Full Version: Thread where I listen to every Fall album
Perverted might be my favorite, dunno
QUOTE(The Good Dr Bill @ Jan 26 2008, 02:03 PM) [snapback]562800[/snapback]
Perverted might be my favorite, dunno
"Eat Y'Self Fitter" is most certainly my favorite The Fall song. And, yeah, Perverted is definitely up there; toss up any day between it, Wonderful & Frightening World, and This Nation's Saving Grace. The Fall were pretty much unfuckwithable from Grotesque to Bend Sinister. Simply a force.
"A horrid, trendy wretch"
The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall
1984
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album08.html
The sound of The Fall over the years has been defined by the addition and subtraction of key foils to MES. The 79-83 greatness runs almost concurrently with Marc Riley's stint on lead guitar (and it's no surprise The Creepers--the band he formed after leaving--sound a lot like The Fall circa 1981). 1983 saw the addition of Brix Smith aka Mrs MES (they met in Lakeview!) to replace Riley, and TWAFWOTF is the first album that starts to show her mark. And that mark is POP, most notably in the album's singles "Oh! Brother", "C.R.E.E.P.", etc. Instead of playing the funky rockabilly lunacy of Riley, Brix plays her Fall really bouncy and danceable. Given the band's tendency towards catchy repetition (aka music you can dance to), it works really well.
Unfortunately, the rest of the band haven't quite caught up to her at this point, so the album is filled out with turgid crap like "Copped It", "Elves", "God-Box", etc. It sounds like they're resisting the new pop direction by going "darker" or whatever, but in the end, a lot of this stuff just isn't that fun to listen to.
(And yes, I realize the CD version is dragged down by a lot of bonus tracks, but that's what I grew up with, so that's the album. I also see that the writing credits on this album don't quite jive with my Pop Brix vs Anti-Pop Brits narrative, but again, that's how I've always seen the album.)
Fun fact: Oh! Brother was the first Fall song I ever heard.
This album marks the start of Fall Pop Phase 1984-1989.
Best songs:
Oh! Brother
C.R.E.E.P.
Disney's Dream Debased
Rating: B- (Preseason rating: B-)
Sorry, I'm on the road this week, so I won't be able to upload any tracks until this weekend. I'll update the posts accordingly once I do. My review-every-weeknight pace will probably suffer this week too.
Btw, I'm shocked at how little I've wavered from my preseason ratings so far. My musical memory is much better than I thought it was.
Btw, I'm shocked at how little I've wavered from my preseason ratings so far. My musical memory is much better than I thought it was.
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Jan 29 2008, 12:19 AM) [snapback]564462[/snapback]
"A horrid, trendy wretch"
The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall
1984
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album08.html...
Rating: B- (Preseason rating: B-)
Wow - their first true "A" album (and the beginning of their best musical period), and you give it a B-.
I'm a rabid Fall fan - they're unquestionably in my all-time top 5 - but I will never understand Fall fans.
I am finding this thread interesting and informative, and plan on using it as a buying guide. Many thanks cerebralcaustic.
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 29 2008, 07:56 AM) [snapback]564602[/snapback]
Wow - their first true "A" album (and the beginning of their best musical period), and you give it a B-.
I'm a rabid Fall fan - they're unquestionably in my all-time top 5 - but I will never understand Fall fans.
I'm a rabid Fall fan - they're unquestionably in my all-time top 5 - but I will never understand Fall fans.
That's the beauty of their ever-shifting sound--everyone has a different favorite and a different punching bag. Compare them with someone like The Rolling Stones, who have milked the same formula for 40 years and who have built a consensus around 4-5 albums. Boring.
Oh, and you're cuckoo for not considering any of the 79-83 albums A material.
looking forward to your This Nation review, I think it was one of the weaker things they had done up to that point but everyone seems to love it.
fuck though, Perverted is so good. Always loved the band but I never realized how unbelievable the pre-Brix years were until this thread. Marc Riley is a genius.
fuck though, Perverted is so good. Always loved the band but I never realized how unbelievable the pre-Brix years were until this thread. Marc Riley is a genius.
QUOTE
Fun fact: Oh! Brother was the first Fall song I ever heard.
mine too! is that because you first bought the A-sides collection and that's the first song on it?
QUOTE
I'm ever so slightly disappointed by this one. There was a time when it was my favorite Fall album (hence the preseason A+), but now it seems a touch repetitive after Hex. It's basically Hex's evil twin brother: More of the same thunderous two-drummer rhythm with MES barking on top, only darker and louder. The songs that follow that template are stellar: "Garden", "Smile", "Tempo House", "Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot" are all arguably better than their counterparts on Hex and represent the band at the absolute peak of their powers. The rest of the album is kind of filler though, except for "Eat Y'self Fitter", which is just about as fun and catchy as "Marquis Cha-Cha" (and have you seen the video?).
I really can't believe you wrote about this album without mentioning the awesomeness that is "I Feel Voxish".
QUOTE(Jason1976 @ Jan 29 2008, 04:03 PM) [snapback]565120[/snapback]
QUOTE
Fun fact: Oh! Brother was the first Fall song I ever heard.
mine too! is that because you first bought the A-sides collection and that's the first song on it?
Aye
QUOTE(Jason1976 @ Jan 29 2008, 04:05 PM) [snapback]565124[/snapback]
I really can't believe you wrote about this album without mentioning the awesomeness that is "I Feel Voxish".
Eh
"El el el el el el el el el el el el"
This Nation's Saving Grace
1985
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album09.html
Ok, this album blew me away today. I remember it being good (my preseason rating should've been an A- actually), but not this stunningly great. This is The Fall at their art-pop peak, the perfect blend of their post-punk past with Brix's pop sensibility. They've never sounded more confident in the material, and there's not a weak spot on the album. All over the place stylistically (rockabilly, krautrock, dance music, new wave, etc), but still a coherent record.
Hard to pick favorites, since it's so consistently great, but "Paintwork" deserves special mention. It's a nice little acoustic ballad (a rarity for them), but it's all cut up with different takes and instrumentation, with bits of studio chatter thrown in for good measure. It's pretty much "Strawberry Fields Forever" done by The Fall, and it's fantastic.
I've always held up Grotesque and PBL as my favorite Fall albums. This Nation's Saving Grace may have just taken PBL's place.
Best songs:
Spoilt Victorian Child
Paintwork
Cruiser's Creek
Rating: A+ (Preseason rating: A)
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Jan 30 2008, 05:17 AM) [snapback]565374[/snapback]
Rating: A+ (Preseason rating: A)
Right on man.
Cruisers Creek on [zeitgeist-surfing UK 80s TV show] The Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1DaNWuMKNQ
I think they did 'gut of the quantifier' on the same show but I can't find it out there.
I know how you're doing this thing, so I'm just saying and not criticising, CC was a 7" but wasn't on the album.
Glad this thread is picking up the momentum it deserves from fellow admirers.
this nations' saving grace is even better in its original tracklisting, not because any of the tracks are bad, just because its a nice 'proper' album length.
i know you're doing these as you've come to know them over the years but i don't think i'd've got into the fall half as much if i hadn't got into the habit of checking the visi fall site for those original tracklistings each time i get a new reccud and then reburning the original plus a bonus disc. anal yes, but fantabulous too
i know you're doing these as you've come to know them over the years but i don't think i'd've got into the fall half as much if i hadn't got into the habit of checking the visi fall site for those original tracklistings each time i get a new reccud and then reburning the original plus a bonus disc. anal yes, but fantabulous too
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 30 2008, 08:31 AM) [snapback]565542[/snapback]
...I know how you're doing this thing, so I'm just saying and not criticising, CC was a 7" but wasn't on the album.
"Cruisers Creek" was on the [superior] US LP version of the album (it replaces "Barmy")
- a 6-minute version at that!
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Jan 29 2008, 11:17 PM) [snapback]565374[/snapback]
This is The Fall at their art-pop peak...
so true
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 30 2008, 03:12 PM) [snapback]565574[/snapback]
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 30 2008, 08:31 AM) [snapback]565542[/snapback]
...I know how you're doing this thing, so I'm just saying and not criticising, CC was a 7" but wasn't on the album.
"Cruisers Creek" was on the [superior] US LP version of the album (it replaces "Barmy")
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
That's just too much to take in after 22 years the other way
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 30 2008, 09:30 AM) [snapback]565583[/snapback]
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 30 2008, 03:12 PM) [snapback]565574[/snapback]
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 30 2008, 08:31 AM) [snapback]565542[/snapback]
...I know how you're doing this thing, so I'm just saying and not criticising, CC was a 7" but wasn't on the album.
"Cruisers Creek" was on the [superior] US LP version of the album (it replaces "Barmy")
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
That's just too much to take in after 22 years the other way
Funny. That's the way I'm used to hearing this album. When I finally got the import CD I could never get used to hearing "Barmy" where "Cruisers Creek" should be. Worse, they put the song all the way at the end - and it's just a crappy single edit.
listen to Cruisers Creek (original 6 minute LP version):
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QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 30 2008, 09:44 AM) [snapback]565593[/snapback]
Worse, they put the song all the way at the end
Yeah, but it works so well as an album closer. Makes a great final statement that The Fall is now a dance band.
"They couldn't tell Lou Reed from Doug Yule"
Bend Sinister
1986
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album10.html
Fuck, this is almost as good as the last one. A bit darker overall, but still filled to the brim with solid tracks, though it dips a bit in the second half. They're still at their art pop peak, and they're still playing with complete confidence and quite a bit of swagger. Gotta say, the 85-86 (and 88?) period of The Fall is surprising me quite a bit on this relistening. I'd always thought it to be less than the 79-83 stuff, but it really holds its own, especially in the consistency department.
Random notes I jotted down while listening: The transition from the dark mood of "Dktr Faustus" to the cheery "Shoulder Pads" is brilliant. "Shoulder Pads" is the poppiest song(s) they ever did. It sounds like something that would be played at a preschool dance party, and it's a pretty strong candidate for my daughter's first Fall song. "Mr Pharmacist" would subsequently be played during pretty much every Fall show from here on out. It classic. Bend Sinister is graced with their best album cover.
Best songs:
Shoulder Pads 1#
Mr. Pharmacist
Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers
Rating: A (Preseason rating: A-)
Agreeance overall - although once again my experience with this material was different. That album wasn't released in the US at the time. Instead, we got this:
The tracklist leans more heavily on the singles put out at the time (it includes, for example, There's A Ghost In My House). You still get Shoulder Pads, Mr. Pharmacist, and Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers (probably my #1 all-time favorite Fall track).
The tracklist leans more heavily on the singles put out at the time (it includes, for example, There's A Ghost In My House). You still get Shoulder Pads, Mr. Pharmacist, and Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers (probably my #1 all-time favorite Fall track).
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 31 2008, 11:37 AM) [snapback]566446[/snapback]
The tracklist leans more heavily on the singles put out at the time (it includes, for example, There's A Ghost In My House). You still get Shoulder Pads, Mr. Pharmacist, and Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers (probably my #1 all-time favorite Fall track).
You still get "US 80s-90s" at the front? They opened their shows at the time with that - ker-fucking-pow.
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 31 2008, 06:04 AM) [snapback]566448[/snapback]
You still get "US 80s-90s" at the front? They opened their shows at the time with that - ker-fucking-pow.
Here's how the two albums line up:
Bend Sinister (UK)
side 1
1. R.O.D.
2. Dktr. Faustus
3. Shoulder Pads #1
4. Mr. Pharmacist
5. Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers
side 2
1. U.S. 80's-90's
2. Terry Waite Sez
3. Bournemouth Runner
4. Riddler!
5. Shoulder Pads #2
The Domesday Pay-Off (US)
side 1
1. There's A Ghost In My House
2. U.S. 80's-90's
3. Shoulder Pads #1
4. Mr Pharmacist
5. Riddler!
side 2
1. Hey Luciani
2. Haf Found Bormann
3. Terry Waite Sez
4. R.O.D.
5. Shoulder Pads #2
6. Gross Chapel - G.B. Grenadiers
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Jan 31 2008, 12:28 AM) [snapback]566355[/snapback]
Gotta say, the 85-86 (and 88?) period of The Fall is surprising me quite a bit on this relistening. I'd always thought it to be less than the 79-83 stuff, but it really holds its own, especially in the consistency department...
The Beggar's Banquet era is their best. There's not a bad record in the bunch.
listen to U.S. 80's-90's:
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QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Jan 31 2008, 02:17 PM) [snapback]566489[/snapback]
QUOTE(Badger @ Jan 31 2008, 06:04 AM) [snapback]566448[/snapback]
You still get "US 80s-90s" at the front? They opened their shows at the time with that - ker-fucking-pow.
Here's how the two albums line up:
Bend Sinister (UK)
side 1
1. R.O.D.
side 2
1. U.S. 80's-90's
Ha! Hazy vinyl-era memory exposed! My head must have rearranged cos of the impact of the onstage running order. Back to the source for me.
"Baghdad/Space Cog/Analyst"
The Frenz Experiment
1988
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album11.html
Usual caveat: I'm reviewing the US CD version. visi.com shows a lot of differences between the versions again.
The Fall had been dipping their toes into Dance Band territory the last couple of albums, but they dove right in with this one, to mixed-but-still-pretty-good results. The Fall really dug repetition in those times, taking the same catchy riff and playing it ad nauseum. This worked really well on a few tracks, especially "Bremen Nacht" and "Hit The North", which could both go on forever and I wouldn't care. Didn't work on some others. The "look under" and "twister!" vocals on "Athlete Cured" and "Twister" have always annoyed me.
There are also a few weird genre exercises on the album. "Get A Hotel" sounds like something from a spy movie soundtrack. "Steak Place" is country-and-western, something MES would try to throw in at least once an album for the next 20 years. "Frenz" is a bizarre blend of country and Joy Division. And of course "Victoria" is pure joyous 60s pop and is one of the better covers ever (quite a 60s covers streak--along with "Mr Pharmacist", they covered "Day In The Life" around this time too).
Good album, but this is the beginning of a very inconsistent 10-year stretch.
Best songs:
Victoria
Bremen Nacht Alternative
Hit The North Part 1
Rating: B+ (Preseason rating: B )
FYI, links to the top songs from last week's albums are finally up, in their respective posts.
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Feb 4 2008, 10:46 PM) [snapback]569578[/snapback]
Rating: B+ (Preseason rating: B )
This is wrong. Frenz Experiment is at least as good as Bend Sinister. I certainly have an easier time naming good songs off this, not a bit of filler on it either. I also call unfair on busting them for repetition on this one. (Side two of This Nation's Saving Grace, anyone?).
Carry Bag Man, for chrissakes:
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Bremen Nacht (original LP version):
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QUOTE
Good album, but this is the beginning of a very inconsistent 10-year stretch.
I anticipate much disagreement for the albums ahead.
http://markprindle.com/pritchard-i.htm
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pritchardint2006.html
pretty interesting to read these back to back.
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pritchardint2006.html
pretty interesting to read these back to back.
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Feb 5 2008, 08:17 AM) [snapback]569700[/snapback]
I also call unfair on busting them for repetition on this one. (Side two of This Nation's Saving Grace, anyone?).
Repetition works if the music that's being repeated is good, which it usually is with The Fall. Frenz has a couple of clunkers that I simply have a hard time listening to, let alone listening to repeated. Can't stand the drum machine and dumb vocals in "Athlete Cured", or the lazy childish vocals in "Oswald Defence Lawyer", or the disorienting noise in "Twister" (though I can see how the latter would appeal to some).
QUOTE(Sid Hartha @ Feb 5 2008, 08:17 AM) [snapback]569700[/snapback]
QUOTE
Good album, but this is the beginning of a very inconsistent 10-year stretch.
I anticipate much disagreement for the albums ahead.
Good, that's one of the reasons I started the thread. It's about to start getting more negative from my end, so I'll say two things right off the bat:
1. Aside from one or two truly bad albums, the worst of The Fall is still better than at least 95% of all other music.
2. Any opinions that differ from mine are wrong
QUOTE(elastico @ Feb 5 2008, 09:46 AM) [snapback]569777[/snapback]
http://markprindle.com/pritchard-i.htm
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pritchardint2006.html
pretty interesting to read these back to back.
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pritchardint2006.html
pretty interesting to read these back to back.
I saw on the visi Fall news page last night that MES addresses the interview at the beginning of his new autobiography(!):
QUOTE
Nick Stone has had the good fortune to read Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith and says it's "the best music autobiography I've read since Charles Mingus's Beneath the Underdog." More on his blog.
And now Strontium Dawg on the forum's got his paws on a copy:
I've been lucky enough to get a copy, and I'm about a third of the way through. So far it's an absolute doozy, everything a Fall fan would want from a Mark E Smith book. I say 'Fall fan', because if you didn't know a lot about their history and weren't up to speed with recent Fall happenings, you simply wouldn't understand what he was talking about. It chucks away all the normal rules of autobiography, beginning not with an introduction to him, the band, his childhood etc, but with a rant against Ben Pritchard. (Specifically the interview that appeared on here. And this site is mentioned in line 18 of the book, boys and girls, so we best have a quick tidy round and get the biscuits in before the publication date, as we may have guests.)
For a fan it's an incredible opening and certainly makes you think twice about the content of the original interview. Indeed, the book so far really humanises Mark in a way that I've not seen done before. He virtually admits that a lot of the MES the world sees he partly puts on for protection, and there are loads of little eye-opening revelations like that, alongside -- as you'd expect -- hilarious observations about everything from Hammer horror films to Big Brother, a ton of one-liners and some brilliant insight into his work ethic. All of it done in a way that really rewards long-time followers of the band because it simply doesn't bother fleshing out details for newcomers.
I'm only a third of the way through. Exhaustion got the better of me last night, but if it hadn't I could easily have read it one go, it's that kind of book.
Amazon UK says it's out on 24 April; HMV UK says 1 Feb; Play.com says 28 Feb. Any other dates going?
And now Strontium Dawg on the forum's got his paws on a copy:
I've been lucky enough to get a copy, and I'm about a third of the way through. So far it's an absolute doozy, everything a Fall fan would want from a Mark E Smith book. I say 'Fall fan', because if you didn't know a lot about their history and weren't up to speed with recent Fall happenings, you simply wouldn't understand what he was talking about. It chucks away all the normal rules of autobiography, beginning not with an introduction to him, the band, his childhood etc, but with a rant against Ben Pritchard. (Specifically the interview that appeared on here. And this site is mentioned in line 18 of the book, boys and girls, so we best have a quick tidy round and get the biscuits in before the publication date, as we may have guests.)
For a fan it's an incredible opening and certainly makes you think twice about the content of the original interview. Indeed, the book so far really humanises Mark in a way that I've not seen done before. He virtually admits that a lot of the MES the world sees he partly puts on for protection, and there are loads of little eye-opening revelations like that, alongside -- as you'd expect -- hilarious observations about everything from Hammer horror films to Big Brother, a ton of one-liners and some brilliant insight into his work ethic. All of it done in a way that really rewards long-time followers of the band because it simply doesn't bother fleshing out details for newcomers.
I'm only a third of the way through. Exhaustion got the better of me last night, but if it hadn't I could easily have read it one go, it's that kind of book.
Amazon UK says it's out on 24 April; HMV UK says 1 Feb; Play.com says 28 Feb. Any other dates going?
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Feb 5 2008, 05:43 PM) [snapback]569940[/snapback]
Can't stand the drum machine and dumb vocals in "Athlete Cured".
Disagree but anyway what a fantastic lyric - breaks my heart that he can't do this anymore
From the hotbed of creation
in dreamstate.
The cure, bulletin, zeitung
Was in no pill.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
The German athletic star was continually ill.
For months doctors were puzzled.
The star would complain of the smell in his room.
On visiting him this was found to be true.
An odor resembling hot-dogs permeated the whole bedroom.
A solution was only discovered by my closely
watching his brother Gert.
Gert was handsome, well-meaning, but slightly a careless type.
Not malicious, I hope you understand and grasp.
No chance.
But on returning from his clerical job, Gert
would park his Volkswagen at the end of the day
willy-nilly in the driveway, usually the wrong way round,
so that the exhaust fumes would flow upwards right through
the open windows of the athletic star's upstairs bedroom.
(carburettor)
I also discovered that Gert would turn his engine
over for up to an hour. I don't know why.
Citizens in my street are also
partial to this.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
Obtaining a new parking space for Gert's motor-car, athletic star soon
recovered.
Unfortunately, this being East Germany,
Gert patriotically volunteered to be sent on a labor
beautification course of the countryside north-west of Dresden.
And never seen again.
And never seen again.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
Had to look under the window sill.
The window sill.
QUOTE(Badger @ Feb 5 2008, 03:07 PM) [snapback]570200[/snapback]
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Feb 5 2008, 05:43 PM) [snapback]569940[/snapback]
Can't stand the drum machine and dumb vocals in "Athlete Cured".
Disagree but anyway what a fantastic lyric - breaks my heart that he can't do this anymore
From the hotbed of creation
in dreamstate.
The cure, bulletin, zeitung
Was in no pill.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
The German athletic star was continually ill.
For months doctors were puzzled.
The star would complain of the smell in his room.
On visiting him this was found to be true.
An odor resembling hot-dogs permeated the whole bedroom.
A solution was only discovered by my closely
watching his brother Gert.
Gert was handsome, well-meaning, but slightly a careless type.
Not malicious, I hope you understand and grasp.
No chance.
But on returning from his clerical job, Gert
would park his Volkswagen at the end of the day
willy-nilly in the driveway, usually the wrong way round,
so that the exhaust fumes would flow upwards right through
the open windows of the athletic star's upstairs bedroom.
(carburettor)
I also discovered that Gert would turn his engine
over for up to an hour. I don't know why.
Citizens in my street are also
partial to this.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
Obtaining a new parking space for Gert's motor-car, athletic star soon
recovered.
Unfortunately, this being East Germany,
Gert patriotically volunteered to be sent on a labor
beautification course of the countryside north-west of Dresden.
And never seen again.
And never seen again.
Look under.
The cure was in no pill.
Had to look under the window sill.
The window sill.
Badger gets it.
"Go insane
In Holland"
I Am Kurious Oranj
1988
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album12.html
Strangest album in the catalog. It's the soundtrack to a wacky ballet about William of Orange, which based on the few videos I've seen was absolutely insane. There's a friggin overture where Brix sing-speaks names of tracks from the album. MES recites a reworked William Blake poem. There's a reggae track. There are multiple remixes of other songs, both within the album and from others. There are weird sounds throughout that make it sound like Peter Gabriel stopped by the studio during recording. Brix sits on top of a giant cheeseburger in the liner notes.
So is it any good? The singles are fantastic, with "Big New Prinz" and "Wrong Place, Right Time" containing possibly the best basslines in Fall history. "Kurious Oranj" (the reggae track) and "Cab It Up!" are ridiculously catchy. The rest of the album though--the weird, unique parts unfortunately--sound like arty filler. Understandable for a ballet, but filler nonetheless. Album still gets points for trying something different.
Best songs:
Big New Prinz
Kurious Oranj
Wrong Place, Right Time
Rating: B (Preseason rating: C+)
"Big New Prinz" is a monster.
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I agree with your points about the record, but I think it really holds together cohesively. There's a great vibe throughout - this is the best sounding band he's ever had (on record, at least).
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I agree with your points about the record, but I think it really holds together cohesively. There's a great vibe throughout - this is the best sounding band he's ever had (on record, at least).
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Feb 6 2008, 06:01 AM) [snapback]570709[/snapback]
The singles are fantastic, with "Big New Prinz" and "Wrong Place, Right Time" containing possibly the best basslines in Fall history.
Both reappeared in the live set in recent years, suggest MES might be on the same page on this, tho BNP also a useful vehicle to remind that "he! is! not! appreciated!".
"Here's a dance that is pure hell"
Seminal Live
1989
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/live05.html
Everything about this album screams "contractual obligation." It's another half-studio/half-live album (interesting that they opened the 80s with the conceptually-similar Totale's Turns and are closing the decade with this). The studio half sounds like leftovers from the last couple of albums, though "Dead Beat Descendant" is a bright spot. It's the last of the classic Fall singles of this era, and it has everything that made those years so great: Catchy guitar line, danceable rhythm, great lyrics. The rest of the studio tracks are decent enough, but ultimately pretty forgettable.
The live half is worthless. There is absolutely nothing unique about it, and the studio versions of the songs are better across the board.
This album marks the end of Fall Pop Phase 1984-1989.
Best songs:
Deadbeat Descendant
Rating: C+ (Preseason rating: C-)
458489 A Sides
1984-1989
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/comp07.html
I've decided not to listen to this, since I heard most of the songs via the albums, where they were consistently the highlights. That doesn't mean you shouldn't repeatedly listen to it though:
CODE
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P7S303E4
If you have any interest in this band, this is hands-down the best place to start. It's arguably the best singles compilation ever.
Rating: A+ (Preseason rating: A+)
I have decided to listen to the sister B-sides compilation next, though since I didn't load it on my ipod, it probably won't be until next week. I'll give it a preseason rating of B- (it wasn't on the original list).
"Australians in Europe! Up! Up! Up!"
458489 B Sides
1984-1989
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/comp08.html
Ok, I shouldn't have bothered listening to this. The vast majority of the tracks here were either included in the CD editions of the Beggars Banquet albums (including seemingly half of Wonderful and Frightening World) or are pointless alternate/remixed/live/instrumental versions of songs we've heard before. That said, the half-dozen-or-so songs we haven't heard yet are pretty good, especially rave-up "Australians In Europe" and its Paintwork-like remix "Northerns In Europ".
Beggars Banquet gets bonus points for including (almost) all non-album tracks from the era in one compilation, but ultimately, this release is inessential.
Best songs:
Australians In Europe
Rating: B- (Preseason rating: B-)
"Hilary, where's the sixty quid you borrowed off me?"
Extricate
1990
http://visi.com/fall/discog/data/album13.html
In 1989ish, Brix Smith--the key impetus behind the direction of the band for the previous 5+ years--divorced MES and left the band, not necessarily in that order. With her gone, The Fall changed their sound once again. But to what? Kind of hard to describe. It's less poppy and danceable. Some instrumentation we haven't heard much of, like flute and fiddle. Mark's lyrics are a lot more personal, many of them pretty nastily directed at Brix (the album starts with a track called "Sing! Harpy" and doesn't really let up from there). All very well-produced and slick.
Overall though, it's really neither here nor there. No real peaks, no real clunkers. Actually, this is the first Fall album without at least one or two killer tracks. The best are a couple of 60s covers (again!): "Black Monk Theme Part I" (aka "I Hate You") and "Popcorn Double Feature". The rest fall somewhere between decent and ok.
This album marks the start of Fall Directionless MOR (that's the word I was looking for!) Phase 1990-1995.
Best songs:
Bill Is Dead
Black Monk Theme Part I
Popcorn Double Feature
Rating: C+ (Preseason rating: B-)
"Your mystic jumpsuits cannot hide your competitive plagarism"
Shift-Work
1991
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album14.html
Back to being a bit more danceable, bringing back some of the keyboards/synths from the late 80s. Still, MES sounds bored, the band sound bored. They don't really have the fire they used to.
On the plus side, we get the killer track that Extricate lacked: "Idiot Joy Showland," which has one of their all-time classic guitar hooks. "Edinburg Man" is great too, one of The Fall's prettier songs. On the down side, a special spot in hell is reserved for "Book Of Lies", which is hands-down my least-favorite Fall song ever. The guest vocals are atonal and annoying, and MES seems intent on imitating them, while the backing music is literally someone leaning on a keyboard throughout. Terrible. The rest of the songs on the album are decent, on the whole a bit better than on Extricate, but still nothing really mind-blowing. Overall: Eh.
Best songs:
Idiot Joy Showland
Edinburgh Man
High Tension Line
Rating: B- (Preseason rating: C)
"Where did they come from, the little motherfuckers?
Nobody knows, nobody bothers"
Code: Selfish
1992
http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album15.html
This is a nice improvement. MES et al were finally starting to figure out how to blend techno-ish keyboards with the typical Fall buzzsaw guitar, which is a formula they would mine pretty successfully for the next 10 years. Best example is "Free Range", which uses a wicked keyboard intro as a springboard into a Fall rave. Still kind of hard to describe exactly what this music is. It's still MOR, and they still sound like they're going through the motions, but something new is afoot.
Fun fact: "Married 2 Kids" starts out with the line "In 1978, was in a hotel in Notting Hill Gate." I bought this album in a used record store in London and happened to listen to it for the first time in a hotel in Notting Hill Gate.
Best songs:
Free Range
Return
Time Enough At Last
Rating: B (Preseason rating: C+)
"And if I ever end up like U2 slit my throat with a garden vegetable"
The Infotainment Scan
1993
http://visi.com/fall/discog/data/album16.html
The promising direction of Code: Selfish has been fully realized. For the first time since the mid-80s, the band once again sound on top of their game, fully confident in what they're doing. Electronics are in full force, but there's still a very strong guitar counterpoint to keep everything nice and grounded. Lyrically, MES is back to fine form too (there were at least a dozen other prime choices for the quote to open the review with). Love the non-stop verbal attacks in "Glam Racket" and the paranoid (natch) tale in "Paranoia Man In Cheap Shit Room" (is there a better song title ever?).
There's not a single weak spot on this album, and quite a few big highlights. The cover of "Lost In Music" is probably my favorite Fall cover ever. They're the last band that would cover a disco Sister Sledge song, but they put their mark on it perfectly. "A Past Gone Mad" is The Fall at the peak of their techno-influenced powers. "Glam Racket" is The Fall at the peak of their glam-influenced powers. Even the cheesy "I'm Going To Spain" cover is charming in its own bissed-out soft-rock way. Even "Fireworks"--the wanky noodling track of the album--is actually listenable and pretty good. Infotainment Scan belongs in the top tier of all Fall albums.
Fun fact: This was the first album I bought in Chicago.
Best songs:
Lost In Music
Paranoia Man In Cheap Shit Room
A Past Gone Mad
Rating: A (Preseason rating: A-)
Pretty much agreeing with this last run so not much to say beyond glad you're seeing this thing through.
QUOTE(cerebralcaustic @ Feb 25 2008, 06:56 PM) [snapback]588565[/snapback]
The Infotainment Scan
1993
Rating: A (Preseason rating: A-)
Deserves an A for many reasons, most notably for the inclusion (on CD) of this tasty Maytals cover:
listen to Why Are People Grudgeful?:
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"Destined to a Mighty Fall"
Middle Class Revolt
1994
http://visi.com/fall/discog/data/album17.html
Infotainment Scan was a fluke, because this is a huge step backwards to the Extricate/Shift-Work dreck. Once again, both the band and MES sound completely bored and detached. Once again, the songs are not catchy or memorable or good at all. I don't know what happened here. They had a new US label (Matador) for Infotainment. Maybe they saw that as a fresh start, and when it didn't get the sales or recognition or whatever they wanted, they got discouraged and didn't put any effort into the next album? Or maybe they were simply an erratic band in the first half of the 90s that released a bunch of mediocre albums with one or two good ones thrown in?
A couple of semi-decent tracks here still. "M5#1" has a really cool synth noise running throughout that kinda sorta reminds me of something Eno would have done in the mid-70s. Proving how out-of-ideas they were, "Hey! Student" dates back to 1977, when it was called "Hey Facist", but it's still a decent punk number--at least there's some energy to it. There's another Monks cover at the end that's kind of obnoxious. "Junk Man" features the return of the kazoo, but it's also kind of obnoxious.
Best songs:
M5#1
Rating: C- (Preseason rating: C)
I was disappointed with this record when it came out, but it slowly grew on me. It's low key, compared with the previous release, which threw me off at first.
You're Not Up To Much, 15 Ways, Middle Class Revolt! - all are favorites I would add to a Fall playlist.
But there's definitely some filler (City Dweller, Symbol Of Mordgan), and this is the album that planted the seed of discontent with The Fall as we get further into the '90s.
You're Not Up To Much, 15 Ways, Middle Class Revolt! - all are favorites I would add to a Fall playlist.
But there's definitely some filler (City Dweller, Symbol Of Mordgan), and this is the album that planted the seed of discontent with The Fall as we get further into the '90s.
"Hup!"
Cerebral Caustic
1995
http://visi.com/fall/discog/data/album18.html
Since I only became a Fall fan later in the 90s, I've never listened to this album in context. It always seemed like a loose collection of sloppy songs that paled in comparison to the best of the rest of the decade. But after listening to quite a few albums in a row featuring a smoothed-out slick version of The Fall (dating back to at least Frenz if not earlier), Cerebral Caustic is a breath of fresh air, cliched expressions be damned. It's loud and sloppy. Guitar is brought back to the forefront, with very few electronics, and MES is doing a lot more yelling. The whole thing sounds like a demo, with a very rough, not-fussed-over sound and wrong notes showing up all over the place. After being a dance/pop band for the previous ten years, The Fall are back to being a rock band.
So while the sound of the whole thing is fantastic, the same can't quite be said about the songs, which is probably why I've never rated the album very high. Nothing really stands out--no real memorable melodies or highlights. Except for "The Joke" of course, which is about as perfect as a song gets, a nifty little garage number with a ridiculously killer riff.
Oh, and Brix is back, which is interesting considering her first arrival led the band away from their rock sound in the first place.
Best songs:
The Joke
Pearl City
Rating: B (Preseason rating: D+)
The only songs on that album that I listen to are "Rainmaster" and - of course - "The Aphid":
And who can ever forget this one?
Six times parking
Six, four
Form bar and six
Form a boxline
The aphid
The aphid
Bend down
Scratch around the carpet for insect
Get hook clamp
Stand up
Gel frame
Put insect in a jar
The aphid
Walk back two, three and four
Stop for a rest
Go back to scratch
The aphid
Hook clamp
Go back down
Scratch around the floor
Take hook clamp and put in jar
The aphid
Cover up with gel frame
Take two times four o o o one
UV gun back
Go back to the floor
Scratch around
Five, six supplied
The aphid
Bend right back
Form a boxline, sidecar
The aphid
Twenty times steps back
Frizzo
Get hook clamp
Turn to barn door
Retrieve kill frame
(Absolutely wonderful)
[Spoken, (not MES)]:
"Take six bottles of the six back, stand up straight, then bend down and scratch the carpet for insects and, if you find any, put the insects into the jar, than check the clamp on the jar and take six steps back. Ensure the hook clamp is on the jar and that's the aphid."
And who can ever forget this one?
Six times parking
Six, four
Form bar and six
Form a boxline
The aphid
The aphid
Bend down
Scratch around the carpet for insect
Get hook clamp
Stand up
Gel frame
Put insect in a jar
The aphid
Walk back two, three and four
Stop for a rest
Go back to scratch
The aphid
Hook clamp
Go back down
Scratch around the floor
Take hook clamp and put in jar
The aphid
Cover up with gel frame
Take two times four o o o one
UV gun back
Go back to the floor
Scratch around
Five, six supplied
The aphid
Bend right back
Form a boxline, sidecar
The aphid
Twenty times steps back
Frizzo
Get hook clamp
Turn to barn door
Retrieve kill frame
(Absolutely wonderful)
[Spoken, (not MES)]:
"Take six bottles of the six back, stand up straight, then bend down and scratch the carpet for insects and, if you find any, put the insects into the jar, than check the clamp on the jar and take six steps back. Ensure the hook clamp is on the jar and that's the aphid."
This is the album that put me off The Fall for seven years*. Hated it.
Time to reassess. I'm putting it on.
* by that, I mean: buying new product from The Fall. I never stopped loving the earlier stuff.
Time to reassess. I'm putting it on.
* by that, I mean: buying new product from The Fall. I never stopped loving the earlier stuff.
"What do you call a guy with a spade in his head?"
The Twenty-Seven Points
1995
http://visi.com/fall/discog/data/live07.html
Another studio/live album, but with only a couple of studio tracks I'm basically cheating, because this is really a live album. But it's one of the best (if not the best) live albums of all time. Out of the dozens of releases they've put out, this one captures the "essence" of The Fall better than any other, showing the bad with the good, the ramshackle with the tight, the arty with the poppy. The basic premise of the album is live versions of the best two dozen songs from the previous six years, and there's no question that while that period was spotty, a lot of these tracks are just as great as their 80s highlights. And while in the studio they were over-produced to death, these live versions are raw and energetic, pretty much better bizarro versions of the originals. Then mixed in with the live tracks are a bunch of weird snippets of song false-starts, songs in mid-stream, MES spoken word, jokes, studio chatter, classical music, etc. It's those snippets and the way they're edited into everything that give the album its character and make it so much more than a "Greatest Hits! Live!" exercise.
This album marks the end of Fall Directionless MOR Phase 1990-1995.
Best songs:
All of them
Rating: A+ (Preseason rating: A+)
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