Faith No More’s Billy Gould reflects on ‘cool’ 1985 debut

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By ( Classic Rock ) published

“People don’t realise that this band goes back a long way,” admits Faith No More bassist Billy Gould

Billy Gould
Billy Gould (Image credit: Getty)

Faith No More bassist Billy Gould says while he finds parts of their 1985 debut album We Care A Lot “embarrassing,” it’s still a record he’s proud of making.

We Care A Lot hasn’t been commercially available since 1996 but will be reissued on August 19 via Koolarrow Records, and features a remaster of the original album along with alternative mixes, demos and live cuts.

The band have been heavily involved in the reissue after Gould discovered the original master tapes in his basement. And the bassist reveals listening back to the record again reveals moments he had completely forgotten about.

He tells EonMusic: “I’m just really happy that we’re putting it out ourselves the way we want it to be. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum wrote a bunch of liner notes that are awesome.

“It was a different world back then, and we were different people. We even had a different singer, and a different guitar player, and people don’t realise that this band goes back a long way.

“I didn’t even realise until I heard the music. It was like, ‘Oh my god, I forgot we were like that too.’ And you can even hear what we are now in that back then – the beginnings of it, so to me it’s really interesting.”

He says he finds some of the material “embarrassing,” but adds: “We were really young when we did it, but there’s some really cool stuff on there.

“It’s really a different band in a different lifetime. You’re talking about over 20 years – people change, and every time I did it, I was kind of stupid in a different way. It’s all embarrassing, but it’s something I was proud of. It was honest when we did it.”

We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition) is available for pre-order. Faith No More issued their seventh album Sol Invictus last year.

We Care A Lot Deluxe Band Edition tracklist

  1. We Care A Lot
  2. The Jungle
  3. Mark Bowen
  4. Jim
  5. Why Do You Bother
  6. Greed
  7. Pills For Breakfast
  8. As The Worm Turns
  9. Arabian Disco
  10. New Beginnings
  11. We Care A Lot (2016 mix)
  12. Pills for Breakfast (2016 mix)
  13. As The Worm Turns (2016 mix)
  14. Greed (Original demo)
  15. Mark Bowen (Original demo)
  16. Arabian Disco (Original demo)
  17. Intro (Original demo)
  18. The Jungle (Live)
  19. New Beginnings (Live)

How Faith No More made their debut album We Care A Lot

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.