Unitron While Faith No More gets the respect they deserve for being one of the most groundbreaking bands in metal, unfortunately the albums before Mike Patton joined are often forgotten in that. Introduce Yourself does just what the title says, and Faith No More introduces themselves as a band like no other and one that couldn't care less about fictional genre boundaries and just wanted to combine everything they liked into an incredible unique sound.

This is basically nu metal for the 80's. Funky bass, synthscapes right out of Kraftwerk, thrash metal riffs, post-punk/new wave melodies, rapping, and whatever else they could throw in there. Original vocalist Chuck Mosley is both underrated and underestimated, unfairly compared to Mike Patton. Both are great vocalists but in very different ways, Mosley is like the sound of the album if it was a person. He's too much of a beatnik for the punks, he's too thrash for the beatniks, he's too new wave for the thrashers, he's just who he is. No song better exemplifies this than Death March, with his beatnik meets skater rambling. Also, anyone wanting proof that Faith No More would've continued experimenting and expanding their influences even if Patton never joined, just check out Mosley's post-FNM band Cement.

Everything on the album sounds so gigantic, and combined it's just ethereal. Jim Martin's meaty riffs hit so damn hard, every slap and pop of Billy Gould's bass is felt, Mike Bordin's drums are hammers on an anvil, and it's all wrapped up in Roddy Bottum's grandiose synths which might be the most underrated part of Faith No More's sound. It creates an atmosphere like no other metal album at the time.

We Care a Lot!

SilentScream213 Very similar to their debut, Introduce Yourself has the same funky grooves, prominent keys and oddball lyrical delivery. The Funk influence is turned all the way up, and it even features some rapping (I assume from Chuck, but most of the members do backup/gang vocals as well). Overall, it’s more focused with better riffs and some good vocal melodies as well, but it’s no huge leap. Most of the material still sounds like an immature band trying to find itself. A very juvenile, mediocre Alternative Metal record, great for fun, but not so much to sit down and have a serious listen.

Warthur After the stylistic variety of their debut, We Care a Lot, Faith No More got to record this album with tighter production values. The end result is a substantially less varied and experimental release, the band focusing instead on the funk metal style that they'd flirted with on their first release and producing a pioneering example of that style. Between the title and the inclusion of a superior version of We Care a Lot from the debut, this album seems intended to, if not replace the debut album, at least act as a "new listeners start here" release.

The irony of this is, of course, that this album is actually not that representative of the rest of Faith No More's sound. With their experimental instincts creeping back in on The Real Thing and running riot from Angel Dust onwards, they'd never produce such a straight-down-the-line funk metal release ever again. On top of that, the album's narrow stylistic range ends up hampering it a little here and there - sure, it's a lot of fun, but when it comes to Chuck Moseley's rap-rants a little goes a long way, and the lack of more instrumental tracks means you get a lot of them. It's OK stuff, but I greatly prefer what came before and after this rather too constrained introduction.

siLLy puPPy Although INTRODUCE YOURSELF is often considered the first album from FAITH NO MORE, it is in fact the second album after “We Care A Lot”. Since the first album was sorta written off this one was treated as if it were the debut album mostly because of production value. This was the last album with Chuck Mosley as the lead singer before Mike Patton would take the helm and lead the band into not only brief commercial success but also into the realms of avant-garde alternative metal scene. The band pretty much continue their funk metal sound as experienced on the true debut album.

“Faster Disco” starts off setting the pace of the album. It contains the now famous guitar work of Jim Martin with bassist Billy Gould in cahoots with drummer Mike Bordin. The atmospheric contributions of Roddy Bottum add that extra familiar layer to the mix. I still find Mosley’s vocals to be a little monosonatic and personally wish he had a little more range to his box vox. “Anne’s Song’ is a nice little metal funky rocker that sets the mood for the following track order but unfortunately this track basically rips off the bass line and vocal style of the top 10 Billboard funk pop single “Rumors” by the Timex Social Club that hit the charts a year earlier however adds a bit more metal power chord mojo behind it.

The title track is pretty cool as it takes the formula and adds some oomph to make it highly aggressive and addictive at the same time. Short but sweet. “Chinese Arithmatic” continues the sound of the band and hints towards the next album in its atmospheric alternative metal approach that Mike Patton would seize to take into higher realms. “Death March” particularly sticks out as an antecedent to the following album with the song structure and atmospheric approach. “The Crab Song” is a little different with its slow and mellow intro that has Mosley talking before singing but it eventually reaches alternative rock / metal heights with a heavier metal sound and creates a nice funk metal resolution.

I actually like INTRODUCE YOURSELF more than most. True that Mike Patton jumping on board created a more dynamic sound and all however even though Mosley had a limited vocal range he still is a pleasant listen. The musicians backing him are obviously ready for prime time and there are many moments on this album that will point you directly to “The Real Thing.” Although i do prefer the Mike Patton years to the early renditions of FAITH NO MORE, i still find INTRODUCE YOURSELF a very competent listen. This is a very nice listen and deserves more recognition than merely as the beginning stages of the FAITH NO MORE world where Mike Patton steals the show. The only problem i really have with this album is the fact that “We Care A Lot” appears again after the debut album and that “Annie’s Song” pretty much was stolen from the Timex Social Club’s hit single.

Stooge Introduce Yourself, as is the case for many of Faith No More’s fan, was not my introduction to the band. Being one of many who went from the Patton stuff and worked back, I’ll say that jump between this era of the band and the Patton fronted one isn’t terribly drastic. I could easily hear Patton’s voice on a large chunk of the material, and he’s performed “We Care A Lot” several times in his career. Stylistically, the material is very similar to The Real Thing album (though the band’s overall sound on this album is significantly thinner), the most obvious difference being the vocals of Chuck Mosely. Oh Chuck…

His vocals were the obstacle that kept me from buying this album initially, and they weigh down the album considerably at times. Mosely is definitely not a traditional rock or metal vocalist. I guess I’d call him more of a punk rocker. His shouting vocal style I can dig, but he’s not much of a melodic vocalist. I guess to put it best, his voice falls under the category of being an acquired taste.

On top of the popular and catchy “Annie’s Song” and “We Care A Lot” (both of which have music videos), I see the strongest songs on Introduce Yourself are the up-beat opener “Faster Disco”, the eerie atmospheric “Death March”, and both the shortest and longest tracks with “Introduce Yourself” and “The Crab Song”.

All things considered, this one sits near the bottom of the ladder of my favorite Faith No More albums, but it still makes for a fun listen. A good album that was followed by many great ones.

J-Man After their severely flawed, albeit promising, debut full-length, Faith No More returned in 1987 with the much-improved Introduce Yourself. Boasting a heavier and more memorable style, Introduce Yourself was a huge step in the right direction for this American quintet. Even though The Real Thing is when Faith No More really got serious about making terrific music, this is still a highly enjoyable album in its own right. Chuck Mosley's vocals sound a million times better than they did on the debut, the production is improved, and the band even plays as a tighter unit. Although this is far from perfect, or even great, it's a crucial album in Faith No More's progression into the heavy metal juggernaut we know today. Even though it would be insane to recommend this album to someone who doesn't already own all of FNM's future releases, this is surely their best pre-Patton album.

Introduce Yourself is a genuinely fun album. The entire album has a "boy's night out" feel, with a great 80's sound. Everything about this album just screams "late 1980's" in bolded red font. The production, the punky vocal styles, and the mix of heavy metal and funk is just iconic of that era. Musically, the album is also quite good. Most of the songs are extremely catchy with irresistible basslines and riffs. Though Chuck Mosley's vocal abilities are still often questionable, he does sound much better than he did on We Care A Lot. The title track on We Care A Lot was re-recorded and released for this album, and I can easily conclude that this version of the song is much improved. I've always liked the original version, but a number of setbacks kept it from reaching its full potential. I'm really glad Faith No More decided to re-record the song; it's truly amazing how much better it sounds on Introduce Yourself. The other songs are all pretty good, with a few exceptions. There are a few truly forgettable songs like "Anne's Song", but there's also a couple great songs like "Faster Disco" and "Chinese Arithmetic". For the most part, the other songs are good, but not outstanding in any way.

The production on Introduce Yourself is a vast improvement over We Care A Lot. What was once a flat and boring sound is now full and warm. There could still be some improvements, but for an 80's heavy metal production, this is surely above average.

Generally speaking, Introduce Yourself is almost the same thing as We Care A Lot, though improved in every aspect. This is a fun and original album from Faith No More and definitely hinted at better things to come. Though it doesn't even touch The Real Thing or Angel Dust, this is still an enjoyable album. I'll give this good, but non-essential, album 3 stars. If Mike Patton were behind the microphone, I have a feeling my rating would've been higher.