The Fall - Album by Album by Single by Cassette thread

Yes, the CD will be silver on the playing side and have identifying numbers from manufacture in the centre. My CD of the Shift-Work deluxe even has the Universal logo at the centre.

The CD-R will not have catalogue or similar numbers and, to me, had more of a blueish tinge. It looks like the CD-Rs you might buy to burn playlists to at home.

First pic is the CD - you can just make out the logo. They're both from different Shift-Work 2 CD sets

 

Since the new album is due late July... do you actually think we could finish off this thread with it? That would be a great way to end this extraordinary thread. But I've got no idea how many stuff (mainly compilations) we have yet to cover until "New Facts Emerge" But maybe you could pace it accordingly

 

Silly. I reject the notion that this might be the Last Fall LP. Good name for a record, BTW.

 

Reformation Post TLC

Released February 2007 on Slogan Records, a label of Sanctuary Records Group (CD and, a month later, vinyl)

01. Over! Over! (Smith) 4:04

02. Reformation! (Smith/Barbato) 6:58 (LP 7:23)

03. Fall Sound (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 3:53

04. White Line Fever (Haggard) 3:00

05. Insult Song (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 5:40 (LP 6:44)

06. My Door Is Never (Smith) 3:39

07. Coach And Horses (Smith/McCord) 1:48

08. The Usher (Smith/Barbato/Poulou/Presley/McCord)) 1:17

09. The Wright Stuff (Smith/Barbato/Poulou) 5:47 (LP 6:24)

10. Scenario (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 3:24

11. Das Boat (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 10:06 (LP 8:28, promo 10:30)

12. The Bad Stuff (Smith/Barbato/Poulou/Presley/McCord) 2:25

13. Systematic Abuse (Smith/Barbato/Poulou/Presley/McCord) 8:38

14. Outro (Smith/Barbato/Poulou/Presley/McCord) 0:36

Mark E Smith - vocals
Rob Barbato - bass
Elena Poulou - keyboards
Orpheo McCord - drums, vocals
Tim Presley - guitar
Dave Spurr - bass
With:
Pete Greenway - guitar
Gary Bennett - guitar

Produced by: Tim "Gracielands" Baxter and Mark E Smith

The US version is the one with the cheap band shot which looks like it was put together in 5 minutes. At least the UK version alludes to some sense of effort being put in. It’s a bit different - tracks 2 & 5 are the LP versions; track 8 is omitted; and track 11 is the UK promo version. There are also some live videos in the CD-ROM section.

Yet another 60+ minute album which, as usual in my opinion, is too long. MES needs an editor. Some of the ‘songs’ could be removed all together and others could be shortened.

Ben, Spencer and Steve had all ‘walked’ during the US tour the previous year, and so strangely (or not) MES recruited the support band to finish the tour and they subsequently stayed around long enough to record this album, so this release is a bit of a one-off.

‘TLC’, according to MES, stands for "traitors, liars and c**ts..." which is a classy touch referring to the previous members.

So now we had a Fall group with lots of exotic sounding young Americans. The album really sounds like what you would expect given this is a new band - many of the songs seem to be long jams not really fully formed and almost like MES is singing over a US indie band’s instrumental album at times. It is a lot better than it could have been though. I hated it initially, thought it was really bad, thought the vocals were lazy and lyrics poor. There are still parts I have no time for (some of it is very bad – Das Boat is ten minutes you will never get back) but I have warmed to it and some of it is quite enjoyable (My Door Is Never and Insult Song which I think is quite funny).

Musically it is pretty solid and pretty good in places, as the musicians were obviously pretty good (not some kids MES had plucked off the streets of Salford).

A much shorter album would have been better, or even a mini-album. It sounds better now to me than it did at the time and I guess it’s best viewed more like a MES side project with him working with some US musicians rather than a full Fall album proper.

 

That's not what I was implying. It could be updated for future releases.

 

Reformation TLC is a better cd than it really ought to be considering it came out of some classic M.E.S scorched earth band management policies. The US band were pretty decent and I enjoyed the performance I saw of them at the Glasgow Indian Summer Festival, around the time this came out. At the time it did seem a disappointingly slapdash affair after a couple of pretty strong settled focussed albums and group stability. However it is quite interesting hearing him with a US band pretty much improvising some new material as basically a big f**k you to Pritchard et al. There are some good grooves going on and the band lock in and do their thing giving him a decent canvass to do his thing. Sometimes he is focussed, at other times perilously close to the car crash drunk of Light user Syndrome Sessions. There is probably half a good album here. This one would have really worked as a strong 6 track 10" single which would be a good part of their later day discography instead of a patchy album that is one of their least essential releases all in. Worth having but not one of their best. Of all the recent albums since Country On The Click this is the least essential (save for that execrable turd still to come called Ersatz GB).

 

Fall Heads Roll
A decent album but not as good as its predecessor. The loss of Jim Watts and Dave Milner who wrote most of COTC really feels here, since the group's sound devolved into generic power chord rock, and loud in-your-face production didn't help matters. That said, once you make it past Ride Away and Pacifying Joint (the worst opening to a Fall album ever?) it's not bad at all, with What About Us?, Youwanner, Midnight in Aspen and (of course) Blindness some of the highlights. I've seen many people claim that Peel version of Blindness is superior but I still prefer the album one - it just sounds so heavy and powerful. The best Fall track of the decade, surely.

Reformation Post TLC
Apparently the Pritchard-Trafford-Birtwistle lineup had already recorded most of what would've been the follow-up to FHR by the time of the ill-fated US tour - we're only left to wonder how it would've sounded. Instead we got this undercooked, drawn-out, poorly produced mess of an album, sounding like 2/3 of it was improvised on-spot. It's a shame really, because stand-ins Rob Barbato, Tim Presley (now of White Fence fame) and Orpheo McCord fit perfectly into The Fall and I believe could've delivered a much better album had it not been so rushed. There are some enjoyable moments such as Reformation, Fall Sound and Systematic Abuse, but then you also get stuff like Over! Over! (a blatant ripoff of The United States Of America) or drunken-bar-band cover of White Line Fever. Not MES's finest hour, although not quite the bottom of the heap.

 

Vall Der Greadds Groll:

 

I don't understand this post at all but "Godbluff" is a great album so:

 

Ha, clearly the cover of Fall Heads Roll is a visual design reference to Godbluff!!

 

As sure as "Live At The Witch Trials" references "Tales From Topographic Oceans".

And "Cerebral Caustic" "Appetite For Destruction"

 

Well, MES is a VDGG fan so not as far-fetched, I'd say....

 

I just don't see much similarities.

 

Fall Heads Roll

This is an example for me of an album where the definitive version of the tracks are the Peel sessions – a consensus I don’t tend to agree with in general. Blindness in session shares some of the numinous of Winter, whereas the LP version does build nicely, but just doesn’t stake out its (visionary) territory like that recording. What About Us again pales by comparison.

I think the band didn’t record these songs quickly enough for them to be fresh. So for me, this album contains a handful of songs that are immediate – Clasp Hands (despite previous comments, this is well recorded) Bo Demmick, Channel Fuhrer (just how good is this?) and Breaking the Rules (really punky and not overthought. Also, a little self-disclosure in the line ‘he broke his mind trying to break the rules’) These tracks would make a great four track ep, and that's usually how I listen to it (as well as the Peel session).

I also like Midnight in Aspen. The chugging numbers – Assume, Youwanner don’t really cut it for me.


Reformation Post TLC

I take the point that this would make a good mini-album – but which tracks would it include? Coach and Horses for sure. I’m a fan of White Line Fever, and was converted to Scenario by the terrific performance in New York that circulated at the time, despite it not containing many MES-penned lyrics. I love the muscle and suppleness of the band, especially on this live recording.



(Does anyone know if any more footage from this gig has surfaced?)

Perhaps these and My Door and Reformation…

A nod of appreciation for the cover art as well.

I’m not one for reconstructing albums (Bob Dylan eighties albums aside). One of the things this thread has shown me is how strong Levitate and The Marshall Suite are. I wouldn’t dream of altering a note. They sound better with each year.

 

No Fall Sound? Great song although the version on the box set is slightly better.

 

Fair enough, Fall Sound should have a place (Brrrrrr Brrrrr)

 

A couple of singles were released in early 2007:



Fall Sound

Released February 2007 on Narnack Records iTunes download

01. Fall Sound (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 3:53







Reformation! The Single

Released April 2007 on Slogan/Sanctuary (CD and 12")

01. Reformation! (Uncut) (Smith/Barbato) 7:20

02. Over Over (Rough Mix) (Smith) 4:40

03. My Door Is Never (Rough Mix) (Smith) 3:42

04. Reformation! (Edit) (Smith/Barbato) 3:56

Mark E Smith - vocals
Rob Barbato - bass
Tim Presley - guitar
Orpheo McCord - drums
Elena Poulou - keyboards
Dave Spurr - bass
With:
Pete Greenway - guitar
Gary Bennett - guitar

Produced by: Dave Luff

 

Von Südenfed - "Tromatic Reflexxions"


Released May 2007 on Domino Records, (CD and double LP)

Von Südenfed is Mark E Smith with Andi Toma and Jan St Werner of Mouse On Mars.

Track listing

1. "Fledermaus Can't Get It" - 3:56
   
   
2. "Rhinohead" - 4:16
   
   
3. "Flooded" - 4:46
   
   
4. "Family Feud" - 4:28
   
   
5. "Serious Brainskin" - 3:51
   
   
6. "Speech Contamination/German Fear of Osterreich" - 3:59
   
   
7. "Young the Faceless and the Codes" - 4:31
   
   
8. "Duckrog" - 2:47
   
   
9. "Chicken Yiamas" - 2:36
   
   
10. "That Sound Wiped" - 6:04
    
    
11. "Jbak Lois Lane" - 2:56
    
    
12. "Dearest Friends" - 4:43
    
    This was the first full length collaboration between MES and German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, they had worked together previously on a single a few years previous.
    
    Released to positive reviews, the Guardian said “More satisfyingly adventurous than recent Fall albums, it's full of surprises”, this was a welcome release, a bit of quality at a time of some very inconsistent Fall releases.
    
    In a way I think that ideally this would be the type of project that MES would be working on in his later years rather than still being ‘The Fall’ but I guess that is down to economics more than anything, MES needing a working touring band to pay the bills (and I suppose it’s better for him to be working than sitting in a pub all day).
    
    Anyway, I’m no expert of electronica but it’s a good listen and enjoyable and I would say it is an essential buy for any serious Fall fan.

 

Agreed, Von Sudenfed is at least half great and the rest is entertaining. It's a perfect example of how MES can front any band and make it his own. Word is there were some conflicts between the MoM guys and Mark, what else is new.

 

MoM experimental electronica was a good fit for MES. Rhinohead and That Sound Wiped are the highlights for me. Its a shame they didn't make a follow up, there was a lot of potential there.

 

The Fall Box Set 1976 – 2007

Released September 2007 on Castle/Sanctuary, 5 CD box set.

01. Bingo-Master's Break-Out! (The Fall) 2:23
02. No Xmas For John Quays (Smith) 4:38
03. Rowche Rumble (Take 4) (Riley/Smith/Scanlon) 3:49
04. Before The Moon Falls (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Smith) 4:33
05. New Puritan (Home Demo) (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Smith) 3:22
06. City Hobgoblins (Smith/Scanlon/Riley/Hanley, S) 2:22
07. Totally Wired (Riley/Smith/Scanlon) 3:27
08. New Face In Hell (Riley/Scanlon/Smith) 5:40
09. The Container Drivers (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Smith) 3:08
10. Leave The Capitol (Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Smith) 4:03
11. Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul (Smith/Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, P) 3:10
12. The Classical (Smith/The Fall) 5:17
13. Hip Priest (Riley/Hanley, S/Scanlon/Hanley, P/Smith) 7:47
14. Look, Know (Smith/Riley/Hanley, S/Burns) 4:38
15. Marquis Cha-Cha (Smith/Burns) 4:33
16. The Man Whose Head Expanded (Smith/Hanley, S/Scanlon) 4:22
17. Wings (Smith/Hanley, S/Hanley, P) 4:26
18. Smile (Hanley, P/Hanley, S/Smith/Scanlon/Burns) 5:08

19. Oh! Brother (Smith/Burns/Scanlon/Hanley, S) 4:03
20. Lay Of The Land (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 5:43
21. Couldn't Get Ahead (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 2:36
22. Bombast (Hanley, S/Smith) 3:08
23. Paintwork (Smith/Scanlon/Rogers) 6:39
24. L.A. (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 4:11
25. Mr. Pharmacist (Nowen) 2:20
26. Dktr. Faustus (Scanlon/Smith) 5:34
27. Shoulder Pads 1# (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 2:56
28. Excerpt From Hey! Luciani Play (Smith) 3:00
29. There's A Ghost In My House (Holland/Dozier/Holland/Taylor) 2:38
30. Hit The North Part 4 (Smith, ME/Rogers/Smith, B) 5:55
31. Guest Informant (Smith/Hanley, S/Scanlon) 5:49
32. A Day In The Life (Lennon/McCartney) 4:23
33. Athlete Cured (Smith) 5:53
34. Bremen Nacht (LP Version) (Smith) 7:07
35. Big New Prinz (Smith/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Schofield) 3:24
36. Dead Beat Descendant (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 2:26

37. Telephone Thing (Alternate Version) (More/Smith/Black) 4:38
38. Bill Is Dead (Scanlon/Smith) 4:31
39. Arms Control Poseur (Single Version) (Smith/Scanlon/Wolstencroft) 5:04
40. Theme From Error-Orrori (Smith/Beddington/Hanley, S/Wolstencroft) 4:13
41. The Re-Mixer (Smith/Scanlon) 6:04
42. Free Range (Single Version) (Smith/Wolstencroft) 4:18
43. Ed's Babe (Scanlon/Smith) 3:18
44. Arid Al's Dream (Smith/Scanlon) 4:50
45. Glam Racket (Smith/Hanley, S/Scanlon) 3:14
46. A Past Gone Mad (Alternate Version) (Smith/Bush/Wolstencroft) 4:40
47. Behind The Counter (Single Version) (Burns/Smith) 3:10
48. M5 (Single Version) (Bush/Wolstencroft/Smith) 3:28
49. The Joke (Smith, ME/Smith, B) 2:51
50. Noel's Chemical Effluence (Smith) 6:24
51. Plug Myself In (7" Nero Mix) (D.O.S.E. Feat. Mark E Smith) (Bassburger(Spencer)/Smith) 3:57
52. He Pep! (Smith/Wolstencroft) 3:08
53. Inch (Inch Feat. Mark E Smith) (Smith/Spencer/Stewart) 4:04
54. Recipe For Fascism (Smith) 0:59
55. Ten Houses Of Eve (Remix) (Smith/Adamson(Nagle)) 3:41
56. Calendar (Smith/Gough) 1:46

57. The Horror In Clay (MES solo) (Smith) 5:22
58. Touch Sensitive (Dance Mix) (Smith/Nagle/Hitchcock) 7:10
59. Shake-Off (Smith/Hitchcock/Leatham/Head) 3:05
60. Tom Raggazzi (Smith/Nagle/Head) 2:19
61. Two Librans (Demo) (Smith/Nagle/Head/Helal/Wilding) 3:37
62. Dr. Bucks' Letter (Smith/Nagle/Head/Helal/Wilding) 5:20
63. Distilled Mug Art (Smith/Blaney) 3:35
64. Pander! Panda! Panzer! (Excerpt) (MES solo) (Smith) 3:43
65. Susan vs Youthclub (Remix) (Smith/Milner) 3:53
66. Mike's Love Xexagon (Original Version) (Smith/Watts) 5:13
67. Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via MES (Smith/Milner) 3:19
68. (We Are) Mod Mock Goth (Smith/Poulou) 4:42
69. Portugal (Smith) 3:37
70. Theme From Sparta F.C. #2 (Smith/Pritchard/Watts) 3:50
71. I Can Hear The Grass Grow (Slow Version) (Wood) 3:15
72. Blindness (Alternate Version) (Smith/Birtwistle) 7:54
73. Fall Sound (Alternate Version) (Smith/Barbato/Presley/McCord) 4:33

74. Hey! Fascist (live Foxes At The Greyhound 7 May 1978) (Smith/Baines/Bramah/Friel) 2:40
75. Brand New Cadillac (live Band On The Wall, Manchester August 1978) (Taylor) 4:12
76. My Condition (live Marquee, London 17 December 1978) (Smith) 3:59
77. Pop Stickers (live The Nashville Room, London 1 March 1979) (Smith/Bramah) 3:37
78. Session Musician (live Alter Bahnhof, Hof, Germany 22 May 1981) (Smith/Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S) 8:30
79. Middle Mass Explanation (live Fagins, Manchester 30 September 1981) (Smith/Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S) 6:18
80. I'm Into C.B. (Stars On 45 Version) (live Fagins, Manchester 30 September 1981 ) (Smith) 3:13
81. C'n'C-Black Night (live Town Hall, Christchurch, New Zealand 18 August 1982) (Smith/Riley/Scanlon/Hanley, S/Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice) 5:33
82. Perverted By Language (live Electric Ballroom, London 8 December 1983) (Smith) 1:30
83. He Talks (live Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 31 March 1984) (Smith) 2:46
84. Hey! Marc Riley (live Oskars Cornhusker, Azusa, California, USA 23 March 1985) (Smith) 3:42
85. Countdown (live Irving Plaza, New York, USA 1 March 1986) (Scanlon/Hanley, S) 1:50
86. Race With The Devil (live Subterrania, London 29 August 1989) (Vincent/Davis) 2:30
87. Tunnel (live Astoria 2, London 23 October 1985) (Smith/Burns/Hanley, S/Nagle/Wolstencroft) 2:14
88. Interferance (live Bierkeller, Bristol 19 January 1997) (Smith/Nagle) 2:24
89. Jet Boy (live Arts Centre, Salisbury 7 May 1999) (Thunders/Johanson) 2:39
90. Walk Like A Man (live Echo Lounge, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 16 April 2004) (Crewe/Gaudio) 3:44
91. The Boss (live Carling Academy, Bristol 20 March 2006) (Smith/Trafford) 3:19

This is essentially an expanded edition of 50,000 Fall Fan Can’t Be Wrong with a bonus disc of rare live songs (just about all were songs only ever played live).

Opinions may be divided on this but I think it was a completely wasted opportunity. It’s not for the beginner obviously, they are better of with 50,000 Fall Fan Can’t Be Wrong as an introduction, and then most serious Fall fans will have all the tracks on the first four CDs anyway, so they are just paying a lot of money for a disc of live rarities. The packaging is pretty bargain basement as well (it was obviously designed to match the Peel Sessions box).

If you are going to make a five CD career spanning boxset then make something special. I’m not talking marbles and a scarf, but something with a big book, maybe some cool ephemera, something that reflects the importance and standing of the group, something a bit special. I think the hardcore fans would have been willing to pay a bit more for something nice rather than a fair bit anyway for a set that looks like someone made it themselves. I mean you go to all the trouble to license the tracks and everything.

On the positive side the missing in action Look, Know re-appears after its ‘banishment’, and it is the only place to find remastered tracks form Bend Sinister (as we are still waiting for a full album remaster). The live disc isn’t exactly essential.

 

BTW, Beggars posted this on their website a few hours ago:

"We have been busy prepping many more archival releases/reissues/special editions etc. Future releases include The Lurkers, The Fall’s Bend Sinister, more Cocteau Twins on vinyl, Oceansize, Peter Murphy, Elastica, Gary Numan, Johann Johansson and more! We will also have some future webstore exclusives include The Lurkers, Buffalo Tom and Gary Numan."

So we may get Bend Sinister at last!

The Arkive

 

At the right speed!

 

Imperial Wax Solvent

Released April 2008 on Sanctuary (CD and LP)

01. Alton Towers (Smith/Spurr) 3:27

02. Wolf Kidult Man (Smith/Spurr/Poulou) 3:03

03. 50 Year Old Man (Smith/Spurr) 11:33

04. I've Been Duped (Smith) 2:42

05. Strangetown (McPhee) 5:39

06. Taurig (Poulou) 2:57

07. Can Can Summer (Smith/Spurr/Melling/Poulou/Greenway) 3:06

08. Tommy Shooter (Smith) 3:44

09. Latch Key Kid (Smith/Spurr/Poulou) 3:19

10. Is This New (Smith/Toma) 2:12

11. Senior Twilight Stock Replacer (Smith/Spurr) 3:06

12. Exploding Chimney (Smith/Spurr/Melling/Poulou/Greenway) 2:30



Mark E Smith - vocals
Peter Greenway - guitar
David Spurr - bass
Keiron Melling - drums
Eleni Poulou - keyboards, vocals

Produced by Mark E Smith, Grant Showbiz, Andi Toma and Tim Baxter

The US members have since departed and a new group formed, which pretty much is the Fall group now I think (it was on the last album). Obviously Eleni has gone now but this is the line-up of the last decade, which is pretty remarkable given the amount of changes we had seen previously. I must admit I found them live and on record to be solid and workmanlike but lacking that something special.

I remember slightly dreading this album at the time, based on the live shows I had seen. I didn’t have much faith in the group at this point – MES seemed to have lost it completely and I wasn’t expecting anything special form the line-up in terms of strong material.

Many Fall albums I think get better with age, and it’s always wise to re-asses at a later date. This is not an album I would recommend to a newcomer but deserves its place in any hardcore fan’s collection as it does contain some decent material overall. I pretty much wrote it off at the time but listening again it’s not half bad.

Favourites for me are Alton Towers with its spooky vibe and nice bass line, I’ve Been Duped (it reminds me of those great late 70’s female DIY punk bands) and Tauring (reminds me of late 70’s DIY electronic bands). Only one has a MES vocal though.

Can Can Summer, Tommy Shooter, Latch Key Kid, Is This New and Exploding Chimney are all ok to good (and all quite short which is good as none outstay their welcome).

Senior Twilight Stock Replacer is a great title and a good track although sadly doesn’t quite live up to the title.

Wolf Kidult Man, 50 Year Old Man, Strangetown - garage rockers which this group do fine but nothing too interesting for me. I don’t think 50 Year Old Man works as some kind of 12 minute epic.

It’s thankfully a decent length for an album and pretty consistent although perhaps there are no real highlights.

Looking at the cover though, and the recent efforts by Dylan and the Stones - why is it that people give up on cover art after so many years?

 

One of my least favourite Fall albums. There are some decent moments, but I just can't get past the terrible sound. Story goes that Grant Showbix, who worked on the album, had to leave near the end of the sessions and asked Mark not to touch the mixes; he came back nearly everything downmixed to mono, best vocal takes removed and what he thought was the best song on the album ("Ponto", which leaked not long ago) completely absent. And that's what became the final product. There's some talk that Cherry Red might do a 2CD reissue in the near future, with Grant's mix on the second disc; until that, I don't think I'll going to listen to IWS any soon.