FAITH NO MORE | Debut album We Care A Lot released 32 years ago!

In 1985 Faith No More released their seminal debut album We Care A Lot via Mordam Records.
This record pre-dated the Mike Patton era and featured Chuck Mosley on vocals. It showcased their unique blending of genres including new wave, punk, metal, rap and much more. Gaining a cult following it was the foundation for their uncompromising career and included many of their darkest and melancholy songs. 
The album was of course re-issued in 2016 which prompted the band to reminisce in great details about the creation of this genesis of the band we now know.

Bill Gould spoke with us in  2015 to celebrate the 30th anniversary. We Care A Lot 30th Anniversary Interview

Rolling Stone 2016

"This was an album that started as a demo, before any label had any interest in us. When cleaning out my basement, I discovered the original master reels, and we all thought that resurrecting this from the original tapes would be a great way to reintroduce We Care A Lot into the world. Lastly, this has been a band effort; we are releasing this in the same way as we recorded it, deciding everything amongst ourselves and getting our hands deep into the nuts and bolts … just like we used to." Bill Gould

Independent 2016

"We met Ruth and she wanted to distribute the record, but we only had half of it recorded. She said, 'No problem, I'll put up the money for the other half.' She gave us this ragingly great deal where after a certain amount of years, we got the rights to the album back, and that deal is one of the reasons we’re able to re-release this record now. It was an extremely fair one-page deal in a time that was famous for record deals being the worst, a lot of bands practically signed their lives away. This was Ruth’s first release on Mordam and she was absolutely fantastic, we owe her everything." Bill Gould

Team Rock 2016

“That early Thrash scene blew my mind. It was my gateway to get into rock and metal actually. I came from the punk school where long hair was definitely not cool, at all, but they made it cool. Bordin was friends with Metallica through Cliff [Burton] and so we became friends, and they introduced me to bands like Black Sabbath, who I just didn’t get into the first time around. It was a fun scene to be around.”
“The studio was set up in a farm and it was free from any distractions. We only had three days to record, because we only had so much money. Matt had a little eight track studio at home, but I don’t think he’d ever worked on 24 tracks before, so it was a new experience for all of us. We were very military about it, we did a lot of pre-production so that when we went in we didn’t waste a single second. There was zero fun: we just worked, slept on the floor and start recording again as soon as we woke up. We recorded everything in two days and mixed it on the third day.” - Bill Gould

SF Weekly 2016

"It was both serious and tongue-in-cheek. You have to look at it through the time that it was written. Everybody was exploiting their humanitarian values. There was a lot of self-congratulatory bullshit going around that we were kind of making fun of." - Bill Gould

Noisey 2016

"A lot of that stuff was just me and Billy and Mike in this space we had in San Francisco. And we were really kind of like spiritual about what we would come up with. We had this whole concept of monotonous, hypnotic riffs that we would play over and over, which felt kind of cult-y at the time. We would literally spend hours creating these loops, and I remember the riff to "As The Worm Turns" was one of those things."  Roddy Bottum

FNM Followers 2016

"For me it’s important because WCAL was our first foray into 24 track, professional recording.  Prior to this record everything we had done was on 8-track either in my parents’ garage or at my studio in Oakland, California.

It was the first time that we had the ability to spend a few days at a time completely focused on the creation of music without one or some of us having other obligations whether it be school, or work, or something else.  The 6 of us were together 24 hours a day for 3 days in a row and, over the course of two long weekends, we were able to record and mix an entire album.

For me it was our first opportunity for FNM to create an entire album that, while not necessarily a concept album, was the culmination of years of the band finding their sound and voice and also of me learning how to be an engineer and producer.  I believe that it was my very first 24 track recording experience.

Sometimes, as you’re working on a project, you are really excited and think that it’s the best music and recording in the universe.  Then, a year or two later, you feel that you have grown past it and that your new music is so much better.  But, after some decades go by, the band and I can finally listen to it almost like we are the audience that we made that record for.  There is enough time and distance for us to actually appreciate what we did so many years ago.

WCAL was also the first time that we were able to record Jim Martin as part of the band.  I believe that all of the previous demos done on 8-track the guitars were played by Joe Pie or Bill Gould.  So, it was the first time that the hard rock/metal balance was added to the group to achieve the vision of their sound.  Jim brought a lot of power weight to the sound of the band and balanced out the melodic, classically trained keyboards that Roddy played.

Again, it was a turning point because the band finally had the time and resources to create a world within an album."  Matt Wallace

FNM Followers 2016

"In 1984 or 1985 we didn’t really know who we were, but we knew what we wanted. It was a time at which we wouldn’t get to do concerts easily, we weren’t rated, nobody cared about us. We had friends, yes, they came to see us and there was a little scene, but we weren’t capable of going on tour and those things you want to do as a musician. At the same time, somehow, we knew there was this something in our possession, although we didn’t exactly know what it was. My position was: “I’m not really sure where this is going, but I wanna take it as far as I can”. That was my perspective, but it isn’t something I’d had deep thoughts about, although I did have some certainties, of course. I wanted this to be the kind of music that can be felt in a profound, powerful, strong way… and the bass had to sound right. Those sorts of things, technical things, were present." Bill Gould