Customer Reviews

We Care a Lot

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FNM was around for so many years that it would be [silly] to compare this to their later works(at least during the first listen).For Vomitgod's sake,I should hope they got better.I personally LOVE this album.When I bought this, I was just looking for decent music.What I found was FANTASTIC! Chuck may not be remotely as talented as Patton, but he definately has a style and charisma.He has a kind of a punk rock cool. Hey, Patton was a fan before he joined.Most fans of typical bands resent the new guy, but because most of FNM's fans hopped on the bandwagon after "Epic", and a few more literate people with the stuff on "Angel Dust", that reaction is reversed.To the average listener, Chuck's the new guy.In that sense, neither he nor the rest could ever possibly compete.I purposely approach this record pretending that I never heard the rest.There is a real straight line through the different albums leading to the FNM you're familiar with.Newcomers should try this one out first(be careful,it's dark). If you have an open mind, check out this brilliant work.

It's puzzling why this album never got a domestic (USA) release on CD, only vinyl and cassette. If you want a CD of this album, you have to import the Australian disc, hence the slightly higher-than-normal pricepoint. Anyway, on to the music.

Contrary to many of the reviews offered here, "We Care a Lot" is actually pretty good and it IS comparable to the band's much later, 4th album "Angel Dust." WCAL is much better than FNM's second record, "Introduce Yourself" and features prominently many of the things I love about FNM-- dark & sinister lyrics and music, for one. Another thing I love about FNM is that they constantly reinvented themselves with each and every record and touched on almost every music genre known to man at one point or another during their 15+ year career. WCAL isn't as experimental as AD, but it is most definitely just as dark and features some of the band's best keyboard work of their entire run. Jim Martin's crunching guitar is also front and center here, and that's no bad thing.

It's too hard to pick highlights on WCAL because each and every track shines in it's own light. The band was getting a long very well at this early point in their tenure, and it shows in the music with each and every member contributing equally to the sonic landscape. Of the 10 tracks on WCAL, 2 are instrumentals. "Jim" is an acoustical piece played solely by guitarist Jim Martin, "Pills for Breakfast" is a full-band effort slightly foreshadowing what would be heard two records later on The Real Thing's "Woodpecker from Mars." Two more of the tracks, "We Care a Lot" and "As the Worm Turns" would be re-recorded on later FNM albums for whatever reason. The title track was re-recorded for the second album, "Introduce Yourself," with altered lyrics and a faster tempo. The IY version is what would go on to be played at all subsequent concerts. "As the Worm Turns" was re-recorded for the "Angel Dust" record with an arguably superior vocal performance. The version found here, however, features a much superior keyboard part to the AD recording which in my opinion makes it the version of choice. No review of WCAL would be complete without a mention of the excellent keyboard & rhythm driven "Why Do You Bother?", one of my favorite FNM songs of all time. Also great are the driving "The Jungle" and "Arabian Disco," the latter of which found it's way onto one of the FNM best-of compilations.

Perhaps WCAL's only weak point is the vocal delivery, although not atrocious, it's far from the band's best though this is more apparent in some places than others. Beyond that, WCAL proves to be a (somewhat surprisingly) tight, consistent record from start to finish and pleasantly offers more than a fair share of great tunes. Listening to WCAL back to back with a later FNM album, such as "King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime" (which I believe to be of inferior stock, by the way), one thing that is immediately apparent is the length of the songs. The tunes on WCAL hook you in, throw you right into the groove, take you to a quick climax then get the hell out of dodge. As opposed to some of the tracks on KFAD, which seem to overstay their welcome, lumbering along long after their expiration date has past.

At the end of the day, I'd recommend this to all hardcore FNM fans, particularly to fans of the keyboard-heavy Angel Dust and Album of the Year. Casual fans who feel "The Real Thing" was FNM's best work probably won't find much to like here outside of Jim Martin's crunching guitar. For what it's worth, I'd probably rank it somewhere in the middle when held up against the rest of their catalog. Which says a lot, considering anything FNM put out is miles ahead of 98% of the drivel being put out by rock bands these days.

(If the $40 price tag on the CD version scares you, check out the $7 cassette version.)

This is the first Faith No More album I ever got, and I still only have it on cassette tape, but it's one of my favorites. 'The Jungle' is one of Faith No More's best songs. This album has some great music and creepy lyrics. It's not comparable to say, Angel Dust, but it's still Faith No More doing what they do. It has the original version of We Care Alot, which I prefer over the Introduce Yourself version. Mosley's vocals take some getting used to, especially if you were introduced to FNM via Mike Patton, but they definitely work with the music. If you can find this one it's definitely worth picking up.

This album (being the first of the band) is an excellent tilte and a rare one. You cannot find more originality in a band and We Care A Lot from Faith No More is just a kick-ass album. If you are a Faith No More fan like myself, you know what I'm talking about. But if you are not a fan, I highly recommend it to anyone who had a real good time in the 80's. Once again, great album!!! Ben Gonzalez-Age 14

Well, it's not worth 100 bucks, actually no album is worth that much. And people think its internet piracy thats making people not buy albums. Well anyways I got this album way back when I was about 15. It's got more of a garage, under produced quality, which I kind of like, plus shows a bands growth later. If you look at it with a fresh light, as it's something different and anyone into Faith No More should be into something different. Anyways, I recommend if you know a friend with it, borrow listen to it or something.

Most people and music critics would like you to believe that 1987's Introduce Yourself was Faith No Mores first album the truth is that 1985's We Care A Lot is the true beginning for this great band. Released into a time when 80's pop ruled the world and the only rock going was some lame hair metal this album was very refreshing and nearly 25 years later still sounds great.

Featuring original vocalist Chuck Mosley this album has four real stand out tracks, the title track We Care A Lot which is different from Introduce Yourself's version but is no less scathing in its attack on multi millionaire musicans who would like you to think that they are trying to heal the world. The brilliant Mark Bowen (who was once the guitar player for the band) is probably the best track on the album and is still played live today, The Worm Turns, which twists one way and the other and will have you coming back for repeated listens, Arabian Disco is also a great track.

Whilst Mosley is definitely no Mike Patton his style really suits the music on this album. The early sound of Faith No More would go on to influence a host of bands and sometimes their work with Mosley is overlooked which is unfortunate. As Always Roddy Bottum's Keyboard playing is a real highlight.

Whilst this album seems to be forgotten about and can be hard to track down you would be doing yourself a disservice if you choose to ignore it.

I really don't understand all the negative reviews of this album. It is definitely NOT THE WORST FNM ALBUM!! It is wayyyy better than the follow-up Introduce Yourself and in fact I think this album is awesome and a high water mark in the band's career...........you just need to spin it probably 10 times then you'll understand how great it is and how catchy the songs are.

In my opinion, the signature FNM musical sound is there but more ethereal than on "Introduce Yourself".........but what brings this album all together is Chuck Mosely. As much as everyone here is complaining about how lackluster his voice is (which it is - he sounds like Keith Morris from The Circle Jerks and early Black Flag), the punk attitude is the icing on the cake totally making this a wholly original effort. It's almost like Southern California's answer to Magazine and Public Image Ltd (both incredible bands) but completely unique on its own..........a marriage of progressive rock, heavy metal, keyboard soundscapes delivered with a PUNK ATTITUDE. The songs here are much darker and creepy than on subsequent releases and it is definitely an avant album..........but the songs are very accessible after you give the album a chance. People are complaining about how dated the album sounds but if you think Black Flag's "Damaged" and the first Public Image album still sound great.......you'll love this. As much as I love Mike Patton and Mr. Bungle, I don't think Patton and Mosely can even be compared because they both brought something completely different to this band and Mosely shouldn't be discounted.

My two favorite tracks on here if you can download them and preview before purchasing the album are "The Jungle" and "Greed." Both are so strange sounding, they can be off-putting at first but trust me.....after hearing these songs and "As the Worm Turns" and "New Beginnings," you'll realize that this stands up with everything else in the band's catalog and is way better than "Introduce Yourself." Think of it in the same way as pre-Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden.....sure it isn't what you'll expect and my be surprised at first because it isn't "Number of the Beast" or "Powerslave," but the first album and "Killers" can't be ignored and are great records in their own right.

Very, very underrated album. Please listen to it 10 times and shoot me a comment before bashing the album.

Also recommended: Magazine - "Real Life" and Public Image Ltd - "Self Titled" and "Second Edition."

Despite fans becoming spoiled with something much more powerful, a surprising amount of the elements which made the group so singularly great were already present on this '85 release beneath a craptacular surface. I consider it a must have for any fan of the group.

An album that always seemed to blend in with Introduce Yourself in my mind perhaps due to both albums relying heavily on the presence of We Care A Lot. Of course this song was one of their early badges of merit. And it's hard all these years later to think back to whether or not the song was better in it's original version or the later one. Certainly the sales figures indicate that the later album was better recieved by the record buying public.

Personal favourites on this album include the opener/title track and not much else. The reason I have given three stars despite it's lacking any tunes I'd label absolute killers and only one good song is for it's historical importance. FNM fans really should explore these early Chuck Mosley fronted albums for their value in showing that right from the get go the band had a musical vision that while often cloudy and difficult to pin down, they were certainly on a different trip to many of the other hard and heavy bands out there.

The use of Mosleys distinctive vocals over the top of all sorts of interesting rhythms added to the shadings provided by the guitars and keyboards mean that the hardcore fan will probably find many snippets of interest. The development of the band during the first half of their career which found them trying to get their vision into rational and understandable songs is something I'm sure many FNM fans will enjoy if they help themselves to both this and Introduce Yourself.

As long as you approach it for what it is, an early and somewhat disjointed early jaunt then you'll come away happy with your purchase, lets just not get too carried away and lose all perspective however and admit that this album is not a barnstormer as it does not have the X factor present on The Real Thing nor the artistic merit or genre hopping sensibilities of some of their latter day works.

Well, I don't really know how to express my feelings about this release. It is the most primitive and hobby-a-like album of Faith No More. I don't know if this kind of music is common in the States, but it sure hell is not in here where I come from! (Finland... Northern Europe...)It is quite heavily conducted to it's era, because the it sounds so 80's , that it would be terribly out of place if it would've been released in the 90's. After all, I have to say that it's quite pathetic, quite interseting, and VERY WEIRD piece of music.