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!