Evidence (Faith No More song)

"Evidence" is a 1995 single by Faith No More, taken from their

fifth studio album, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime. Recorded "Evidence"
in Bearsville Studios and produced by Andy Wallace, the song
was borne out of a period of transition for the group, who had
recently fired their previous guitar player Jim Martin and were
dealing with the absence of keyboard player Roddy Bottum, who
was grieving several recent deaths.

A soul- and R&B-influenced track, "Evidence" was released as

the third single from the album on May 8, 1995, and was
accompanied by a music video directed by Walter Stern. Although
"Evidence" did not fare well in the United States, it spent several
weeks in the charts in the United Kingdom and Australia, and has Single by Faith No More
subsequently been well-received by music critics.
from the album King for a Day...
Fool for a Lifetime
Released May 8, 1995
Contents
Studio Bearsville Studios,
Production Woodstock, New
Release York

Reception Length 4:53

Track list Label Slash

Personnel Songwriter(s) Billy Gould · Mike

Bordin · Trey
Charts
Spruance · Mike
Footnotes
Patton
References
Producer(s) Andy Wallace ·
Faith No More
Production Faith No More singles
chronology
"Evidence" was recorded as part of the King for a Day... Fool for "Ricochet" "Evidence" "Ashes to
a Lifetime session in Bearsville Studios, in Woodstock, New York; (1995) (1995) Ashes"
the record was the first Faith No More album not to be recorded in (1997)
their native Northern California. Bass player Billy Gould described
the remote location of the studio as a form of "sensory
deprivation".[1] Writing and rehearsing the songs for the album took eight to nine months, although half of
this time was also spent finding a replacement for guitar player Jim Martin, who had been fired from the
band following the release of Angel Dust in 1992. Martin had grown dissatisfied with the musical direction
the band had taken, as it was becoming increasingly less guitar-based. Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance
was brought in for the recording session. Spruance left the band before the subsequent tour, and was
replaced by keyboard roadie Dean Menta.[1][2][3]
The recording session took roughly three months, for which the band hired producer Andy Wallace, who
had previously worked with Sonic Youth, Nirvana and Slayer. Bottum claimed the combination of Wallace
and Spruance as two new influences helped to create "a real up-in-the-air, what the fuck is gonna happen
kind of feel" while recording.[1] In addition to the band's lineup changes, Roddy Bottum claims to have
been mostly absent during this period, owing to the deaths of both his father and Kurt Cobain, whose wife
Courtney Love was a close friend of Bottum's.[1][4] In addition to this, Bottum had developed a heroin
addiction,[5] and his absence lead to a dearth of keyboard parts on the songs recorded during this time.[6]

Release
"Evidence" was the third single released from King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime—and with the eventual
cancellation of planned releases for "Take This Bottle" and "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies", would
be the album's last single, It was released on May 8, 1995, and in the UK on July 17 that year.[7] The
release was accompanied by a music video, which was directed by Walter Stern and recorded in a
nightclub on San Francisco's Eddy Street.[7]

The band had made an appearance the previous April on the Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday
to perform the song,[8] which peaked at number 27 in that country's chart;[9] becoming the 29th most-
played song on Australian radio that year.[10] "Evidence" spent three weeks in the UK Singles Chart,
reaching a peak position of number 32.[11]

Reception
Despite its lack of significant airplay or chart
We've always wanted to write a great pop song. [...]
"Evidence" is just that. I think we needed to lose a success upon release,[12] "Evidence" has
guitarist to achieve the end result. since been well-received critically. It has been
described by Jeremy Allen of The Guardian
as "a slick, atmospheric slab of R&B"; Allen
–Singer Mike Patton [12] also noted that the song appeared to be
influenced by songwriter Burt Bacharach, and
The Family Stand's 1990 single "Ghetto
Heaven".[13] Writing for Kerrang! magazine,
Sam Law felt that "Evidence" was a "perfect showcase" of the band's eclectic influences, writing that it
showed they were not hampered by the departure of former guitar player Jim Martin. Law also drew
parallels between the song and the works of Bacharach.[14] In a Faith No More discography retrospective,
Louder Sound described the song as "beautiful liquid soul", again noting that the absence of Martin did not
detract from the recording.[15]

Track list
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Evidence" Gould, Bottum, Spruance, 4:53
Patton
2. "King for a Day" Gould, Bottum, Spruance, 6:36
Patton
3. "I Wanna Fuck Myself" Allin 2:54
4. "Spanish Eyes" Kaempfert, Singleton, Snyder 2:59

Personnel
 Mike Patton – vocals
Billy Gould – bass
Mike Bordin – drums
Roddy Bottum – keyboard
Trey Spruance – guitars
Eric Drooker – illustrations

Charts
Weekly chart performance for "Evidence"
Peak
Chart (1995)
position

Australia (ARIA)[16] 27

Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[17] 48

Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 5

Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 42

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[20] 38

Scotland (OCC)[21] 31

UK Singles (OCC)[22] 32

UK Rock and Metal (OCC)[23] 1

Footnotes
1. "Metal Hammer: Blog Archive: Story Behind the Album – Faith No More" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20101210220222/http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/story-behind-the-album-fai
th-no-more/). Metal Hammer. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original (http://www.metalha
mmer.co.uk/news/story-behind-the-album-faith-no-more/) on December 10, 2010. Retrieved
August 21, 2021.
2. "Official Faith No More site :: Biography" (http://www.fnm.com/bio.shtml). Retrieved
August 21, 2021.
3. Jaeger, Barbara (March 19, 1995). "Feinstein's Bow to His Century" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20160414014728/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22471038.html). The Record.
Archived from the original (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22471038.html) on April 14,
2016. Retrieved July 1, 2012. (subscription required)
4. Gargano, Paul (2003). This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (CD booklet). Faith No More.
Burbank, CA: Rhino Records.
5. "Faith No More Return of the King" (https://exclaim.ca/music/article/faith_no_more-return_of
_king). Exclaim!. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
6. Chirazi, Steffan (1998). Who Cares a Lot? (CD booklet). Faith No More. Burbank, CA: Rhino
Records.
7. Harte 2018, pp. 274–275.
8. Stefan Negele. "Faith No More TV Appearances" (http://old.fnm.com/tv/). Retrieved
March 24, 2011.
 9. "Discography Faith No More" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080511162511/http://australian
-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Faith+No+More). Australian-Charts.com. Archived
from the original (http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Faith+No+More)
on May 11, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
10. "1995 | history | triple j hottest 100 – 2008 | triple j" (http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_0
8/history/1995.htm). ABC. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
11. "Faith No More – Full official chart history" (https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24681/faith-n
o-more/). Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
12. Harte 2018, p. 275.
13. Allen, Jeremy (September 10, 2014). "Faith No More: 10 of the Best" (https://www.theguardia
n.com/music/musicblog/2014/sep/10/faith-no-more-10-of-the-best). The Guardian. Retrieved
August 20, 2021.
14. Law, Sam (November 11, 2020). "The 20 greatest Faith No More songs" (https://www.kerran
g.com/features/the-20-greatest-faith-no-more-songs-ranked/). Kerrang!. Retrieved August 20,
2021.
15. "Faith No More albums: Your essential guide" (https://www.loudersound.com/features/faith-n
o-more-your-essential-guide-to-every-album). Louder Sound. January 17, 2020. Retrieved
August 21, 2021.
16. "Faith No More – Evidence" (https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Faith+No
+More&titel=Evidence&cat=s). ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
17. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/M
M-1995-08-12.pdf) (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 32. August 12, 1995. p. 15. Retrieved
May 8, 2021.
18. "Top National Sellers" (https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-19
95-07-01.pdf) (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 26. July 1, 1995. p. 18. Retrieved August 2,
2021.
19. "Faith No More – Evidence" (https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Faith+No+More&
titel=Evidence&cat=s) (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
20. "Faith No More – Evidence" (https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Faith+No+More&titel=
Evidence&cat=s). Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100" (https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish
-singles-chart/19950805/41/). Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
22. "Official Singles Chart Top 100" (https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/1995080
5/7501/). Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
23. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40" (https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/rock-and-
metal-singles-chart/19950729/111/). Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26,
2016.

References
Harte, Adrian (2018). Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More. Jawbone Press.
ISBN 978-1911036371.

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