Fine Young Cannibals is the debut studio album by the band of the same name, released in 1985.
The album features the band's debut hit single "Johnny Come Home", which reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. This success did not continue with the next single, "Blue", which peaked at number 41 in the UK. The version of "Blue" on the original US and Canadian vinyl LP and cassette was re-mixed and edited in an attempt to boost its commercial appeal. The re-mix version features additional electronically processed percussion overdubs, giving it a sound more typical of 1980s synthpop hits. Later CD pressings feature the re-mix version of "Blue" in place of the original US album version.
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". In Rolling Stone, Mark Coleman highlighted Gift's "casual authority" as a vocalist and said that the lyrics "strike a fine balance, noting the subtle and not so subtle toll politics and economics take on relationships. That forecast may be bleak, but Fine Young Cannibals displays a healthy optimism that's as irrepressible as the seamless beat beneath it." 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".
Songs composed by Roland Gift and David Steele except where noted.
Additional tracks on 1986 edition