We Care a Lot

We Care a Lot
Studio album by Faith No More
Released	November, 1985[1]
Recorded	Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, California
Genre	Post-punk punk rock funk metal alternative metal[2]
Length	34:51
Label	Mordam
Producer	Matt Wallace Faith No More
Faith No More chronology
We Care a Lot (1985) Introduce Yourself (1987)

We Care a Lot is the debut studio album by American rock band Faith No More, originally released in November 1985 and distributed through San Francisco-based label 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 later 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 also listed as the début in the sleeve notes for some subsequent releases, such as the 1998 compilation Who Cares a Lot?.

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 officially released over the years.

1. "We Care A Lot"
   • various "Falling To Pieces" singles^[3]
   • 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)^[4]
   • "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" CD2 Single^[5]
   • "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)^[6]
   • various "I Started A Joke" singles^[7]
2. "Mark Bowen"
   • "I'm Easy/Be Aggressive" CD1 single
3. "Chinese Arithmetic"
   • various "Epic" CD singles
4. "As The Worm Turns"
   • various "Epic" CD singles
   • Live At The Brixton Academy

A later recording of "We Care a Lot" (from the album Introduce Yourself) is used as the theme song for the Discovery Channel's show Dirty Jobs, hosted by Mike Rowe.

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.^[8]

The album was recorded in a short space of time on a low budget.^[9] 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."^[9]

Release history

Year	Region	Format	Label	Catalogue #	[10]
1985	United States	Vinyl	Mordam	MDR 1	[11]
1985	Netherlands	Vinyl	Konkurrel	MDR 1	[12]
1987	United States	Cassette	Mordam	MDR 1C	[13]
1995	Australia	CD	Liberation	D 19976	[14]
1996	Europe	CD	London	828 805-2	[15]
1996	UK	Vinyl	London	828 805-1	[16]
1996	Japan	CD	London	POCD-1236	[17]

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.

2016 reissue

The album was reissued by Koolarrow Records on August 19th, 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.^[18]

Music and lyrics

	"Why Do You Bother" (1985) 30 second sample of the We Care a Lot song "Why Do You Bother".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The third track "Mark Bowen" was titled after an early Faith No More/Faith No Man guitarist of the same name.^[19][20]

“	The truth behind "the Mark Bowen" song, is that prior to having a permanent singer, the band named their songs after persons, places, or things that were around when the music was formulated, rather than naming them song A or song B, etc. There were no lyrics and therefore no real song name. When the boys sent a tape to LA, so that Chuck could write some lyrics for his upcoming stint as singer, he made up lyrics for the song that was labeled as, "Mark Bowen". I had spent a day or so with Chuck prior to that, but he did not really know me. He just made up a song. I'm happy to have my 15 minutes of fame from that, ha!	”
	— Mark Bowen[19]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

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".^[21] 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.^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"We Care a Lot"	Mosley, Bottum	Gould, Bottum	4:08
2.	"The Jungle"	Mosley	Bottum, Gould, Bordin	3:10
3.	"Mark Bowen"	Gould, Mosley	Gould, Bordin	3:33
4.	"Jim"	—	Martin	1:16
5.	"Why Do You Bother"	Gould	Gould, Bordin, Bottum	5:39
6.	"Greed"	Gould, Mosley	Gould, Mosley	3:50
7.	"Pills for Breakfast"	—	Bordin, Martin	2:59
8.	"As the Worm Turns"	Mosley	Bottum, Gould, Mosley	3:11
9.	"Arabian Disco"	Mosley	Gould	3:16
10.	"New Beginnings"	Mosley	Mosley	3:46

2016 Reissue Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Care a Lot (2016 Mix)"	4:10
2.	"Pills for Breakfast (2016 Mix)"	2:44
3.	"As The Worm Turns (2016 Mix)"	3:12
4.	"Greed (Demo)"	3:35
5.	"Mark Bowen (Demo)"	3:12
6.	"Arabian Disco (Demo)"	3:07
7.	"Intro (Demo)"	2:18
8.	"The Jungle (Live at I-Beam SF, 1986)"	2:35
9.	"New Beginnings (Live at I-Beam SF, 1986)"	3:44

Personnel

Faith No More Mike "Puffy" Bordin - Drums Rodney Christoper Bottum - Keyboards William Gould - bass James B. Martin - guitars Chuck Mosley - vocals

Production Matt Wallace – producer Olga Gerrard – artwork, cover, graphics

Footnotes

1. https://www.faithnomorefollowers.com/2015/11/we-care-lot-30-years.html
2. Prato, Greg. "We Care a Lot - Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
3. [Faith No More - Falling To Pieces at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Faith-No-More-Falling-To-Pieces/master/44059]
4. [Faith No More - We Care A Lot at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Faith-No-More-We-Care-A-Lot/master/339340]
5. [Faith No More - I'm Easy / Be Aggressive (CD) at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Faith-No-More-Im-Easy-Be-Aggressive/release/381159]
6. [Faith No More - We Care A Lot / I Started A Joke at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Faith-No-More-We-Care-A-Lot-I-Started-A-Joke/master/527618]
7. [Faith No More - I Started A Joke at Discogs http://www.discogs.com/Faith-No-More-I-Started-A-Joke/master/68731]
8. Aswad, Jem (June 1992). "Faith No More: Angel Dust in the wind". Issue 25. Reflex Magazine. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
9. "Faith No More Followers: WE CARE A LOT - 30th Anniversary - Bill Gould Interview + EXCLUSIVE Album Reissue News".
10. Faith No More discography, text alternative. FNM.com. Retrieved 05 June 2016
11. "We Care a Lot – 1985 LP release (MDR 1), US". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
12. "We Care a Lot – 1985 LP release (MDR 1), Netherlands". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
13. "We Care a Lot – 1985 CS release (MDR 1C)". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
14. "We Care a Lot – 1995 CD release (D 19976)". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
15. "We Care a Lot – 1996 CD release (828 805-1)". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
16. "We Care a Lot – 1996 LP release (828 805-1)". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
17. "Faith No More - We Care A Lot". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
18. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/faith-no-more-plot-reissue-of-seminal-debut-we-care-a-lot-20160602
19. "Mark Bowen". Faith. No Man.
20. "Faith No More Frequently Answered Questions".
21. Perry, Neil (September 1990). "Life in a goldfish bowl". Select. Retrieved 2008-08-23.