Faith No More: We Care A Lot

Faith No More: We Care A Lot

1985

Mordam Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1.  We Care A Lot  2. The Jungle  3. Mark Bowen  4. Jim  5. Why Do You Bother  6. Greed  7. Pills for Breakfast  8. As the Worm Turns  9. Arabian Disco  10. New Beginnings


I usually reboot the blog at the start of every new year, starting over at A and working my way back to where I was but my records are all out of order from my recent move. So I'm estimating what band would have been next after The Faint and all I can come up with is Faith No More, so I dug out those records and will go forward from here. Once my stuff is all back in order I'll start over with the A-F's that I purchased during 2016 (of which there were a lot! It seems like I only bought albums that started with A-D last year).

My friend JJ used to have this album on cassette back in the day but I couldn't find it anywhere! I ultimately just dubbed off a cassette copy and listed to that for years and years until the tape was eventually devoured by a hungry walkman or something...

The scarcity of the album gave it a sort of legendary status. I remember encountering FNM fans who were totally unaware (and skeptical) of its existence. I've personally encountered FNM fans who had always wondered where "As the Worm Turns" originated, which gave me the opportunity to act all scholarly, enlightening them to the existence of "We Care A Lot" and the original, superior version "As the Worm Turns" (it is superior! The Mike Patton version is waaayyy too sped up (and that's coming from someone who generally prefers things sped up) which causes the song to lose its creeping drama and cathartic sense of release...and don't get me started on those whickity whack record scratches).

I'm going to be upfront. I know I'm in the super-minority with this opinion, but I prefer Chuck Mosley to Mike Patton. Possibly because I tend to value originality over skill. Chuck was a truly unique character in 80's rock and to this day I can't really compare him to anybody, with his deep, resonant voice that veered between half-spoken rap and off-key crooning. He sounded kinda loopy, kinda dopey and completely original. I feel it more directly because I get the feeling this guy is a real-deal weirdo goofball. Contrast this with Mike Patton who is an exceptionally skilled singer who often feels like an actor, trying on different characters and voices as suits the song. I totally understand why someone would prefer Mike Patton, but I just don't (with the exception of  "Angel Dust," which is probably the only FNM album I rank up there with "Introduce Yourself" and "We Care A Lot").  My guess is that people that lean towards punk, where flaws are amplified and celebrated, would probably prefer the unpolished qualities of Chuck whereas folks who were raised on the radio (but have a slightly alternative bent) would probably prefer the polished Mike material (I'm also one of those rare people that prefers Paul Di'anno to Bruce Dickinson for these same reasons, so it could also probably be argued that I simply have no taste).
 
I love Roddy Bottum's keyboard work on these early FNM albums. You really get a sense of what he brought to the band on these stripped down records. A slightly ominous, hazy tunefulness. Whenever you try to pinpoint what's so amazing about any of these tracks, it usually comes down to the keyboard line swirling slightly above it all. It's part of what makes them so unique. It's just an easily identifiable tone and it's difficult to imagine any of these songs working very well without it.

The album kicks off with an earlier, lesser known version of their hit "We Care A Lot" which is slightly slower, stickier and has some great alternate lyrics that swap out the latter versions Madonna and Mr T references for Garbage Pail Kids and Transformers, which is a pretty fair trade if you ask me...

The real highlights of this album though are the excellent post-punk/funk song "The Jungle" where an echo-y vocal effect makes the hook (such a good production call). Chuck changes up the vocal melody every couple of measures which results an abundance of hooks once you're accustomed to the ever-changing flow. The other highlight (and it's a big one) is "As the Worm Turns" which is easily my favorite FNM song. Hands down. Nothing else comes close. It starts with one of those Roddy Bottum keyboard lines I was praising earlier where you have no idea what shape the song is going to take, then the heavy bass and drums kick in and the result is truly surprising and thrilling. Jim spools off a great little lead right before the vocals come in. And man, those vocals! Chuck's best vocal performance as he shouts his head off. Every instinct is dead on. Every strained scream, every monotone deadpan, every childish taunt conveys the deadbeat lifestyle outlined in the song's lyrics. It all works so well and is humming along so flawlessly that when it unceremoniously ends shortly after the 3 minute mark, it's a genuine shock. They could have easily kept this high going for another minute or three.

The rest of the album is pretty cool too, with minor classics like "Mark Bowen" and the fun instrumental "Jim." There are very few tracks I don't care for. I've always been kinda irritated by "Greed," which is the only song where I can sorta understand some of the complaints of the Chuck Mosley detractors. I've never been able to fully wrap my mind around "New Beginnings" either. The song has just always struck me as a bit shapeless. Maybe it'll sink in someday.

I know they're recently reissued this album and now is as good a time as any to get reacquainted with this album. I haven't heard the reissue, so I can't speak for the quality but the old vinyl sounds fine to me. Good and unpolished just like I like it.

Let's listen to some music instead of talking about it. Here's "As the Worm Turns" by Faith No More. Enjoy...