal war that crazy Bordin is managing here. The guy throws the whole arsenal he can.
It starts slow, but then comes the bomb. I'm not here for Professional terms from the drumming world, like "eighths", or "drum pass", but the whole Bordinrepertoire is here. There are no drums or cymbals that are not being hit again and again.
If, at the age of 15 and even 20 something, I could air – drum this song (but without my breath at the end), In my exalted age today and after losing most of my endurance, it looks like a fantasy...
I really hope that Bill Ward, who recorded the original with black Sabbath, had sat down before he herd this the first time. And even if he did, he probably fell of the chair :))
Arabiandisco
Hey, that’s not a real Arabian disco song!
But I like it anyway… the "high" feeling from the two verses is unique, like a punk song from the late 70's.
in the debut album "we care a lot", There are mainly 2 motifs thatBordin does again and again, and here - he does both of them:
1. Hitting the snare – drum in both sticks and real hard,
like he wants to destroy them. In this specific album, it sounds really exaggerated, not Coherent, Like it's not being stopped by acoustic walls. Somehow, it turned out great, like a serious of explosions one after the other. 2. Making the feet work sound like a double bass drum, when it's not. Bordin made a career from that shit... no one does it better then this guy.
Everything's ruined
It's all ruined? Well, except puffy's drums, that still sounds great.
What we have here is kind of a dance. The drums and the bass guitar are jumping alone and together. It reminds you that once upon a time, these two were doing funk metal.
Bordin is filling the verses with great tom - tom beats,
which a different drummer might have taken to other places (boring ones). Everything's ruined is a nice proof for Bordin's creativity. He knows what sounds good, and what makes you jump around. Other skills that he has of course , like speed or technic, you can always leave for other songs, but creativity has no substitute
woodpeckers from mars
Remember the trick of making it sound like a double bass drum, although it's not? This song is taking it to the very maximum, combined with a leg work on the hi - hat, that wouldn't have shamed the big John Bonham himself, who really lived that shit.
Look at the sharp young man* in this video. He is doing a great job that explains how great this drumming is. Funny thing, in the space where he wrote some words about the video, he goes :
"I feel like this song is a double pedal song, with the second pedal being the hi – hat, instead of a kick drum".
Imagine that : you're a rock drummer. You grew up with cliff burton. You recorded "the real thing" album. It kicked ass. The tour was a blast, too. everywhere. Your drum beats jumped the crowed, from Brixton to Latin America.
And now, your band mates are showing you the new album stuff, which is good , but there's a catch: this song. The guitar and bass melody sounds like a slow crowling in the desert. Well, sort off. it's a rough stuff, alright.
Oh, great, Here come the keyboards. maybe now it changes. ...Nop. still sound like a fucking lizard in the desert. And what's with the song's middle part...? Is that a sample of an Indian singing? Maybe that's his lament for the fucking lizard.What the hell?
"We promise you", says your band mates, "wait a little bit. We know it sounds strange, but hold on. It would get better and better, and the shock would be smaller and smaller. Meanwhile, here is an "occupational therapy" for you:compose the drums for this".
Ok, of course it was an imaginary story.
In real life, puffy is not just a rocker, and not just a drummer.
His heart and ears are open wide. He ain't fall for clichés.
But yes – this song is no easy listening. If you need to compose drums for this, it might be another instrument that sounds like a fucking lizard in the desert. Instead, you are taking this crawling stuff upon your back, and make it stronger.The trick: once in a while you smash the toms 2 times, awaking the business again and again, before it goes to sleep.
And the Indian? You give him a kind of a jazz beat.
which is very unique stuff when you think of FNM's repertoire. The hi – hat is doing this one steady thing, while the bass drum and snare are playing with each other. Really a great part, which demands a good coordination.
So what I'm trying to say? "Smaller and smaller" is pretty strange at first. you need an open mindeddrummer to make it work.
And don’t get me wrong, I think it's a great song.
I liked "Smaller and smaller" right from the start. I just didn’t know it yet ... it took a while. And that's the whole Angel Dust album magic.
Introduce yourself
It's pretty obvious that this crazy number, this energy bomb, is one of puffy's greatest drum beats. you press the play button, and it starts the fire.
somwhere in the middle, it becomes a drum solo, and puffy gets crazy in the shows and takes it to the max.
But at the same time, isn't it more of the same thing? tom - tom crushing and snare tearing?
Hell yes ,and it's great! that's the thing about Mike Bordin, using the same uniqueness that you have, and making it sound amazing again and again.
Ugly in the morning
+
Cuckoo for caca
Pretty obvious too, I woud say. but who cares? These two , with all that's going on - and not only drums - should be well known for any headbanger who respects himself.
They also have a glorious ending: "ugly" with the intensional mess that finaly comes to an explosion, and "cuckoo" with sudden silent, that has a shivering effect.
As for Puffy's work here, it's a kind of a tribal dance, The clan drums are tearing the jungle with a constant pace, while the whole tribe dances around it.
Puffy'stoms got many of stories to tell. He is a "tom king".
but here, his work is somehow more noticeable then ever before. The tom beats in these song's verses are like a superglue. It gets the whole buisness together.
Is it because the producer Andy Wallace made them more coherent? Is it because how the other instuments goes? Maybe both. I dont know. But It feels great to keep it as a mystrey.
