Demos and early mixes from 2009’s Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food…
Released through EMP Label Group on 26 August 2016 and reviewed by Jason “cares a little bit” Guest
With Faith No More reissuing a remastering version of their first album We Care A Lot on 19 August, Chuck Mosley’s name will surface once again. Over the years, the debate about whether he or Patton are the better of FNM’s two vocalists has reared its head on more than one occasion (usually involving that one annoying knowitall that claims that despite lasting only a handful of gigs and recording demo tracks with them sometime in 1982, Courtney Love was the best; yawn!). And though it’s Patton that allowed FNM to develop into the phenomenon they are today, Chuck’s idiosyncratic style helped FNM establish themselves in the early days and gain them a record deal. Five years, two albums, many a squabble later and with his limited vocal capabilities and erratic behaviour becoming a problem, Chuck was out. Much to the consternation of those hardcore few that maintain FNM are finished without him. Still, could have been worse. Imagine a Courtney Love-fronted FNM. Shudder at will.
Anyway, after a stint in Bad Brains between 1990 and 1992, he released two interesting but okay-ish albums with his band Cement – their eponymous debut in 1993 and The Man with the Action Hair in 1994. During the first week of what was to be a year-long tour in support of the latter album, the bus driver falls asleep and causes a major accident, leaving Chuck to spend a year recovering from a broken back. And then nothing. Chuck disappears. That is until 2009 when his solo album Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food appeared. The title almost gives it away. It’s more alt rock than hard rock, Chuck and co. throwing in a bit of punk (‘Punk Rock Movie’), an acoustic guitar and a female vocal (on the exquisite ‘Nameless’), and a few chunks of noise and feedback that many a 90s band gleefully embraced and milked for all it was worth. Of interest are the guest appearances of Korn’s Jonathan Davis on ‘The Enabler’ and FNM’s Roddy Bottum on the revamped version of ‘We Care A Lot’. Overall, Will Rap… is a good but outdated alt rock album, one that may have done well in the 90s, it’s sole flaw being its inability to capture and exploit Chuck’s unique vocal style.
With FNM’s Chuck-fronted debut bring re-released a week before, Chuck is bringing unto us Demos For Sale, yes, the demo tracks – or “initial visions” – for Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food. No surprise here but it’s a collection of demos, and so if you’re a Chuck fan / devotee and /or you like the album enough, then there’s plenty to get your teeth into. The quality is better than most demos and so you can hear how Chuck has worked his vocals into the tracks and you get a good insight into their development. More a curio than a necessity, it’s worth a listen.
6 out of 10
Track list:
- Come Around
- The Enabler
- Tractor
- Sophie
- King Arthur’s Cousin Ted
- Punk Rock Movie
- Bob Forest
- We Care A Lot
