We Care a Lot explained

We Care a Lot
Type:studio
Artist:Faith No More
Cover:Faith No More-We Care A Lot.jpg
Border:yes
Released:November 1985[1] [2]
Recorded:Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, California
Label:Mordam
Next Title:Introduce Yourself
Next Year:1987

We Care a Lot is the debut studio album by American rock band Faith No More, originally released in 1985 and distributed through Mordam Records. On the original vinyl release, the band is credited as Faith. No More. on the album's liner notes, back cover, and on the record itself.

Album information

The title track "We Care a Lot" was rerecorded for their follow-up album Introduce Yourself and released as their first single. This later version of the song was incorrectly listed as the original and the album Introduce Yourself was listed as the début in the sleeve notes for some subsequent releases, such as the 1998 compilation Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits.

The band is known to have re-recorded only one song from We Care a Lot in the studio with current singer Mike Patton on vocals. "As the Worm Turns" was recorded during the Angel Dust sessions.

However, a number of live recordings of songs from this album with Patton on vocals have been released over the years.

  1. "We Care a Lot"
    • various "Falling to Pieces" singles
    • Live at the Brixton Academy
    • "We Care a Lot" (contains Patton's live version from Live At The Brixton Academy and Mosley's studio version from Introduce Yourself)
    • "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" CD2 single
    • "We Care a Lot/I Started a Joke" (contains Patton's live version from Live At The Brixton Academy and Mosley's studio version from Introduce Yourself)
    • various "I Started a Joke" singles
  2. "Mark Bowen"
    • "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" CD1 single
  3. "As the Worm Turns"
    • various "Epic" CD singles
    • Live at the Brixton Academy
    • Angel Dust (Japanese edition)

A later recording of "We Care a Lot" (from the album Introduce Yourself) is used as the theme song for the show Dirty Jobs.

Production

The band initially started recording the album without backing from a record label and, after pooling their money, recorded five songs. This gained the attention of Ruth Schwartz (who was then forming the independent label Mordam Records) under which the band (after receiving the finances to do so) finished and released the album. It was the first official release for both the band and the label.[3]

The album was recorded in a short space of time on a low budget. In a 2015 interview, bassist Billy Gould reflected, "There are probably things we could have done better, but at the same time I think that the performances were pretty damned good. And that had to do with us keeping focused and needing to work within those budget restrictions. We rehearsed quite a lot before we went in to record, so we were ready."[4]

Release history

YearRegionFormatLabelCatalogue #[5]
1985 United States Mordam MDR 1
1985 UK and Europe Vinyl Mordam / Southern / Konkurrent MDR 1
1985 Europe Vinyl Mordam / Konkurrent MDR 1
1987 United States CassetteMordam MDR 1C
1995 Australia CD Liberation D 19976
1996 Europe CD London 828 805-2
1996 UK Vinyl London 828 805-1
1996 Japan CD London POCD-1236
While released on vinyl and cassette in 1985, this album would not be released to buy as a CD until 1995 in Australia (on Mushroom Records) as a pink disc for the first pressing, and black disc for the second, to coincide with the tour for their fifth studio album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, released that year. In 1996, it was reissued on CD, vinyl and cassette in the UK and Japan with slightly modified artwork, one being a purple disc. The CD reissue version of the album can be seen during a scene at a record store in the 1997 film Chasing Amy.

2016 reissue

The album was reissued by Koolarrow Records on August 19, 2016, and includes nine additional tracks, including three remixes, four demos and two live recordings from a 1986 show at the I-Beam, San Francisco. It was remastered by Maor Appelbaum [6]

Music and lyrics

The third track "Mark Bowen" was titled after an early Faith No More/Faith No Man guitarist of the same name.[7] [8]

Critical reception

Select magazine, while also mentioning the roughness of production, said that the music is inexorable and "a lustful marriage of mutoid metal and dancefloor verve that owed nothing to anybody".[9] AllMusic made repeated reference to the absence of future front man Mike Patton and criticized Chuck Mosley's vocals, calling him "often off-key, fairly monotonous, and colorless" but credited the album for having "lots of attitude", comparing it to early Public Image Ltd works.[10]

Mike Patton labelled the album as "bad hippie music".[11] However, his Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance was a fan.[12] When Spruance joined Faith No More for their 1995 album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, he suggested that the band return to the sound they had on We Care a Lot.[12]

2016 reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

Faith No More
Production

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WE CARE A LOT | 30 Years. July 16, 2020.
  2. Web site: Faith No More Gig Database - 1985-11-30. www.fnmlive.com. July 16, 2020.
  3. Web site: Faith No More: Angel Dust in the wind . August 10, 2015 . Jem . Aswad . June 1992 . Issue 25 . Reflex Magazine.
  4. Web site: Faith No More Followers: WE CARE A LOT - 30th Anniversary - Bill Gould Interview + EXCLUSIVE Album Reissue News.
  5. http://old.fnm.com/discography/FNMDiscog1.pdf Faith No More discography
  6. Web site: Faith No More Plot Reissue of Seminal Debut 'We Care A Lot'. Jon. Blistein. June 2, 2016. July 16, 2020.
  7. Web site: Mark Bowen. Faith. No Man.
  8. Web site: Faith No More Frequently Answered Questions.
  9. Life in a goldfish bowl . August 23, 2008 . Perry . Neil . September 1990 . Select.
  10. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r7077|pure_url=yes}} We Care a Lot - Overview ]. August 23, 2008 . Prato . Greg . Allmusic.
  11. Web site: Faith No More: your essential guide to every album. January 18, 2020. Metal Hammer Magazine. July 16, 2020.
  12. Web site: Interview with Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Secret Chiefs 3 – Culture Creature. August 30, 2016. Culturecreature.com. July 15, 2020.