This week, Mike Patton’s initial demos with Faith No More were released online.

The tracks emerged via YouTube, but date back to the late 1980s. The songs, initially recorded on a 4-Track reel-to-reel machine in Billy Gould’s attic, were meant to be a demonstration of the vocal abilities of Mike Patton. At the time, the band was courting him to be their singer, and needed a sample of his work to present to their management and record label. Obviously, the label and management liked what they heard from this session, because Patton has been with the band since 1989’s “The Real Thing”.

Only two copies of this tape exist, according to the Facebook fan community FaithNoMoreBlog. Gould confirmed to FaithNoMoreBlog that the recordings were done in late October ahead of the band’s first live performance with this group of songs on November 4th, 1988. Apparently, he created the tapes directly from the 4-track machine, writing over pre-existing music.

The tape that showed up on YouTube had been sold on eBay in September 2006 after being found in a Hollywood, Calif. thrift shop. It had been received in a box of other music industry demo tapes. Additionally, in the demo collection were four photos of Mike Patton taken in a Photo Vending Machine, and a copy of “OU818″, the fourth demo by Mr. Bungles, according to FaithNoMoreBlog.

For a reel-to-reel to tape transfer that had circulated in a thrift shop and later online, the sound quality that’s reached YouTube is quite clear.

Check out “The Cowboy Song”:

Faith No More 1988 Demo Tracklisting:

1. The Cowboy Song
2. Surprise! You’re Dead
3. Underwater Love
4. Falling to Pieces