Least Amazing Record By the Fall

This place seems to be full of fans of & experts on the Fall. I'd like to pick the collective brain to see if there is a concensus as to the weakest Fall disc.

THere is something worthwhile about all of their releases, but as for myself I'm leaning towards 'Extricate' for my least favorite. It just seems to have too much of that good ol' Fall rough edge filed off & has an unfortunate slickness that gets under my skin a bit.

Your thoughts... ?

I love extricate so you're not getting my vote

cerebral caustic is an oft-cited nadir

Bleedin' ell, extricate?

Hmm, lemme think.. "Cerebral Caustic" maybe? People unrep for "Room to Live" but I'm not one of them.

Or "Are you are wissing minner", but I haven't heard it.

cerebral caustic is a great album. "the aphid", "rainmaster", "don't call me darling", "the joke", "feeling numb", "life just bounces" are all excellent songs. it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo

agree^^^ Cerebral Caustic is good, certainly full of amazing moments.

I remember Middle Class Revolt getting panned left and right upon release.

OTOH, Shift-Work has not aged well (tho I'm sure someone will chime in re: its grandeur)

Yeah - Shift-Work was another one that occured to me.

room to live maybe suffers from having been recorded too quickly - later live versions of those songs are much stronger (e.g. "hard life in the country" from fall in a hole) but it's still a good record

middle class revolt ain't great but it's got some high points, "hey student" was the rockingest thing they'd done in a decade

now I'm gonna have to revisit cerebral caustic

one of the hard lessons I've learned in life is to never sell a fall album

one of those:

1991 - Shift Work 0
2005 - Fall Heads Roll 0
2001 - Are You Are Missing Winner 0
1999 - The Marshall Suite 0
1982 - Room To Live (Undilutable Slang Truth !) 0
1997 - Levitate 0
1995 - Cerebral Caustic 0
1994 - Middle Class Revolt 0
1992 - Code : Selfish 0
2007 - Reformation ! Post-TLC

best of The Fall studio albums

Find the first side of Room To Live unstoppable, one of my favourite chunks of Fall.

Struggling to think of something that doesn't have serious highlights: 'So What About It?' (grudgingly happy Fall, love that feeling), 'War Against Intelligence' and 'Idiot Joy Showland' make Shift Work for me (+ sentimental value, one of the Fall albums that came out while I was at school and obsessing).

Listening to Cerebral Caustic again now - The Joke sounded fierce, but not quite convinced by the rest so far. Would probably still choose this as least amazing.

Thanks for the link to that poll. It lets me know that I'm not COMPLETELY insane for going with 'Extricate.' Maybe. It also reinforces the early indications that 'Cerebral Caustic' & 'Shift Work' are not generally loved as much as others.

'Edinburgh Man' is on Shift Work though! possibly the most lovely Fall song ever. also went thru a spell of listening to 'The Mixer' a lot a few months ago. i have a soft spot for that album since its the first Fall album i ever heard. 'Reformation Post TLC' (title track aside) is the worst Fall record ive heard.

I hear you telephone thing listening in

"Levitate" has "I'm a mummieah!"

So, not that one.

So the Fall are so appreciated on here that someone actually posted a poll called "LEAST AMAZING Record by the Fall" and nobody batted an eye? This band sucks!

It's a poll? Who knew...

don't confuse yourself with someone who has something to say

xp

it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo
it's worth it for "bonkers in phoenix" alone imo

bears repeating

Room To Live (Undilutable Slang Truth !)

Yarbles

I don't own these Fall albums

1988 - The frenz experiment
1988 - I Am Kurious Oranj
1991 - Shift Work
1992 - Code : Selfish
1994 - Middle Class Revolt
1995 - Cerebral Caustic
2001 - Are You Are Missing Winner
2007 - Reformation ! Post

So out of the ones I do have I'd say Room to Live or The Marshall Suite would be my least favourites. I'd probably name Grotesque as the most overrated, it has it's moments but I've just never clicked with it.

but The Marshall Suite is, like, brilliant

So what does that make "Grotesque"?

an album I am yet to hear

Crikey!

I'm going to go back to The marshall Suite, maybe I just didn't give it enough of a chance. I do love the albums that came out just before and after.

there are 3 monolithic pieces on the record (Antidotes, The Crying Marshall, Birthday Song) and the rest fits around them pretty sweetly IMO

This is easy, it's the one with your granny on bongos.

I'd probably name Grotesque as the most overrated, it has it's moments but I've just never clicked with it.

my standard line on grotesque is it really depends on which mix/master you have. I never understood the love for grotesque until I heard the original castle CD (which is close to the original vinyl mix). it's like a completely different album.

man u Shiftwork/Extricate haterz are on the crack, 2 of my faves. Middle Class Revolt is pretty awesome as well, never understood the party line that it was a low point.

Reformation is the obvious choice here imo, AYAMW also comes close. Then Room To Live and MAYBE Cerebral Caustic for being weak in spots.

"Hate" is a bit extreme. I'd say "least loved" would be more accurate. I don't hate Extricate. Far from it.

True, and after all this is the "least amazing album" thread. I get defensive abt those recs cuz I love them so.

Re: the "Grotesque" mixes - did they restore the original when they did the reissue program a few years back?

I know the feeling. Sometimes I have to work hard to maintain a perspective on things like that.

prolley Reformation...

Shift Work/Code: Selfish/The Infotainment Scan is my favorite period of the Fall.

but Code:Selfish has the best Fall opening track ever

I said it was my favorite!

oops

seriously The Fall's knack of throwing away an absolute fucking gold star A+ insane track on 'lesser' albums is second to none

For me it's Light User Syndrome, no question. The few decent songs on it sound better in their Peel Session versions. AYAMH in second.

Ppl suggesting Levitate are completely insane. That record rules. And is completely insane.

Edward is the orig mix of Grotesque the one which was posted on Leonardo like 3 years ago?

yep, I was just listening to that the other day! I have an Italian Base pressing of the orig but I dunno what the difference is re: later reissues.

I love love love Light User Syndrome...

always found gavin friday on wonderful and frightening unbearable

Ppl suggesting Levitate are completely insane. That record rules. And is completely insane.

hang on where are these people and how strong is my anti-SB resolve

LUS has some great tracks! and some less great ones.

That was a good download, it's the version of Grotesque which I Pod.

xpost

always found gavin friday on wonderful and frightening utterly inspiring

Look, isn't it incredible that such a band can produce work that fans take diametrically opposite positions on? Is there a comparable body of work from someone? I'm not so sure.

Fall fans trying to find concensus are like those Christian interfaith conferences looking for common ground. There's a patch of it but wildly diverging attitudes beyond it.

it's in the first second of the opening guitar, before everything else comes in, hard to miss imo but I'm sensitive to sound

xp

Not as bad as the CD version of "In a Hole" which has a feckin' JUMP on it!

Has anyone heard the demo versions of CC on the reissue that supposedly have the same sound as The Infotainment Scan? Always been curious about that.

I'd say my bottom 2 at the moment are Fall Heads Roll and Reformation.

I have those versions on the 2CD but iirc have never listened, will report back.

never want to hear a stripped-down BIP ever, really

Least Amazing (But Still Quite Delightful) Record by the Fall btw

Cerebral Caustic Demos liveblog...

OK "One Day" is way better right off the bat. Super distorted vox, maybe a faster tempo?

LOTS of tape hiss on these.

"Rainmaster" doesn't seem that different.

Does lj know that this has THREE different versions of "Bonkers In Phoenix" including the orig?

"Feeling Numb" is obv. rough demo but mostly the same.

"The Joke" is sharper, more angry, a more cutting sound. Another one I like better here.

"Don't Call Me Darling" is my fave track from the LP, this demo suffers from the sound quality esp. since the take sounds almost identical.

hmmm "Pearl City" is leaving me cold for the same reason, this sounds like it was mastered off of a 15-year old TDKD90 cassette.

etc... "I'm Not Satisfied" is much better served by the lo-fi effect. "Aphid" is not. "Bonkers" is pretty much the same but filtered through the aged TDK effect.

The case for the last 2 tracks of the orig release being total lameass throwaways is made stronger by the fact that neither appears here in demo form.

so maybe 40% is at least as good as the regular LP versions?

hold up, at the very end of the 2nd CC disc is a completely different version of "One Day", like 90% different. Great example of the band's adaptability. and version #3 of "Bonkers"...

whoah, you can hear the guitar line!! all nice and clear, really beautiful.

wow.

OK in the MES/BES interview at the very end she gives a whole history of the song... she wrote it, MES "took a sledgehammer and smashed the hell out of the song".

"you're standing in a festival like at Glastonbury or Phoenix between the indie tent and the rock tent and the folk tent and you're tripping on acid and this is how the music sounds".

ok I'd actually like to hear that 3rd version, very much, but that description is apt - and also describes fairly neatly why the original is one of the greatest things ever, as well as a metaphor for MES and Brix's turbulent union

in the interest of science...

anyway my conclusion (and final defense) from relistening to most of the album is that it's much better than Reformation or AYAMY, and I also prefer it to Fall Heads Roll. Brix really makes this record.

I am going to listen to this record very soon :) maybe tomorrow! and thanks for the link, shall devour presently

Thanks bug! CC was the Fall record (along with LUS) that made me realize that I needed to hear them all. And I dig the throwaway tracks. But then again, I also enjoy "Crew Filth."

Much obliged for the Link!

I was just giving Imperial Wax Solvent a spin. I hadn't heard it since shortly after it came out. It still thoroughly freekin kills stuff in its excellence.

...in case anyone wasn't up on that.

So yeah I take back what I said, The Marshall Suite is actually rather good. I'm not sure how I missed a song as great as Birthday Song? Plenty of other really good moments too.

So Room to Live would now be my least favourite but as I said earlier I haven't heard 8 of their albums.

I'm not sure how I missed a song as great as Birthday Song?

This. Except it's tucked away at the end of the record and isn't very assuming. But it's one of the few love-songs MES wrote. Certainly it's the only affirmation of affection between MES and J Nagle.

It's always great to discover an album you thought was a bit of a dud is actually great. I'm going to be going back to that one a lot now.

Out of the ones I'm missing would you say any of them a worth my money? I'm not really interested in collecting all their albums for the sake of it (although I have done that for other bands) but would be interested to know if you or anyone thinks I'm missing out on these..

The frenz experiment
I Am Kurious Oranj
Shift Work
Code : Selfish
Middle Class Revolt
Cerebral Caustic
Are You Are Missing Winner
Reformation ! Post

Kurious Oranj and Frenz definitely. Both great.

You should probably get IAKO (I haven't heard it enough but repute is good) but IMO the highlights from the others could be collected on one CD. It'd be a bloody incredible CD, mind

problem with most of those albums is they've one or two standout tracks that you wouldn't want to live without, but recommending them as albums is tough. f'rinstance code:selfish has "the birmingham school of business school" which is one my fave post-84 period tracks.

Yes, but with Extricate, I have a tuff job picking what tracks are filler.

It's just....

DONT REMOVE ANYTHING!!!

yeah, I don't really consider extricate one of their middling albums

code:selfish has "the birmingham school of business school" which is one my fave post-84 period tracks.

this bears repeating. I think I said on this thread that it was my favourite Fall opener (it and Eat Y'Self Fitter ftw)

it also has "Immortality" and "Two-Face" and "Free Range", it's a good record.

Think I'll check out Kurious Oranj next then. I'll probably end up with all of them one day, there's something comforting about just buying a Fall album. If ever I can't think of anything to get I'll pick up something by them.

Extricate is a great album, Bill is Dead would easily be in my top 10 Fall Songs.

the frenz experiment > kurious oranj

but those two are paired in my head for some reason, maybe because they came out the same year?

I listened to Code: Selfish again. Its good, and I echo the sentiment re. the opening track. Superb.

Here!

The real "New" Fall Discog.

Studio albums
1.Live at the Witch Trials (1979)
2.Dragnet (1979)
3.Grotesque (After the Gramme) (1980)
4.Slates (1981)
5.Hex Enduction Hour (1982)
6.Room to Live (Undilutable Slang Truth!) (1982)
7.Perverted by Language (1983)
8.The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall (1984)
9.This Nation's Saving Grace (1985)
10.Bend Sinister (1986)
11.The Frenz Experiment (1988)
12.I Am Kurious Oranj (1988)
13.Extricate (1990)
14.Shift-Work (1991)
15.Code: Selfish (1992)
16.The Infotainment Scan (1993)
17.Middle Class Revolt (1994)
18.Cerebral Caustic (1995)
19.The Light User Syndrome (1996)
20.Levitate (1997)
21.The Marshall Suite (1999)
22.The Unutterable (2000)
23.Are You Are Missing Winner (2001)
24.The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click) (2003)
25.Fall Heads Roll (2005)
26.Reformation! Post-TLC (2007)
27.Imperial Wax Solvent (2008)
28.Your Future Our Clutter (2010)

Last album I own on that list is "Shift-Work", which I've played once I think

Gave up after that

Don't get Oranj before Frenz, I implore you. Frenz is much, much better and is the most urgent one on yr don't-have list. Oranj has only a few essential tracks and is almost impossible to listen to all the way through without ennui. Also the non-LP tracks on Frenz are super classic (Guest Informant! Twister!)

i love oranj all the way through! i love everything on it.

i think it really holds up as an album. i pretty much love the entire brix era though. from first to last.

Best strategy for their 90s work is to get two compilations, "A Past Gone Mad" and "A World Bewitched" and you're basically covered for that decades output not to mention a disc of collaborations and guest appearances. The Peel box adds the rest that you'd need - and you should have that anyway.

Hated "Shift-Work" so much, it was like a kick in the guts.

Or you could skip the '90s & go straight to The Unutterable.

Don't get Oranj before Frenz, I implore you. Frenz is much, much better and is the most urgent one on yr don't-have list. Oranj has only a few essential tracks and is almost impossible to listen to all the way through without ennui. Also the non-LP tracks on Frenz are super classic (Guest Informant! Twister!)

― Blog is a concept by which we measure our pain (Jon Lewis)

I'm in a Fall mood at the moment so I'll probably get them both soonish, they've both been added to my Wishlist.

It's great that they have so many albums and people feel so strongly about ones from each different period. I have 20 of their albums and I've found something to love on every single one, there's not many bands I can say that about.

Best strategy for their 90s work is to get two compilations, "A Past Gone Mad" and "A World Bewitched" and you're basically covered for that decades output not to mention a disc of collaborations and guest appearances. The Peel box adds the rest that you'd need - and you should have that anyway.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:35 (22 minutes ago)

these compilations are good but there's a rather large Levitate-shaped hole (also Marshall Suite-shaped hole) (also Post-Nearly Man-shaped hole) in this argument

Again, thanks for "Dragnet"

yes MES thank you for Dragnet...

3-9 is unfuckwithable

1-11 is a fucking career and some.

it also has "Immortality" and "Two-Face" and "Free Range", it's a good record.

― bug holocaust (sleeve), Friday, June 11, 2010 6:33 AM (10 hours ago

It also has "Just Waiting" and "Time Enough at Last." It's a VERY good record.

And "Gentleman's Agreement!"

Another observation from recent Fall listening. For me, 'Fall Head Roll' is a decent enough rekkid, but "Ride Away" fails to fill me with joy, especially as an opener.

Fall Heads Roll is all about Midnight in Aspen for me. It's such a great melody and one of my favourite songs they've ever done. Ride Away is both really annoying and totally addictive.

Trust in Me also hilarious. I think so, anyway.

Fall Heads Roll is all about Midnight in Aspen for me.

me too, great song

Sorry, too many non-annoying Fall tunes to be addicted to. :-)

Wtf middle class revolt is my 2nd favorite fall