Introduce Yourself

For the album by Gord Downie, see Introduce Yerself.

Introduce Yourself
Studio album by Faith No More
Released	April 23, 1987 (1987-04-23)
Recorded	Mid 1986 at Studio D in Sausalito, California
Genre	Alternative metal funk metal rap metal
Length	37:42
Label	Slash
Producer	Matt Wallace Steve Berlin Faith No More
Faith No More chronology
We Care a Lot (1985) Introduce Yourself (1987) The Real Thing (1989)
Alternative covers
United States CD cover
Alternative cover
File:Faith No More–Introduce Yourself.jpg "Green Splatter" cassette cover
Singles from Introduce Yourself
"We Care a Lot" Released: January 18, 1988 "Anne's Song" Released: May 18, 1988 "Chinese Arithmetic" Released: 1988

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Introduce Yourself is Faith No More's second album, released in 1987. Due to the limited availability of the first album, We Care a Lot (until it was re-released on CD years later), many, including the band, once considered this Faith No More's true debut album. Being the group's major label debut, this album features better production than its predecessor, which is most evident on this album's version of the song "We Care a Lot," which also features updated, more topical, lyrics. It was the last album Chuck Mosley appeared on with the band.

Background

Faith No More's debut album We Care a Lot was released in 1985 through independent label Mordam Records. In late 1986, Faith No More was signed to Los Angeles label Slash Records by Anna Statman. The label had recently been sold to the Warner Music Group subsidiary London Records, ensuring a widespread release for the band's following albums.

Music videos featuring the band members were made for the songs "We Care a Lot" and "Anne's Song". "Chinese Arithmetic" was also released as a single.

Songs

The title track was originally called "The Cheerleader Song". It was written on Faith No More's first nationwide tour of the United States in 1986, as they were on their way from South Dakota to Portland, Oregon, and driving through Missoula, Montana. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum became inspired to write the song when the band went to a truck stop for coffee. He came up with the lyrics on the next leg of the journey, while sitting in the passenger seat of the band's dodge.

Regarding the song "Death March", singer Chuck Mosley said in 1988, "A friend of mine, doing a lot of drugs, just went out in the ocean and drowned. I used to be on the beach all the time and I got the feeling that he was so fucked up when he drowned that he doesn't even realise he's dead. He's out there, still swimming around. 'Death March' is someone talking to their dead lover, the soul lingering on."

Unlike with the band's prior release We Care a Lot, much of the album has been played regularly with Mosley's replacement, Mike Patton. However, there is only one known performance of "Faster Disco" with Patton on vocals, at a 1990 concert in Kaiserslautern, Germany. "Anne's Song" is one of three Mosley songs to have never been sung live by Patton, with the others being "Arabian Disco" and "New Beginnings", both from We Care a Lot.

Touring and promotion

After the album's release, Faith No More joined fellow funk metal/punk band Red Hot Chili Peppers on The Uplift Mofo Party Tour. They opened for them on several late 1987 dates throughout the US. Guitarist Jim Martin recalled: "We were travelling in a box van with no windows. We drove all the way to the east coast for the first show. Flea asked me if we liked to smoke weed. I said: ‘Yes’ and he said: ‘We’re going to get along just fine’. We did something like 52 dates in 56 days." The band's future singer Mike Patton later became involved in several controversies and disputes with Anthony Kiedis, frontman of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. To further promote the album, Faith No More embarked on their first tour of the UK in 1988.

Release history

The album was originally released in April 1987 on vinyl and cassette. The album cover for this release is a centered ink splatter, with text to the extremes of the cover. The tape has a larger smear of the ink, that looks more like a green spot. The second release of this album was on November 15, 1996, through Slash/Uni Records, this version also featured the centered ink splatter. The last North American release of this album was on October 17, 2000, through Slash/Rhino Records; they later released This Is It: The Best of Faith No More in 2003. This version has a close up of the ink splatter with the wording a bit further from the edges.

Vinyl release history
Region Label Catalogue # USA Slash 9 25559-1 UK Slash, London SLAP 21 Germany Slash, London 828 051-1 France Slash, London, Barclay 828 051-1 Holland Slash, London, Barclay 828 051-1 Australia Slash, Liberation LIB5095

Cassette release history
Region Label Catalogue # Pressing Notes USA Slash 9 25559-4 First "Green Splatter" cassette sleeve UK Slash, London SMAC 21 First Germany Slash, London #? First France Slash, London #? First Australia Slash, Liberation #? First USA Slash #? Second yellow profile cassette sleeves

CD release history

Region Label Catalogue # Pressing Notes USA Slash 9 25559-2 First white profile sleeves Canada Slash CD25559 First UK Slash, London 828 051-2 First Germany Slash, London 828 051-2 First France Slash, London 828 051-2 First Australia Slash, Liberation D19617 First Japan Slash, London POCD-1022 First Comes with Japanese discography, lyric pamphlet and bonus picture USA Slash 9 25559-2 Second yellow profile sleeves Australia Polydor, Slash, London 828 051-2 Second Polydor generation re-release Canada Slash CD25559 Second USA Slash, London 422-828 051-2 Third PolyGram generation re-release Canada Slash, London 422-828 051-2 Third UK Slash, London 3984 28201-2 Third

Reception

The record has garnered positive reviews from music critics, although as with the band's previous studio effort We Care a Lot, some criticisms have been directed at vocalist Chuck Mosley. AllMusic stated that "the album is consistent and interesting, with Mosley's out-of-tune vocals being an acquired taste to most". In 1988, Neil Perry of Sounds Magazine referred to the album as "a breathtaking harmonisation of molten metal guitar, deadly dance rhythms and poignant, pointed lyrics".

Legacy

Producer Matt Wallace claimed it was an "overlooked FNM record" in 2016.

Louder Sound wrote in 2020, "Introduce Yourself is an irresistibly charming record [...] In the same way that Paul Di'Anno’s voice on early Iron Maiden sounds lovably rugged when contrasted with their slick later work, Chuck Mosely’s goofy, purposefully-underachieving vocals smother these songs in a huge dollop of infectious playfulness – something that Patton’s studied delivery could never quite emulate."

While Mike Patton dismissed the band's debut We Care a Lot as "bad hippie music", he has admitted to having a fondness for Introduce Yourself.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Faster Disco"	Mosley	Gould, Bottum, Martin	4:16
2.	"Anne's Song"	Gould, Bottum	Gould, Bottum	4:46
3.	"Introduce Yourself"	Bottum, Mosley	Gould, Bottum, Bordin, Martin	1:32
4.	"Chinese Arithmetic"	Mosley	Martin, Bordin	4:37
5.	"Death March"	Mosley	Gould, Bottum, Martin	3:02
6.	"We Care a Lot"	Bottum, Mosley	Gould, Bottum	4:02
7.	"R n' R"	Gould, Mosley	Gould, Martin	3:11
8.	"The Crab Song"	Mosley	Gould, Bordin	5:52
9.	"Blood"	Mosley	Mosley	3:42
10.	"Spirit"	Gould	Gould	2:52

Personnel

Band members

• Mike Bordin – drums, congas, backing vocals
• Roddy Bottum – keyboards, backing vocals
• Billy Gould – bass, backing vocals
• Jim Martin – guitar, backing vocals
• Chuck Mosley – lead vocals

Production

• Steve Berlin – producer
• Matt Wallace – producer, engineer
• Jim "Watts" Verecke – assistant engineer
• John Golden – mastering
• Lendon Flanagan – photography
• Bob Biggs – artwork
• Jeff Price – artwork

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
1987	Sounds	United Kingdom	"Albums of the Year"	Unordered