Mike Patton could have been a rap-metal pinup with Faith No More; instead he has become one of art-rock's most prolific and unpredictable hydra-headed forces. From covering horror-movie themes and Italian pop standards, to spazzing out with Dillinger Escape Plan and Dead Cross, to collaborating with the likes of John Zorn, Sepultura and Merzbow, the dude does it all and then some, with his reportedly six-octave vocal range and alternately maniacal and dapper stage presence. No single playlist could encompass his many voices and personas, but here is our best attempt.
Mike Patton: A Crash Course in Avant-Metal's Man of a Thousand Voices
Go beyond Faith No More and Mr. Bungle with our career-spanning playlist
courtesy of Ipecac Records
Music
Slipknot's '.5: The Gray Chapter': How Death, Trauma Shaped Comeback LP
Corey Taylor: "This album is about making peace with the loss that we've suffered"
Music
Drugs, Death, Chaos, Contradiction: Inside Dillinger's 'One of Us Is the Killer'
How Greg Puciato and Ben Weinman's complex relationship has shaped one of heavy music's most insane bands
Music
Killswitch Engage: Inside Jesse Leach's Return, Making of 'Disarm the Descent'
Leach: "Being in Killswitch today is worlds apart from what it was 10 years ago"
Music
Killswitch Engage 'Incarnate': Metalcore Rebels Face Dark Side, Fight Inner War
Singer Jesse Leach: "This album literally drove me crazy"
Music
Slipknot's '.5: The Gray Chapter': How Death, Trauma Shaped Comeback LP
Corey Taylor: "This album is about making peace with the loss that we've suffered"
Music
Drugs, Death, Chaos, Contradiction: Inside Dillinger's 'One of Us Is the Killer'
How Greg Puciato and Ben Weinman's complex relationship has shaped one of heavy music's most insane bands
Music
Killswitch Engage: Inside Jesse Leach's Return, Making of 'Disarm the Descent'
Leach: "Being in Killswitch today is worlds apart from what it was 10 years ago"
Music
Killswitch Engage 'Incarnate': Metalcore Rebels Face Dark Side, Fight Inner War
Singer Jesse Leach: "This album literally drove me crazy"