Fine Young Cannibals (album)

Record Mirror critic Stuart Bailie praised "the variety of emotional shades" in Roland Gift's singing on Fine Young Cannibals, adding that the group "are one of the few bands to realise the value of a sparse presentation" and "have an emotional charge that's sorely needed just now". Spins Annie Russo wrote, "The lyrical content on most cuts isn't terribly complicated, one thought turned around a few times; but the sparseness lays snug next to the inlays and wrap-arounds of Gift's voice, along with the more than competent instrumental work, forever keeping the vocals buoyed up." Stewart Mason, in an AllMusic retrospective review, commented that Fine Young Cannibals "is a powerful and satisfying debut" with "uniformly strong" songs. Nigel Williamson called the album "an artful soul-pop concoction loaded with hooks and hits" in Uncut, while in Classic Pop, John Earls said that it was a testament to the group's reputation as "the soul band even the indie kids love". ==Track listing==

Songs composed by Roland Gift and David Steele except where noted. • "Johnny Come Home" – 3:35 • "Couldn't Care More" – 3:30 • "Don't Ask Me to Choose" (Andy Cox, Gift, Steele) – 3:05 • "Funny How Love Is" (Cox, Gift, Steele) – 3:28 • "Suspicious Minds" (Mark James) – 3:56 • "Blue" (Cox, Gift, Steele) – 3:31 • "Move to Work" – 3:26 • "On a Promise" – 3:06 • "Time Isn't Kind" (Cox, Gift, Steele) – 3:12 • "Like a Stranger" – 3:28 Additional tracks on 1986 edition • "Johnny Come Home" (extended mix) – 5:43 • "Suspicious Minds" (Suspicious mix; Mark James) – 7:52 ==Personnel==

;Fine Young Cannibals • Roland Gift – vocals • Andy Cox – guitar, organ on "Time Isn't Kind" • David Steele – bass, piano, keyboards ;Additional musicians • Martin Parry – drums • Graeme Hamilton – trumpet, piano solo on "Time Isn't Kind" • Gavyn Wright – violin • Saxa – saxophone on "Funny How Love Is" • Beverlei Brown, Gloria Brown, Maxine Brown – backing vocals on "Like a Stranger" • Jimmy Somerville – backing vocals on "Suspicious Minds" • Jenny Jones – drums, backing vocals on "Couldn't Care More" ;Technical • Alvin Clark – engineering • Mike Pela, Robin Millar – mixing • Anton Corbijn – front cover photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==