The Infotainment Scan

Clangy

Pongan menos pinche Elton John y más The Fall. Por el amor de dios.

Discazo. Favs: "Lost in Music", "Past Gone Mad", "Why Are People Grudgeful?". 10/10

nah, gave up

I can see that this album polarises people, but I loved it.

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.

Not a fan of this at all. Its the speaking-music type style. Not always a bad thing but I just didnt feel it with this one

Very much like early Stranglers. Some good riffs and rhythms going on under Mark E Smith's eccentric nonsense vocal delivery. Apparently they were John Peel's favourite band. Better than most of this week's drivel, though not really my cup of tea.

Wow for a band to have their 15th (!) album in the top 1001 albums either some of their other stuff juuuust missed out or it wasn't that good to begin with. The Fall's 'The Infotainment Scan' is reminiscent of early to mid 90s alt rock with house/dance undertones throughout. It has a very abrupt, poetry style to the lyrical content of the album. Overall an ok listen. Best: Ladybird (Green Grass) Worst: Light/Fireworks 2.5 Stars NOTE: Spotify had the double disc version of the album. I only listened to the first disc as it would have been released on CD at the time.

I'm still struggling with the Fall a bit, its still a barrier for me BUT this I did enjoy. Was a lot more fun and jangly that previous more grungy punk ones. Apparently their only top 10 album

I've never managed to get into the Fall. It's not that I don't like, I just don't see what the fuss is about. Mostly sounded the same to me. Also, Mark E. Smith seemed like a twat and was really horrible to Adam and Joe when he was on the Adam and Joe Show.

No coherence, this seems to be a running trend in most of the albums I don't like. They tend to be less albums and more strings of songs.

Super album

Ok not gonna lie -- this was another TOUGH one for me. I am sure they were influential and have a unique sound, but to me it sounded like a far worse, more repetitive version of like the Talking Heads (which I like). Not a keeper for me. Looking forward to the next.

This is some pretty good post punk. Love the beat throughout, not surprised to see "alternative dance" listed as one of the genres. Is Mark E. Smith talking/singing - yes! But seems to go good with the music to me. I was entertained. 3.6

I wonder if they have more Fall albums in the 1001, this wouldn't be my first choice. Not my favourite version of The Fall, some great moments though, and listening The Fall is always good and better than listening to most other things I guess this is a pretty accessible version of The Fall

прослушал половину. постпанк. музыка ничего, интересно аранжирована, состав инструментов, эффекты, но вокал отстой полный...дослушал до конца, не так уж плохо

Well, I really don't like this guy's voice.

Band was alright. Hate the genre title though. Post-punk implies punk is dead. Not to me dammit haha

Great fun, really interesting and I would definitely revisit.

A good album let down by a couple of low light tracks. Still love Mark E Smith though because he's a maniac

Lots to like on here - not many bands sound anything like the fall and that’s to be applauded

Hard to be objective about this album -- first record by The Fall that I encountered and I f***ing love it.

I've been using this site to listen to an album a day for a month or two now and have never written a review until now. I'm motivated to do so here because of how negatively skewed it seems like reviews of this album are. I'd heard of The Fall before this but never bothered to try listening to them. I assumed they were like an Echo and the Bunnymen or Police situation -- pretty straight-forward guitar rock but lumped into more unique company because of their time period. This album was a surprise and after reading more, I'm excited to hear other albums from their decades of activity. The best of this sounds more like Can or Suicide or VU than I would have guessed. It's not mainstream rock masquerading as art. It's more like art in a rock and roll coat. They also remind me of other niche-90s acts like Lungfish, Dave Fridman era Mercury Rev, and other "talky-singer" bands but the fact that the Fall has decades of catalog interests me a LOT Granted, some tracks (A Past Gone Mad) are dated "madchester" sounding relics, but I'm guessing those tracks were their concession to the times. Overall there's some timeless stuff here. Standouts for me: It's a Curse League of Bald Headed Men I'm not rating 5 because it's not a GREAT or PERFECT album but I'm rating 4 because it's surprisingly good and wayy better than I would have guessed.

One of my favorite works from The Fall. Really creative and appealing, with a sound that I love.

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.

Don't care for it. I feel like other bands do it better. The music is nice, but I'm probably never listening to this again.

Well well well... I thoroughly enjoyed the music and the vocals. Pity Smith didn't do more accessible Fall albums. I will listen to this again. Not quite 4 out of 5.

I can see how this is important, but I didn’t like it

Light / Fireworks is good, the rest sounds like normal The Fall...

Anyone in the possession of at least one partially functioning ear knows that the two greatest Fall albums are the the first one you heard and the last one you listened to. This is a truly great album and anyone who says otherwise is a cloth-eared fool.

Interesting.

the guy sounds really bored singing or whatever poetry hes talking about and thats a mood

Screams to be bumped off the list for something more deserving. Some of it's decent, like Glam-Racket and I'm Going To Spain. The album does get somewhat better as it goes along. I can't help but think I'd have a more favorable opinion with a different vocalist. Maybe it'll improve on repeat listens, but I currently have no desire to listen to it again. Actual rating is 2.5.

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.

Most accessible of The Fall albums. I like the instruments and music direction, but geesh those vocals hurt. Every damn song. Almost ruins the experience but it does remind me of shoegaze vocals (only clearer) so I can bear through it.

Not my style of music

idgi

Has a vibe, but very weird overall. Every track is mostly repetitive (sometimes spoken) vocals with uninteresting riffs in the background. I typically like early punk but I wasn’t a fan of this album.

Kinda grunge Brit pop, just ok

I have to say, the style is a tough reach for me. I see it, I can understand it, but it doesn't touch me. That said, a coworker of mine is HUGELY nostalgic for The Fall, and this album in particular, so I have to give them major credit for being so influential.

Kind of strange rock and roll. A little talky and not very singy. Not a huge fan.

This album was alright. I've heard a bunch of the Fall before and while I like Mark E. Smith's vocal style most of this album doesn't do that much for me. But it's not bad either. Would probably do 2.5 but I'll round it up to 3.

Not my cup of tea

This was a bit of a surprise to me, actually quite enjoyable! Eclectic mix of music from guitar stuff to slightly dancey kind of tunes! Won’t be for everyone, but definitely worth a listen! I’ll probably get this for the collection

English post punk. Pretty good. The instrumentals are fr fr amazing throughout. The instrumentals get an easy 8.5/10 for me. HOWEVER, add the lead “singer” and it’s a 4/10. The rest of this post is just going to be a rant because of this guy. The lead singer really just pisses me off. The dude’s voice and stupid fake accent was charming for the first track but quickly becomes a gimmick that is hard to ignore. It’s a damn shame because the actual music is soooo good but you can’t hear it because the dude is just talking shit over it the whole time. Like not even singing. Just talking shit. I’m Going to Spain and It’s a Curse are examples of this travesty. Like bro just stfu. Actually it’s just the whole album. He doesn’t shut up. Just sing man, your voice isn’t that bad. So unfortunate man.

Seems these guys are a shadow of the punk genre...not very good

Boring and repetitive though has some nice elements

A few good tracks, although I have taken off a star after learning they are covers! Not sure it was the best introduction to the Fall, if such thing exists.

Mark E Smith is a legend. I like the mix of classic Fall sounds and dance music. The sneering lyrics and dark atmosphere were amazing.

Pretty Eh.

A fun and sexy time

This was something for sure

This one was also pretty weird and just pretty uncomfortable to listen to. There were some interesting parts and parts I liked, such as the guitars on Paranoia Man. But on the whole, I was glad when it was over.

Imagine a very tasty cake, made by a very nice baker. But when the baker went to decorate it, she accidentally grabbed a tube of toothpaste instead of decorative frosting. Mark E Smith is that toothpaste. Not even Colgate, he’s a crest motherfucker. I almost gave this a 3, because the rest of what the band puts in is really tasty, but at the end of the day I don’t want toothpaste in every bite of cake.

One of my favorite bands. They have such an extensive catalog i had not previously listened to this one and i loved it!

Enjoyed the first half of this especially, it got a little grating near the end: in particular I wasn't always a fan of the vocal style. Shoutout to the Sister sledge cover

Some good songs but his voice can grate on me. Favorite songs were Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Hotel Room, The League of Bald Headed Men and Why Are People Grudgeful. All of those tracks are great, but for every one of those theres a "Light/Fireworks" type track thats just annoying.

Want the sound of a drunk playing a bass shouting in a dustbin? You've got it. Not as bad as it sounds. BT: Ladybird (Green Grass), Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room, The League of Bald-Headed Men

I just listened to this as background music while distracted. Generally speaking I wasn't a big fan.

Only listened to a few songs, it was okay.

Wierd, not really good wierd.

This was fine but unexciting to me

Didn’t enjoy this one bit. 1/5

To begin with found this a little all over the place but as the album progresses- I think i'm starting to get it. 2nd time through its making more sense and is actually quite interesting if not my usual thing. Enjoyable without being something i'll rush back to. 3/5

meh

This '93 release is much more melodic & accessible than their '79 release, without actually being very accessible. I was suprised to see Nile Rogers name on the song credits. Lots of catchy tracks that grow on you by the 2nd or 3rd listen. I gave their debut a 3, which was actually a 2.5. I'll give this a 3 as well, but it's more like a 3.5.

Significantly more listenable than Live at the Witch Trials, with a few experimental songs that were quite enjoyable. Overall good album.

A bit difficult to understand, but typical of brit pop back in the day. Also a bit too experimental in some places.

Did I think it was good? Yes Did I like it? No. Its hard to separate personal bias when rating an album but I'm trying. I give it a 3 for these reasons

Interesting experimental stuff. 5/10

like cake but without horns and they're british

what?

sometimes interesting instrumentals, but I personally can’t stand the singer

The music is actually well done and I've definitely gotten into the groove on It's A Curse and Glam-Racket. Unfortunately i really don't like the lead singers mumble-talk delivery on these tracks. Not really that enjoyable.

The only thing that saved this from a 1 star was the instruments

Meh

This album is described as their most accessible in the Wikipedia. It’s pretty odd almost like beat poetry. It was interesting to listen to. I do love the electro style and the guitar work but I probably won’t delve further into their less accessible stuff

Some nice sounds

This album sucked. I think the Wikipedia article summarized the vocals the best: "one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn"

Eh

Weird stuff, couldn't get into it at all.

The Fall. NIE gehört. Ansage nach Lesen von Band- und Album-Info auf Wikipedia: bin ergebnisoffen, glaube aber, dass ich es scheiße finden werde. Uuuund: ich finde es zum kotzen. Das kann doch mit DEM Gesang keiner ernsthaft produzieren. An welcher Stelle hat da die Selbstkritik ausgesetzt? (Im Übrigen: wie unmusikalisch ist das 'panel‘ von Musikkritikern, das diese Anthologie erstellt hat, dass es DIESES Album für würdig befindet, darin aufgenommen zu werden?) Stellenweise ist sind die Stücke ja ganz nett arrangiert, das täuscht aber zu keinem Zeitpunkt über die uninspirierten Kompositionen hinweg. Ich MUSSTE nach dem 5. Song ausmachen, nie wieder The Fall. Am liebsten kein Stern.

Day 29 of Albums You Must Hear... The Fall is an English post-punk rock band that was impressively active from the late 70’s up until a couple of years ago. I have never heard of them, and to my knowledge, I’ve never heard any of their songs. (They have released over thirty recorded albums). The album from The Fall that I received today is titled The Infotainment. While listening to this band, I really enjoyed the music, however, I really disliked the singer, Mark E. Smith’s vocal style. The half speaking, half singing style seemed very dated for 1993. Smith also has a trait of ending most of his words with an overly used annunciation of “ah”.. Here’s an example, on the song It’s a Curse, a song with a nice and heavy guitar riff, Smith sings/says “Cracked-ah, curse-ah, disliked-ah...” his use of “ah” after nearly every word started to really grate on my nerves and it’s done on seemingly every song. The opening track, Ladybird (Green Grass) has a super funky bass line and riff and is probably my favorite song on this album, and while he is singing a bit more than speaking, Smith’s style just takes me out of it, like the rest of the album. Being that vocalist and founder of the band Mark E. Smith is the only constant member of The Fall over the years that saw many line up changes, I could see why no one really stood up to suggest that maybe he try changing his style to match the times. It’s a shame because the musicians really jammed out on this album but their flame-ah to me-ah was-ah smothered-ah by-ah Smith-ah. Next album please!! Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!

not the best

no more The Fall.. dear god.. ick

The vocalist sounds kinda drunk. I like the instrumentation, but not the singer as much.

feels dated, very 90s. i dont think this aged very well, or is remarkable in any way.

3.25. I like the sound and I listened to it multiple times now, but I keep forgetting what the sound is. It's hard to explain... I like listening to this album, but the songs don't stick with me.

7,5/10

Might check their other stuff out some time

There is zero chance that I'll remember anything about this album once I've listened to everything on this list. It's a guy mumbling over some generic early 90s post-punk. A waste of time. Best track: Glam-Racket

Awful. DNF. 0 stars.

Wasn't sure what to expect, since I confused The Fall with The Cure before queuing up the album. An interesting mix of sounds. Took me a while to settle into the groove, but when I did I got a distinct dance sensibility (New Order-y kinda?, though I'm not well-versed in their discography either) and obvious similarities to Protomartyr. Didn't quite gel, and my preference for Protomartyr probably says more about me than The Fall. That said, this is apparently one of their more mainstream projects, so I should circle back around and listen to something weirder in the future.

Very eccentric brit pop rock, unique but ultimately unsatisfying

Marmite band…. And I love them. This is a fantastic album! Full of dry wit and oddball lyrics.

Every Fall album is different. Every Fall album is the same.