On to 1982, and an album that completely passed me by at the time. As previously mentioned, I knew of The Fall, knew the singles but I wouldn't 'get' The Fall for another decade. This is a CD I have two copies of - the double expanded version, and the original version rescued for a quid from a charity shop a couple of years ago. And no, I'm not getting rid of one.
It's straight in your face with The Classical - "hey there, fuckface". Would I forgive the "obligatory niggers" line from anyone else? Let's be charitable and judge Mark E Smith on the whole, not one forty year old lyric. The Jawbone And The Air Rifle has the band at their finest - musically tight, backing Smith's storytelling. Hip Priest is one of my favourite Fall songs (today!). Smith's falsetto over Paul Hanley's drums, before gradually the band come in, Steve Hanley's bass leading the line, while Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon's sparse guitar create the atmosphere for the tale told. It's the ups and downs, the manic thrashes which punctuate the bare sections, which make this the epic it is. Truly 'not appreciated'. Fortress / Deer Park starts off with a driving guitar led beat, which gets more frantic as the Deer Park section starts, the bass driving the sound for Smith to rant over. After which, the quiet of Winter, with a single bass note and occasional cymbal leading Smith, until the rest of the band pile in, while Smith regails us with the tale of 'the mad kid', punctuated as it is by the need to turn to LP over. Just Step S'ways whizzes by, the repeated bass/guitar/voice melody hitting the listener like a hammer, then into the sparse yet harsh Who Makes The Nazis, and it's that chiming Hanley (S) bass driving everything again. Iceland (where half of this album was recorded) feels cold and bare, Smith's description of the nation over a subtle bass line, with occasional electronic pops (and Riley on banjo!) And finally it's And This Day, back in your face, no prisoners taken, a ten minute thrash (which allegedly could extend past half an hour if Smith was cross with the audience) that sits atop this fine album.
At times in the future, The Fall would produce many moments to match the songs presented here, but it's debatable whether they ever put them all together in one place quite like this.
5* - an absolute triumph. Many people's definitive line up of The Fall captured at their best.
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