release date: Nov. 17, 1980
format: cd (1993 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: The Fall, Grant Showbiz, Mayo Thompson, Geoff Travis
label: Castle Classics - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Pay Your Rates" - 2. "English Scheme" - 3. "New Face in Hell" (Peel Sessions) - 4. "C'n'C-S Mithering" - 5. "The Container Drivers" - 10. "The N.W.R.A."
3rd studio album by The Fall produced by The Fall, Grant Showbiz, Mayo Thompson and Geoff Travis (tracks 1-5), tracks 6-10 are produced by The Fall and Geoff Travis originally released by Rough Trade. The Fall always was Mark's band - here the band credits are as follows: Mark on vocals, tape operation, kazoo (#3) and guitar, Marc Riley on guitar and keyboards, Craig Scanlon [credited as Craig Scanlan] on guitar, Steve Hanley on bass, his brother Paul Hanley on drums and with Kay Carroll on additional vocals, which more or less is the same line-up as on Dragnet (Oct. '79) as well as on the next following albums of the 80s, but the debut album Live at the Witch Trials (Mar. '79), saw the band in a completely different line-up. This is, however, merely an early incarnation of the band and the only staple member of the band remains Mark E. Smith.
Style-wise, this is an example of early post-punk labelled as art punk with influences from pub rock and garage rock and its minimum attention on production layering with focus on 'recording as is'.
The album wasn't met as a landslide album - much unlike what it's regarded as in retrospect. Critics were positive without praising the album and fans were, as they would constantly prove to be with The Fall divided in two groups: either belonging to a strong cult of followers, or to fierce haters; however, the album is generally regarded as one of the band's masterpieces. Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate the album in the early '80s - I did actually purchase the original Rough Trade vinyl issue back in 1982 or '83 and kept it for a decade or so, and then I re-sold it in a small pile with other obscure albums just to afford to buy new music, and what a mistake that was! I have come across this '93 CD reissue but I'd rather have the original vinyl, which by now is a collector's item.
I perfectly know how I was unable to see music in a broader perspective in my teens but it still puzzles me, why I couldn't just regard it as a musical curiosity. Anyway, the music lives on and even from a modern perspective I think the music still stands out as both highly original but also with something to offer. The Fall blends perfectly in with standards of Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa as a music collective, who simply ignores all conformities and just do what they think is the right thing to do. Mark E. Smith narrates about English society, working class life, taxes, capitalism, and he often focus on the English class system. Unlike Bob Dylan's social awareness, lyrics on contemporary human conditions, I find the lyrics by Smith to be much more entertaining but also without all the... fuzz [to say it as politely as possible].
Mark E. Smith continued to play with The Fall in various line-ups in the new millennium and also kept releasing new albums being quite keen on not repeating themselves. The last studio album by The Fall is New Facts Emerge (2017), the band's 31st studio album, released only six months before Smith's untimely death at the age of 60, Jan. 24, 2017. The international music press and the entire British press in general were overflown with appraisals dedicated to Smith's legacy as one of Britain's most influential songwriters in 2018, and he is today mentioned alongside the greatest of music.
For those unfamiliar with music by The Fall, it may not seem evident how they ever became such an acclaimed band. It may take some time to get accustomed to - some will never - but from my perspective, the true strengths of The Fall lies in Mark E. Smith's lyrics, his uncompromising attitude towards and against conformity whether concerning music or modern life in general - be it capitalism, class system or politics. The band has its unique sound and its very own conception of musical soundscape, which leaves no listener in doubt of who made it.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Spin 4,5 / 5, Sounds 5 / 5 stars ]
