Hmm, there are a number of albums that are 'different' outposts.
This Nat is one of the easiest to listen to, I'd say.
― Mark G, Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:22 (thirteen years ago) link
And Hex isn't
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:22 (thirteen years ago) link
guess it depends on how you feel about the voice really. from the 90s onward there's rather more of a desire to play with existing or contemporary forms (baggy, electronic, indie-ish stuff) rather than that dynamic primal abrasiveness that characterised their earlier years.
that's a little bald perhaps - it's still heavily Fall flavoured - but it's emblematic of a perceived softer edge to their music. It's perhaps why a lot of Fall fans will tend to prefer the early stuff.
If you wanted to try some stuff a bit different from Hex or TNSG, try Shift Work, Infotainment Scan, or the extremely appealing and successful The Unutterable. xpost.
― Herr Kapitan Pugvosh (GamalielRatsey), Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:23 (thirteen years ago) link
I still amaze the kids when they watch the Gok shows with my "She used to be in the Fall, you know"
― Mark G, Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:28 (thirteen years ago) link
"She used to be married to this"
*shows picture of Mark E. Smith, kids scream and complain of bad dreams later that night*
― Tom D (Lenin's his feir and Liebknecht's his mate) (Tom D.), Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:30 (thirteen years ago) link
ah, but back then : http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vdy5PdGb6vw/S2MkzM9lcwI/AAAAAAAAApQ/xpzDMVW-LMc/s640/brix+3.jpg
― Mark G, Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:33 (thirteen years ago) link
ah, remember the days you'd consider someone had possibly "sold-out" because they stopped looking ill, started wearing nice clothes and eating regular meals regularly?
― Mark G, Thursday, 3 February 2011 12:35 (thirteen years ago) link
Ok, I'm from the US where the album in question had a pretty low profile, but the "White Lightening" cover is just killing me. Amazed I'd never heard it before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YmMsmKGEt4
― dlp9001, Thursday, 17 February 2011 03:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Shiftwork is in my top 5 albums of theirs, I just love almost everything on it. I don't know if they ever approached the kind of tender beauty that you hear on "Rose" on subsequent records (although the closer off their last one comes close).
― sleeve, Thursday, 17 February 2011 04:55 (thirteen years ago) link
I think you definitely hear that on the next two albums, too: "Time Enough at Last," "Just Waiting," "Gentleman's Agreement," "I'm Going to Spain," and "Service."
― timellison, Thursday, 17 February 2011 04:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Funny, this is yet another thread where the person who started it never comes back. Weird phenomenon.
― Evan, Thursday, 17 February 2011 05:34 (thirteen years ago) link
I change up the sequence on it, admittedly, but Dragnet still is my 2nd favourite album of all time...
― kingkongvsbasedgodzilla (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 17 February 2011 05:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Funny, this is yet another thread where the person who started it never comes back. Weird phenomenon.― Evan, Wednesday, February 16, 2011 11:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
― Evan, Wednesday, February 16, 2011 11:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
Actually...
― Fetchboy, Thursday, 17 February 2011 11:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Oops.
http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2012/07/23/perhaps-someday-an-internet-search-engine-will-be-invented-that-will-prevent-these-misunderstandings/
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 July 2012 22:13 (eleven years ago) link
And here I thought Mark E Smith was just being paranoid when he says everyone's trying to rip off The Fall.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 23 July 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link
Re-Mit is pretty solid, as usual!
― StanM, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 16:50 (eleven years ago) link
Yes! I'm really enjoying it after the first few listens. "Jetplane" is the standout track for me, so far.
― cwkiii, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 16:54 (eleven years ago) link
Madness. It's fucking awful. And I haven't said that since the 90s.
― Doran, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 18:16 (eleven years ago) link
Funny, every album gets his..
― Mark G, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 06:38 (eleven years ago) link
gets this, I mean
yeah the consensus favorites only emerge after a decade or two, if they ever do
is there a single fall album all fans can agree on? hex enduction hour? maybe bend sinister?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 08:52 (eleven years ago) link
i would submit the unutterable but i fear many have not even heard it.
No. No. No.
― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 09:06 (eleven years ago) link
In tests, 26 out of 29 fall fans who expressed a preference, voted "Slates"
In tests, 27 out of 29 fall fans who expressed a preference, voted "This nation's Saving Grace"
(Other fall albums are available)
― Mark G, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 09:41 (eleven years ago) link
I've never heard of The Fall, but according to allmusic, they were influenced by Pink Floyd. What is the best place to start for a Pink Floyd fan?
― how's life, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:39 (eleven years ago) link
not listening to The Fall, I would say. (not sure how Allmusic came to that conclusion about PF being an influence)
― Neil S, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:40 (eleven years ago) link
Well, that would be that Chiselers/Chilinists one wouldn't it xp
― have a nice Blog (imago), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:40 (eleven years ago) link
Well Floyd did have that one song, all in all you're just a Brix in the Fall
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:42 (eleven years ago) link
He's quick, that lad
― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:42 (eleven years ago) link
xp ouch
― Neil S, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:43 (eleven years ago) link
I did wince as I typed that one out, sorry
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:45 (eleven years ago) link
LOL
― how's life, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:47 (eleven years ago) link
Pink Floyd are short,anyway
― glumdalclitch, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:47 (eleven years ago) link
Short of what?
― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:49 (eleven years ago) link
okay, here's an attempt at a more helpful answer HL: at a stretch, This Nation's Saving Grace has elements of the "psychedelia gone wrong" that Barrett-era Floyd dealt in. It's a pretty big leap though, and I'm sure people will disagree vehemently (always the way with anything Fall-related).
― Neil S, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:51 (eleven years ago) link
They are also said to be influenced by the Beatles. What is the Fall's entry into Beatlesque pop?
― how's life, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:53 (eleven years ago) link
their amazing cover of "a A Day in the Life" probably.
― Neil S, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:54 (eleven years ago) link
Bollocks to both of those (xp)
― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:54 (eleven years ago) link
Upon first listen, the best tracks were on the Record Store Day single. The rest of the album is studio noodling.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 14:05 (eleven years ago) link
I would recommend Grotesque to a newbie. The music is more straight-ahead punk/rockabilly, and the lyrical content is clear, and - blob 59 excepted - relatively murk-free. Also, if the words don't have you hooked, you'll never get the fall.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 14:50 (eleven years ago) link
I have had luck with introducing people to the Fall through Grotesque.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
That's a good question... what are the best Fall starter-albums for new listeners?
Grotesque makes sense... I'd probably add TNSG, Frenz, Infotainment as being "easy-ish" to start with.Not their best stuff necessarily, but a relatively painless entry for people? 50,000 Fall Fans would probably work well too. Who knows!
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:24 (eleven years ago) link
50,000 Fall Fans is a well-curated comp, containing many titles I had read about in various places. Definitely sufficient for me to ascertain that, aside from a few random cuts, they're never going to be my thing.
― New Authentic Everybootsy Collins (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:32 (eleven years ago) link
My first Fall album was 'Seminal Live.' Was in the $3.99 cassette bin at the campus store freshman year o college.
Kinda amazing I persisted.
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:42 (eleven years ago) link
50,000 Fall Fans is definitely my go-to - it only has like 1-2 selections from each album, so it's not like you're 'ruining' much by listening to that first.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:43 (eleven years ago) link
Not that keen on The Fall in general but I listened to The Unutterable this morning following amateurist mentioning it above and it was great. Would listen again.
This afternoon I tried Grotesque, also mentioned above, and lasted about 90 seconds. Can't be bothered with that stuff.
― Eyeball Kicks, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah I would recommend The Unutterable as the starter-kit to pretty much anyone
― have a nice Blog (imago), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:56 (eleven years ago) link
Either that or Hex
― have a nice Blog (imago), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
Definitely not "Hex" I'd say
― Bees Against Racism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 16:39 (eleven years ago) link
Esp. the 2nd side