The Infotainment Scan

Not sure this actually classifies as music.

I feel like they had potential but squandered it. Don't like 'vocalists' who talk rather than sing and that's mainly what they do. Wouldn't recommend.

Not enough melodies

418/1089 - Great, drunken talk-singing over a mediocre instrumental that does nothing for an hour.

Not my favorite rock album.

This is my first time listening to an album by The Fall. I'm not really enjoying this. Or maybe I should say: "I'm not really enjoying this-uh." Why is the vocalist like this? Make it stop.

mark e. smith's voice annoys me in this one

1. lady - 1 2. muzic - 1 3. glam - 1 4. Spain - 0 5. Curse - 0 6. Man - 0 7. Service - 0 8. Bald - 1 9. Mad - 0 10. Light - 0 11. People - 1 12. Moon - 1

junk

bad

Yeahhhh this is one of those where I just don’t see why it makes this list of 1001 albums…I just don’t see it.

Can't find it, but don't care enough to go looking. Based on this lists track record, other user reviews, and subgenre I know exactly how this would sound

Starting to believe this generator, two months in is just trolling me because there's no way these terrible albums are in this.

First album I did not finish. Not my vibe

Is it ragebait to listen to less than half the album and then hand out ones? LOL!

🤷‍♂️.. kann nicht viel damit anfangen

Sometimes something really gets under your skin and you can't tell why you really hate it.

i’m shocked but not in a good way. A couple songs left me speechless because of how bad they were.

Failed gimmick

Musically OK although a little repetive at times with chords repeated seemingly ad infinitum. I know it's their style, but I just don't like the almost monotonal, slurred vocals.

was not vibing with any

I could have made a better album using samples from drunk karaoke singers and recording need for speed background music.

Easily one of the worst albums I’ve ever listened to. Why they thought it would be a good idea to add lyrics to the already monotonous tones I had the displeasure of experiencing I may never know. Hope I never have to listen to this ever again, especially fireworks, you suck.

I can't stand this band!

What a collection of interesting music absolutely dogshitley ruined by some mumbling.

Did not finish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiduNJG-Ltk Only Frank could truly hit the north.

Seems like the singer just randomly and incoherently blurts shit out, just terrible. Great there’s two more albums to look forward to from them on the list.

Not my cup of tea

I'ma be so honest, this album when compared to all these others is dog water. Like sure its good club music or like house / EDM for mixing but it is honest and truly so musically meh and they are just saying some shit like bro be so fr this album is not making anyones desert island list.

After getting their debut album, we now jump all the way to The Fall's FIFTEENTH album. Did post-punk survive the 90's? A resounding no. I could've listened to this at release and told you that it sounded dated even back then. The band itself sounds fine enough, but Mark E. Smith's vocals just drag everything down I'm afraid. I tried, but couldn't find anything redeeming here.

Like the music the talk singing was a little too much the songs all kind of blended together as well. Reminded me of the Stranglers but less catchy

During my listening of it i realized i had already listened to it but forgot to review it… shows how unremarkable it was

The vocals sucked and I couldn't get into the instrumentals.

Like a toothache, but in your ear. It’s confused and disjointed, without confused disjointedness being a natural center to their identity.

Not my cup of tea. Every song sounds similar, the singer didn’t have strong vocals. Lyrics didn’t blow me away.

not my deal

I picked through this album and didn’t find anything really to like. No favorites.

Please be serious.

Fun but it’s given “but dad I want to go to fashion school”

The band just needs someone who can sing. Not this talentless idiot.

This album is on here?? Not their best at all, Hex Enduction a masterpiece. Why is this here there’s probably so many albums that should take its place.

Some interesting moments musically but those vocals… I use that term generously … the lack of talent makes this hard to listen to. Certainly not a must listen to album.

I can't work out if this album is taking the piss or it really is this bad - it's not one of those albums that is so bad, it's great. I totally agree with Kenny Everett's assessment of "I'm Going to Spain" being one of the worst songs ever - I wish that they'd gone to Spain and never made this album. And how they can say that the riff in "The League of Bald-Headed Men" isn't a rip-off of Led Zeppelin is beyond me.

I regret this entire 45 minutes.

It's a no for me dawg. Too much talk singing.

Wow, the vocals on this make it almost unlistenable. Whatever musical ideas are here get buried under a delivery that's closer to nails-on-a-chalkboard.

I thought this album was kind of lame. I'm sure he is pushing the envelope or whatever but it just isn't my thing. I don't really like the lyrical style, but the music isn't terrible. Overall I don't care to listen to it again.

Very bad. Barely listeneable with the annyoing and hobad lyrics and delivery. Instrumentals were mediocre. Light 2

1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die [in random order]: 17: THE FALL: The Infotainment Scan (1993) I've tried to get into The Fall a few times, but Mark E. Smith's bored and uninspiring rambling [because its no singing] has always proven to be a key deterrence. Unfortunately, the band's 1993 effort, 'The Infotainment Scan', is no exception. Interestingly, The Fall is often heralded as one of the most important bands to hail from Manchester in the United Kingdom, often uttered in the same breath as Oasis, The Smiths, Joy Division/New Order and The Stone Roses, and their sound has plenty of that tasty post-punk edge synonymous with many of their contemporaries. But I just can't do Mark E. Smith's vocals. The lack of melody and flair offered by his vocals brings the entire album down. Melody isn't always necessary, bands such as Sonic Youth and Talking Heads were famous for eschewing traditional melody but were still able to make their songs memorable. The Fall just can't do it for me, and 'The Infotainment Scan', not unlike 'This Nation's Saving Grace' (considered their best album), is simply 40 minutes of nonchalant rambling over the top of admittedly solid musicianship. What this band could've been with a better singer. 🌕🌗🌑🌑🌑

a few decent tracks, but mostly a lot of things i wouldnt really want to hear again. i was fascinated though by how this album progressed. from like a proto-punk to a club remix of a song. it was odd. 1.5 stars, but ill drop it to one because ill never go back to it

Already forgotten

shit

Mark E. Smith has always fancied himself a curmudgeonly prophet barking through a pub PA, but this time the sermon collapses under its own sneer. His band clatters around with their usual clang-and-drone—discordant, unyielding, and, yes, very Fall—but the detachment is terminal. "Glam-Racket" struts a little, sure, and "Why Are People Grudgeful?" scampers like vintage post-punk on a sugar crash, but by the time we get to Smith croaking through "I'm Going to Spain" like a karaoke dare gone sideways, the shtick's grown thin. "Light/Fireworks"? More like anti-music dadaism for its own sake. Even by their standards, this one's a hard slog. Fans will call it uncompromising. The rest of us might settle for unlistenable.

Subjectively bad. Repetitive, grating and challenging for me to listen to. I'm sure this is just me, but gah!

HOOOORRRRRRIIIIBBBBLLLEEEEEEEEE

Best Song: None. Worst Song: Light/Fireworks. This one is somehow the least "song" of all of these barely songs. Overall: Who likes this? The band is playing utterly ordinary jam music, while this guy just speaks over top of it. And, he neither speaks with even an ounce of musicality, nor does he seem to make any effort to articulate well enough that you can actually understand what he's saying. I doubt that he has much meaningful to say.

This stinks. Not my bag. outta here.

Obnoxious borderline non-music. If you like this you’re lying.

Wasn’t able to finish. Not really my style

trash. nothing particularly worth listening to

To be fair I’m only a bit over 100 albums into this list but as of now this album has without a doubt the worst vocals. Can’t say much about the instruments because this guys voice is so distractingly horrible.

Kind of has the vibe of the Velvet Underground if they were a few decades later and electronic. This is not a compliment. The first couple songs weren’t great, but tolerable. Glam Racket on was just awful.

Could have been a better score if it wasn’t for the vocals, awful

British

I couldn't digest this, so I throw up.

so close! maybe try singing now and then during the songs. hope this helps!

Grating

I tried, but no. I really did try. Maybe I can try again later some time...

What on Earth was this

I couldn't get through this, this might be the worst album I've pulled yet.

you don't need to listen to this before you die

This album made me reconsider Post Punk as a whole, as well as killed my enjoyment of a lot of other bands. Because this sucked. Mark E Smith is a pretentious cunt and the vast majority of the music on this couldn't save his horrendous vocal delivery. It kills me that I could hear so many bands I love in this album and rather than like the album I instead questioned my love for other bands. I will give it this, some of the production choices I liked. That was about it. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't like a lot of it and as an album it really fell flat for me. Favourites - I'm Going to Spain Least Favourites - Lost in Music, Glam-Racket, It's a Curse, The League of Bald-Headed Men, Past Gone Mad, Light / Fireworks

This is, by fad, the worst album I have ever endured. Very little going on musically, and what little there is - is so buried in the mix that it’s a strain to even make it out. Non-sensical rambling lyrics delivered in the most uninterested, lazy, sloppy manor that if I heard someone talk like this in real life I’d want to physically hurt them to make it stop. If that was what these cunts were going for, bravo. You’ve made something so purposefully shit that it lives in an incredibly fine margin - not ‘so shit that it’s good/funny’, but genuinely, puuuuuure, irredeemable dogshit. Fuck off. Ladybird (Green Grass) (3/10) Lost in Music (2/10) Glam-Racket (1/10) I’m Going to Spain (3/10) It’s a Curse (1/10) Paranoia Man in Cheap Sh*t Room (1/10) Service (2/10) The League of Bald-Headed Men (2/10) A Past Gone Mad (1/10) Light/Fireworks (0/10) 1.6/10

If it were instrumental it could be a 4

Yikes.

Thought that voice sounded familiar, and it was. Second album featuring Mark E. Smith on this list. Interesting choice. Must say this was off to a better start than the last one with more electronic vibes. But the more I listened to it the more annoyed I got. When I realized Mark finishes ever sentence with ”-ze” or ”-ah”, there was no way to unhear it. So the frustration built up gradually until I couldn’t bear listening to him anymore. Of course he has his own style, which is admirable. And reading about him on Wikipedia he definitely seemed like an interesting character. But I just can’t stand listening to this. Strong 1 for me due to Mr. Smith. Without vocals it might have been something between a 2 and 3.

Bleh not my thing

The singer sounds like he is plugging his nose. It's like these guys wrote some underdeveloped 80s tunes and got "a buddy they know" to come in and sing for them. I really think the singer gave 30% effort and only one take. I can forgive bad singing when there is good musicianship/ composition/ etc. but when you layer crap on top of crap you end up with...

A mildly interesting sound. The formula starts to get depressing around song 4. By the end I didn't want to hear anything by the Fall ever again. Which is too bad, because their earlier stuff was at least relevant.

Singer sings out of tune

Some of the worst shit I’ve ever heard. Dude can’t sing to save his life. He just talks the words, not even in key. Absolute trash.

Shit

Make it stop

There is awful, then the next level down. Which is where this belongs.

Sounds like some Eugene music. I'm not cool enough

Still, after the third The Fall album on this list, I can't fathom the singer's voice. Worse, what they've done to Lost In Music is an abomination.

Punk, Chaos, Rock, 1993 -> 1

That was whack

What the fuck is this?

Never heard of The Fall despite them claiming to be "prolific and innovative" which I found them to be neither. The flat delivery of the lyrics and the backing tracks themselves sounded very dated (even for the 90's). There's a few decent basslines and riffs but not enough to overcome the spoken word complaining. I didn't really like anything on this album and don't need to explore more. 1.15 is the highest I can go for the drunk, hypnotized cynic.

I hate this

Really annoying music. All sound the same, The singer can't sing or purposefully sings off-tune.

Crap

Mein Gott ist das ein beschissenes Album. Macht den Leuten von Radiohead starke Konkurrenz. Nichts passt zusammen, die Musik, der Gesang, es klingt wie hingekotzt und hingeschissen - 1 Stern, wech mit die Viecher

Mein erster 1-Stern. Was für eine unschöne Stimme. Songs der Playlist hinzugefügt: Keine

Just a bunch of musical rambling, pretty pointless and uninteresting

Kinda boring, not gonna lie.

After a run of dog-shite albums I had two 5-stars in a row, and then I got served up this monstrosity. Absolute garbage. I wanted to turn it off half-way through the first track but was intrigued about the cover of 'Lost In Music' so stuck it out. Fuck me, they butchered that song. I skipped to the next track for one last chance, and it was the worst of the three sofar. I had no hesitation to stop listening. The singers voice is horrific, just really grates on you, and doesn't complement the music in anyway. The music is pretty poor to start with.

Imagine if Bob Dylan was English, and decided to do post punk music in the 90s… That’s what this travesty is. Monotone singing with no personality that sounds the same with drawn out syllables that just exist to annoy the shit out of me. It’s sad because the music behind the singing isn’t bad, but wasn’t enough to keep me from stopping 3 tracks in.

I could almost give this 2 for the lads playing the music in the background, but fuck me the vocals are just too annoying. It started to feel torturous after 2.30 into every song - I knew what was coming next and the anticipation became almost as painful as the delivery. Hopefully that’s my 3rd and final Fall album done.

The way this guy moans after every single line is infuriating. He's gotta be like what if I had a cool band, but gave zero effort on the vocals. Rough. And then the last few tracks were just total trash to listen to

1 song was enough. After that it was annoying. Happy it’s done. Thank you. Drive through.

Hard pass. That voice is like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.

Mid musicians/music and subpar vocals/singing

This. Is. Terrible. This entire album sounds like the Festrunk Brothers from SNL speaking over music that, on occasion, sounds intentional.

What in the actual hell did I listen to. The instrumentals actually sounded like these could be good songs but it just sounds like drunk rambling over them, ruining each song. I do not understand this at all.

Found this a bit erratic... just not my style

Forgettable, weak vocals, trying to be edgy

This is my second album by the Fall, a band I’d never heard of before, in as many weeks. I’m left wondering how they got not one, but two albums on this list. I’m desperately hoping there’s not a third. In all seriousness, the music is quite good, maybe great? The vocals, however, are some of the worst vocals I’ve ever heard. I loathe this guy’s approach to singing.

dear lord i had to skip this album on the second song, if i hear one more word slur out of this guys mouth i will end it NNN

Comparing his vocal skills to bob Dylan would be an insult to bob dylan

Meh

This album was quite boring and dragged on too long

Their "most accessible album", huh? I sure hope that's a euphemism for bland and soulless because this is totale Scheiße. Dated post punk art rock schtick - it's 1993, guys, where have you been? In its better moments, which there are not many of, I can hear faint hints of circa The Cure rocking it out on a Madchester rave, but the second bit of this comparison is already not a compliment. And 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 come the vocals. "Of the 66 musicians who came and went over the band's 40-year existence, about one third played in the band for less than a year." I feel you, 66 musicians. I feel you.

Yikes. One second in and I already knew it was gonna be a long one. The monotone voice is something that immediately shuts me off and that’s exactly what happened. I felt like it was the only thing I could hear and it sounded as if a random person was picked from a crowd and forced to sing a song they only kind of knew. I didn’t like this at all.

...ooooo I LOVE an album that sounds like a poorly-recorded demo with a crappy sounding drum machine and direct guitars that a real producer could maybe have whipped into shape with some direction and imagination but instead they did a HARD pivot, went to their local dock with their tape recorder, and found the most-tweaked out piss-stained wastoid with his legs wrapped around a pole and said "we need you to sing the first words that come to your addled brain - now." -uh! no. 1/10 1 star

Sem conseguir decidir qual é a parte mais chata, os vocais ou as batidas.

I found this to be abrasive.

I tend to find music falls roughly into one of five categories: (1) music that I think everyone should hear -- objectively good and descendent from alien life forms to be reserved. (2) music that I enjoy and think you should enjoy, but ultimately I understand if you don't. (3) music that I think is bad, but understand why others might enjoy it. (4) music for which I don't have enough context to enjoy and think that perhaps it could be good if I started from another position. And then there is (5) -- where this album falls -- objectively bad music for which I cannot understand anyone justifying its existence. (also looking at you Pitbull) This album was a strain and I found nothing at all redeeming. Listened while mowing the lawn and made the experience all the more awful. Maybe it isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, but it certainly wasn't worth a listen for me. I remember nothing specific that I hated other than the hate itself. So for that 1 / 5

pass

I’m sorry, but no. The songs felt like the fake songs in the movie Ishtar but I liked those more because I could see the passion in their eyes because it was a movie.

Oh my. This is not for me, either. I can't stand talk-singers.

Like............ I don't get it.

Boring, genre stereotypical music. Shite lyrics. Shite vocals. No interest in listening to any of the tracks again. Lone star.

Loud. Weird. Did not enjoy.

Not good

sure was nice of the studio to let a retarded person sing in a band

Drunk guy forms a band and they play over his rants...

cannot say i enjoyed this

How can anybody listen to this? That voice is absolutely fucking awful. Hard, HARD pass.

Very good mate of mine absolutely LOVES The Fall. Thinks Mark E. Smith is an absolute genius and saw them live dozens if not hundreds of times. On the other hand, I can't stand his drone and think he's a tedious old windbag.

Oh my god. This crap makes the cut but Weezer’s Blue album doesn’t??? I can’t with this shit today.

Do you want to listen to a restaurant expeditor call out orders while electronica drones in the background? This is for you?

Not my vibe

I made it through 2 songs and couldn’t proceed on. The “singing” took me right out of it. Perhaps if it were an instrumental I would have liked it.

I never liked The Fall. I still don’t like The Fall. Pretentious posturing fronting a decent band.

This sounds like a geeky college dork found the soundtrack for a bad 80s action-comedy with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ralph Macchio and made up words for it and recorded his voice over it in his closet. He doesn’t have a shred of talent, and is super pissed at the world for not recognizing his genius.

Me and the chaps used to discuss Metallica and specifically James Hetfield’s “mmm yeah” at the end of the occasional phrase. The affectation is there, more so in the black album and beyond…MMM YEAH! Mark E. Smith also has an affectation. He adds “uh” at the end of almost every single phrase. And he can’t annunciate for shite. He says “ITS A COARSE UH.” C-U-R-S-E you tw@! UH…UH…UH!!! Everywhere an UH UH!! This album sounds like a scene labeled bad karaoke in a B film script. Bloody awful.

No he podido con ello

I was excited to listen to this one after liking the other Fall record I listened to on this list. Big difference in sound. One was post punk - this one was 90s British rave. Not my cuppa.

Yipes, I genuinely hated this. Angsty bullshit just does not hold up well, and early '90s rock almost always lands with a thud for me.

Can I give this a negative score?

Terrible

I’ve been pretty tolerant up until this point, but here’s one album I gave up on after 3 songs. The “singer” just drolls on without any actually singing, and uses constant reverb. I was hoping the first song was a “one off”… but no. And aside from the occasional 60’s album thrown into the mix, I’m seeing a trend of weird, 90’s music. Hoping for some different genres.

Just not my vibe

1.5 I have a feeling there’s something I’m supposed to “get” about this, but I’m definitely not getting it. Many cool instrumental parts but also a lot of weird sections. More importantly, this guy’s voice and delivery are brutal. Feels like endless samples of Christopher Walken talking.

Not my favorite. It was more of a spoken word album, very odd.

Un album che NON ti fa venire voglia di approfondire il gruppo

service sounds like cam fucking about on his keyboard

not my thing

This album has potential, why don't they just fire the singer? What a trainwreck. The rest of the band is out here making great music and then the lead singer sounds like a drunken fool. Debating between 1 and 2 stars, I'm going to give it 1 star because I was consistently annoyed while listening to the album and I never want to listen to it again. Missed potential for sure. 1.5.

This was a really hard listen. Very underwhelming. The vocals are awful. The music is good but not extraordinary in any way. A second listening was slightly better but the vibe is a lazy experiment probably fuelled by drugs that made it seem better than it is. The only plus was that I went on to listen to Why Are people Grudgefull, which is better than anything on this album.

Best songs on this album are covers, and they aren't really that great of a cover band. I'd give it a half-star if possible.

did not finish

Aivan jouto-osastoa

Half the time went off in trying to figure out what he is trying to say with the weird squealing in a husky voice

Ok

Nope

Talking to a repetitive beat

Meh

I hated this so much that I could only struggle through 5 songs before turning it off. I absolutely hate the lazy don’t care to put any emotion into my voice “singing” that was offered here. The music itself was bland and unexciting. This was so awful that it could only be ranked a 1.

Why is he constantly slurring his words? Is he drunk? This record is not good in the slightest, I am not even going to pretend I enjoyed a single moment from this record let alone an actual entire song. There is no depth, I might have enjoyed one song if the singer did not drunkenly rant over the track. Even the art cover is dogshit. I hope I never think of this album again, its boring and it felt like it went on for 2 hours, yuck. I am probably being too harsh, but then again there was NOTHING redeeming about this project. Favourites: None

Not a fan of the vocals

Didn’t like it

Absolutely not

Jesus Christ, this album fuckin sucks. First time in a while where I started skipping tracks because it's just 4 minutes of the same 10 second loop. This is like listening to an album made by Kerouac.

I don't get it

Holy shit this is bad, it's a 1, his voice is fucking dreadful, the instrumentals were...fine I guess but his voice is so obnoxious it removes any positive I can give about it

vittu jakas enään EN JAKSA ENÄÄÄ! !!! T ÄTÄ TÄMMÖSTÄ !!!!!!!!!!!! MITÄ VITUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII УШ УТЭЭТ УШ УТЭЭТ УШ УТЭЭТhups, hold up its coming back... its bringing it back...ehkä kakonen...ei oo light /fireworks

This shit sucks. How can someone be intelligible and yet so clear at the same time? This was a GRIND to get through. Not for me at all. NEXT

This just isn't for me. Took three attempts to get through this in its entirety. Post-punk seems to be a genre that continues to vex me - it seems like one I'd enjoy a lot more, but I only seem to like a fraction of the stuff I ever check out. I'll keep trying though. I recognize that Mark E. Smith and The Fall have been incredibly influential, but it does not spark joy for me.

I honestly don't understand why there is so many random British post punk albums from unknown bands on this list. I get that the original punk movement was revolutionary, so I understand placement of records from that era in here. And then maybe one or two representatives of post punk genre and we're clear! But no, we have to include every single band in the history from UK that played in 80s. I have nothing against The Fall, (other than a fact I absolutely hated this album), but it just doesn't make sense to include it on the list of greatest albums of all time.

Eh, not my taste. This did nothing for me.

Didn't like this at all.

I'm craving malt vinegar...

DNF

I didn’t need to hear this

bad. sounds like bob dylan. i couldn't listen

This album was a struggle to listen to. For starters with the lyrics just are not good and the singing is bad. The music itself is inconsistent and all over the place. At times it sounded like indie music. Others house music. The common theme -- annoying. I was not familiar with the band and thought it was some obscure 90s band. Turns out they started in '76. Nonetheless, I still cannot name one of their songs. Skip it.

Listened to on 4/14/22 1/4 Favorite song: No I didn’t like anything about this album besides the covers which still weren’t as good as the original

This is technically music, I guess

Wikipedia says this it their 15th album. Who keeps funding them?

Nope

Did not like

Cannot get into this at all, I find the voice annoying and listening to it gets me really down. Painful experience to be honest. Not a fan at all. I got really upset by the depressing version of Lost in Music in particular, really obsessed with the original which is ICONIC and found this be completely not in the spirit of it. Can see why some people would think it's cool though.

It's just a bunch of loops with some "say-singing" over it. There's not much depth to it. The lyrics have some value, but if you're going to just say all of the words, go do slam poetry instead of throwing mediocre music over it. At least then I'd be able to understand it better.

I liked the music, but the lyrics on most tracks on the album reminds me of Zap Branigan singing or a Neil Breen script put to music. Why are people Grudgeful was probably my favorite song on the album, I liked the beat and the lyrics didn't overpower the song. I had to skip Light/Fireworks since the distortion on the lyrics was very painful to my ears.

Not my style of music

Not my cup of tea

Didn’t enjoy this one bit. 1/5

not the best