The Fall

"The northern white crap that talks back-uh" - loved them dearly since '77.

Rich

redeye -

You can't have been a very observant bunny as there have been stacks of discussions concerning the Mighty Fall, including the usual rows about best albums and phases, whether Brix was a help or hindrance, is their latest a return to form, have they really split up or not, etc, etc.

Tim

i seem to recall there have been some pretty big discussions of the fall on here.

i seem to remeber a particularly silly comment along the lines of "this is white hip-hop".

but perhaps i'm wrong. it wouldn't be the first time.

so, what's yer favourite fall stuff?

me:

slates ep
rebellious jukebox
how i wrote elastic man
this nation's saving grace
no bulbs
etc etc etc

they're a great band, but i can see why 98% of my friends think they're awful, know what i mean?

*possibly that my friends are deluded fools*

so, what's yer favourite fall stuff?

I tend to like the early phase (Step Forward, Rough Trade etc), namely:

Bingo Master's Break Out
Rowche Rumble
Elastic Man
Lie Dream of Casino Soul
Grotesque (After The Gramme)
Dragnet
Slates
Hex Enduction Hour

But I also like stuff like
Extricate
This Nation's Saving Grace

etc

The group has done squillions of Peel sessions - these are well worth seeking out; the two I've heard from 1980 in particular are magnificent.

There's also a new live album, recorded at the Phoenix Festival in 1995/6, heard a coupla tracks on the radio the other day, sound pretty good.

Kevin

going for the, "of course, the old stuff was much better" line, eh?



clee-shayed but true.

probably.

Just reminded me -

Totale's Turns - of course!!!

Kevin

Repetition repetition repetition!

Love the early stuff. The only time I've ever managed to make a Naim power amp shut down (140) was when playing Fantastic Life on record with the volume pot at max. You could have fried an egg on the case.

To be fair though the amp had just played both sides of Witch Trials at max volume with a bunch of loonies jumping round the room totally off their t*ts

Any views on recent Fall stuff? Its been a while since i bought any

red

Of the earlier stuff I think perverted by language, the wonderful and frightening world of the fall and this nations saving grace stand out, but youre really missing out if you havent heard the infotainment scan, half of which is hilarious classic fall, also shiftwork,levitate and the unutterable. Avoid the last one though (are you are missing winner) its a stinker except for two tracks.

Oh, and see them live whenever you can. Worth it even on an off day.

roman

I am one of the many that can't really see what the fuss is about with The Fall. I would never buy one of their albums. I also cannot understand how it is that I have seen them 5 or 6 times! I guess they are just one of those bands that nobody really dislikes, but only a few really like. Bit like The Who really. But you always have to go see them, because you always do!

I mentioned them a few months ago, but that might have been on the Hi-Fi forum.

There are about 22 Fall records in my collection, love all of them, especially Room to Live, Dragnet , Grotesque and some of the newer stuff.

They do sound horrible on CD though!

Have fun!

willem

The Fall are, obviously, even better than sliced bread, but it's a shame they've sullied their catalogue with endless dodgy live and compilation releases.

Dragnet, Live At The Witch Trials, Grotesque, Perverted by Language, Hex Enduction Hour, Slates, et al, are all entirely wondrous records, and Mark E Smith is one of the cleverest and most entertainingly unpleasant people to ever make garage music.

I love 'em.

-- Ian

I too 'fall' into the things were better when I were a lad group, with Bingo Masters Breakout, Live at the Witch Trials etc. being favoured over later material.

I didn't have the stamina to keep up with thier 60? albums.

But this is true of most artists - can anyone think of a group where album # 27 is better than #1 or #2 ?

DS

ITC - Rhythm & Sound - w/ the artists

David - Yes!! (no - not Yes )
Madonna
Bowie
Brian Eno
John McLaughlin

'kin ell!

LOADS of people really hate the fall, and i mean loads!

like i said, i can see why.

but i love 'em.

I have tried converting several people to the Fall, lent them the best albums, taken them to see the band live, etc. Still no success....

Incidentally, sideshowbob - not sure the recent crap-tastic plethora of Fall compilations is necessarily Mark's fault and certainly not his intention. I suspect a publishing/rights cock-up.

Willem - you may need a better CD Player. Hex Enduction Hour sounds superb on a CDS2. Perverted by Language sounds very, very frightening.

Don't necessarily agree with the feeling that recent albums don't compare well with older material. The Unutterable was a very, very good record. That said, they had a phase a few years ago where there seemed to be a mediocre new Fall album out every three months. Perhaps they signed up for a punishing schedule with the record company.

Tim

'What if the moon falls out of the sky and hits me right on the head?'

After all these years I still think about that. Their early stuff are classics but they started to loose the plot after Room to Live.

Anybody got any Marc Riley with the Creepers stuff? Now that does sound terrible.