Reviews (page 4 of 8)
Headache.
Entirely forgettable.
Spotify; if you like Bob Dylan, you’ll like this album. Me: ok. Bob Dylan’s good. Proceeds to listen to yet another punk album. Of the 60 albums I’ve listened to, I think 25 have been punk. Pretty tired of it.
Early punk
Early punk
Yeah I really liked this. I like The Fall but I don’t listen so much. Glad to listen to this one. I’ll come back to it
Its crap.
People who like The Fall are loner alcoholics who think their drunk rambling is deep and profound. They want to be Mark E Smith - and they sort of are: pompous with a face like a wilting pumpkin. Just an observation. This album was bollocks.
Ahead of its time, but not particularly exciting in a modern context.
Would have given a 3, but this album is way too long.
I love some songs by The Fall, just not really any of these ones.
This is their most unhinged and hopped up work. The Fall are frequently categorized as "post-punk" but this is really as "punk" as anything. I mean, Industrial Estate alone crystallizes everything the punks were about - anger, misspent youth, anti-establishment, anti-authority, delivered with a mocking acserbic monotone, bored , nasty, repetetive. It's 2:01. Genius.
I can see why this is polarizing, but I dug it. Underground Medecin and Futures and Pasts added to Liked Songs.
English Punk. Never heard anything from this album before this listen. Album had great flow and intense energy. Two tracks that stood out were the opening Frightened and the final track Music Scene. Would be a good album to have knowledge of in certain settings... settings that I often don't find myself in.
It was OK, pretty similar to the previous two 'The Fall' albums. I do like the very unpolished delivery of the lyrics!
I enjoyed this, there were a few tracks I wasn’t as into, but on the whole The Fall has been a good (new to me) find through the challenge. I’m just a bit annoyed this is the third album we’ve had by them. I don’t think this album was wildly different from the last two, if I was writing the list I’d put a cap on entries by the same bands unless their style drastically changed.
I love this kind of stuff but have only gotten into it in the last few years. I feel like I've kind of missed out on a lot of real punk and post punk outside what everyone knows. It has a lot to say, its fun to listen to, it energizes you. What else do you need from music? It's not exactly complicated but that's not the point. I'll definitely be listening to some others of theirs after this one and that seems like the mark of a good album to me. I get that this is not a style of music meant to be for everyone. And that's totally fine. But why this music is more generally panned than pop country or hip hop I'll never know. 3.75/5 on this one.
This is #day402 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… time to cross another band off the list. This is my third and final album by The Fall, and fittingly, it's their debut. Raw, tight, and unmistakably late-'70s post-punk, with the drumming standing out almost as much as Mark E. Smith's ever-present snarl. And then there are those strange, computer-like keyboards. This is a strong 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day403.
J'ai beaucoup hésité entre 1 et 2/5 parce que j'ai vraiment pas passé un bon moment. Les instrus m'ont crispée de ouf, j'aime bien parfois les irrégularités de rythme dans des morceaux mais à ce point ça m'a juste tendue, et la voix du chanteur m'a vraiment agressée. Mais y'a quelques morceaux qui proposaient des trucs un peu plus variés et intéressant en terme d'instru (vaguement, genre Underground Médecin), et c'était pas toujours pareil donc on va arrondir à la note supérieure. Mais plus jamais pour moi.
C’est sympa ! Ça sent qu’ils ont inspiré plein d’autres groupes
J'ai pas vibé, malheureusement. J'ai trouvé l'album assez répétitif. 2/5
Lots of rolling, roiling drums and guitar. Less noisy than typical punk bands, but equally anti-establishment. I listened to a few of the live versions of tunes, and I liked them.
I think maybe I do not have the proper introduction into post-punk to appreciate this genre yet. I want to appreciate what's happening here but I feel I do not have the musical context to understand. Maybe something I need to revisit in the future.
There were some good tracks on here but overall, it hasn't held up to the more recent albums. I'm more mixed on this one.
Favorite tracks: Frightened, Rebellious Jukebox, Industrial Estate I enjoyed most of this album, but I don't know that it's something to write home about. The songs are fun but felt really repetitive, even for punk (or post punk? Someday I'll learn the difference). A+ work on "No Xmas for John Quays" though, I didn't realize what it was about until I googled who John Quays is
Okay I did not like it, then I liked it. It’s an acquired taste unless you are a disaffected working class youth. In which case just Fuck you! Lol
Well punk/post punk is not much my thing. I can see how influential it is (better than recent bands), but it was painful to go through the whole album. One review mentions that it's like listening to a drunk complain....yeah that's how I felt
A potential college hookup invites you to see a show. You think that sounds pretty hot, so you go. It’s The Fall doing Live at the Witch Trials. You leave early in the set, because he really isn’t hot enough for this. You’re going to start a band with some friends of friends. You ask one of the band mates “what are some of your influences?” He says The Fall. You realize that you don’t really want to start a punk band any more. If The Fall were really Live at the Witch Trials, the pilgrims and the witches would make peace and burn them instead, because Godlessness can be forgiven but this mediocrity cannot.
Hann hefur sungið skemmtilegar en tónlistin er nógu áhugaverð til þess að ég leyfi því að slæda. Skemmtilega hátt mixaður bassi líka.
Very forgettable but also with a poor mix that was a little painful to listen to at times.
Very much 70/80s punk. Props to them for the bands they inspired. This is not for me though. Was a ride but not an exciting one.
One of those albums that's just hard to take seriously. At least there were some moments of actually trying to make music, so I'll go Low 2 here.
Gotta say, the synths often feel like a peculiar tack on, but they don't take away from the experience. Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable punk record. Plenty of thick bass, punchy drums, and wandering guitars. Standouts for me were Frightened, the way Mother - Sister! comes together, and Two Steps Back. Also enjoyed the jamminess of the original closer: Music Scene. All around solid. Falls in the realm of low 4 for me.
Mother - Sister! had me tuned in. Otherwise there was more mid than good in this one. Higher side of 2, but certainly not a 3.
Pretty alright to start out but got very obnoxious to listen to as it went on. The singer was just really quite rubbish
Love hate relationship with this band from the first 2 albums we had. Interesting as this is their debut. I liked that first Fall album we had, but most of what I've heard after is rubbish to me. It's clear what gets me into them is the instrumentals. I still go back and listen to L.A. every once in awhile from This Nation's Saving Grace.
2.5 - Meh
When I was paying enough attention I enjoyed it, but those moments were few and if the album struggles to keep me engaged it can't be very good.
This is some pretty bad garage rock.
I'm so far behind in my list of albums that I'm listening to this in late October, which is quite fitting I guess (if the album title is any indication). Narrator: It wasn't really that fitting. This was more subdued than I was expecting out of a post-punk group. I was expecting some hard-hitting punk, not rants about drugs and god knows what. At least it's short in length, but things just didn't feel put-together here (at least compared to other punk music from this time).
More like 3 and half really. Not bad, but not super my thing.
Батя инди-рока и тви (на которого очень похожи Фонтэйнз ДИ СИ, вот мое внезапное осознание) тридцать минут режет. Лучшая песня - Rebellious Jukebox.
meh didnt like it that much
hm
With this band name and title, how are we in 1979? “The Fall” is absolutely some 2008 emo band that has shouted vocals and clean passages. The next question I have is will this actually be live? I can presume they aren’t doing a live set back in time at the Salem witch trials, but is it just a clever little quirky title for their deluxe set from meeting room B at the Holiday Inn Detroit? These are the questions that keep me momentarily interested while I procrastinate starting this endeavour once more. Only 736 more to go. Jesus Christ. Burning at the stake is sounding like a nice alternative here. Frightened - The Fall is frightened and I’m STOKED. Weird proto-punk spoken word music? I’m in heaven. Some of sort of weird autistic male heaven. I can smell the steam from the model locomotives. Crap Rap 2like to Blow - This reads like an old man on Facebook criticizing a black singer. Remember when racism had to at least have a small veil placed over it? Guy likes to blow apparently. Good for him. Rebellious Jukebox - Too much repetition here and I want this to be over. How the might have FALLen. Man. I’m a natural born comedian. No Xmas for John Quays - Yeah!! Fuck you John boy. Two fingers pal. The British way. This is a return to form. Hell yeah. Disclaimer. I do not know who John Quays is. Mother-Sister! - Quirky keyboard is back with fast punk beats. I’m a happy fella. Sufficiently odd and heavy for regular rotation. Industrial Estate - This is one of the more uninspired tracks on the record. Underground Medecin - I found a reason not to die. This fucking RIPS. Two Steps Back - Calm. Pensive Punks are having a field day with this one. Wait did he mention the cracker factory??? I wonder if he’s a big wheel down there. Did I just mention Big Wheel? Don’t get me started on that guy. Legend of the villain game. Live at the Witch Trials - Oh hell yeah. Just hook this type of shit to my veins and leave in my modern day opium den. Which is just this type of music playing while I attend AI generated walrus jousting events from my padded cell. 2027 can’t come soon enough. Futures and Pasts - This close to writing Pasta. That would’ve been a faux pas! The direct translation of that doesn’t really make sense. Learning about other languages makes me feel dumb. I suppose the feeling has to match the aptitude at some point. 30 minutes in and out. This thing rules. Artistic punk rock that was ahead of its time and never got boring for me. There are some proto-punk tropes that pop up here and there but there is so much intrigue in the instrumentation, so many quotable one-liners and a palpable beastly energy that propel this record past those tropes with ease. I had a great time throughout and I really don’t have much else on this. Great album out of absolutely nowhere. BAH GOD!! HE HAS A FAMILY. YOU SON OF A BITCH WHY?? TELL ME WHY?? Mixing my JR calls, but you get the picture. Get outta here. 4 HIGHLIGHTS: Frightened, No Xmas for John Quays, Mother-Sister!, Underground Medecin, Live at the Witch Trials
Hell yeah! Great debut album for an import and in the wild world of music.
The mad genius and outstanding talent of Mark E Smith.
This is a DNF - I got the gist of it pretty quickly. It's what the edgy kids were into in the late 70s and early 80s. If I had known about this band in high school, I probably would have been into it too. Listening to it just sounds like a manky semi-finished basement or garage bedroom with incense covering up the mediocre pot smoke smell. Maybe there are some interesting ideas here but listening to it is a chore and the dude sounds like a prick. I'm good.
If there's anything that 1001 Albums has convinced me without a shadow of a doubt, it's that Post Punk is a catch-all term for albums that I just -do not- jive with. Overly quirky singing, instrumentals that seem to be just the band members going "woah, check this out, isn't this wack?" without wondering whether it sounds good, and just a bloatedness of way too many repetitive tracks. If this was live at the witch trials and I was a witch, I'd just ask the mob to burn me so I can stop listening to it.
This brand of post punk is what happens if you give the singer valium and actually turn down the guitar to the level your mom wants it at so she can sit in her bathtub, fantasizing about the gardener, undisturbed.
Why is there so much weird stuff?!
I like the eerie, stream of consciousness post-punk. Each song begins to blur though and after a while I lose track of what I'm listening to. 7/10
The beginning of the album wasn't too bad. But as it went on, the music started to get on my nerves a bit. 3/5
The Fall's post-punk debut album from the late 1970s, it's not something I love but altogether it wasn't bad either.
Mark E Smith isn’t really here for casual listening. But whenever I hear The Fall, I like it. Never heard this one, their first, but it is very very good. I can see how they aren’t for everyone but if you enjoy a belligerent drunken Englishman shouting at you over the sound of a killer post punk band playing their asses off, have I got a record for you.
shit
This is not good punk like Minor Threat, this is quite shitty punk music made by some English weirdos. This album was a chore to get through. The vocals are grating and the song structure was all over the place, to the point of being spoken word in some spots. Some interesting instrumentation saves it from a 1, but it's still a low-end 2/5 for me.
Post-punk is an amazing genre. It almost makes me like punk by comparison. For all of my dislike of punk songs, they’re often kind of funny and they’re short and most punk rockers don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s like post-punk took all the bad parts of punk: abrasiveness, repetitive boring simplicity, atonal unpleasant noise, and stripped it of the few good things it had going for it. I mean, for God’s sake, listening to this makes me want to put on a Ramones album. And that is an achievement.
I like some the The Fall's stuff, but this was just OK and the Live side was the same over and over.
Annoying and repetitive, but it works in an edgy way. I don't mind the vocals.
As one of the reviews indicated, there's a lot of similarity to Public Image Limited.
Had never heard of these guys before. Not horrible, but nothing special.
The vocals are a bit underwhelming, but other than that, this album is pretty good. It's very simple in its composition and doesn't do anything impressive, but it sounds pleasant and is easy to listen. And I liked that goofy synth that sounds like a toy that in a couple of tracks, for some reason. 7/10
"I'm on Smoko!"
Really liked the drums The instrumentals were good too And the vocals were... there.
The other album we've done by The Fall got a 3.5 rounded, this might get a 2.5 rounded up. I think this has influence far beyond whether I like it in 2025 or not, but it felt repetitive. There was maybe a casio keyboard in there throwing me off too ... hmm
The ur-angry mancunian hollering about stuff I don’t really get over music that I find enjoyable
I was prepared for this to be prog rock, so I found it to be pleasantly more punk inspired than I expected. Unfortunately it doesn't get the memo that punk albums are supposed to be, like, 33 minutes long - I felt like it went on for at least seven songs too many. What was there was fun enough.
This was a pretty chill album, nothing too exciting. The first song had a nice solo towards the end, and the rest of the songs sound a bit outdated nowadays, but they're alright as a background listen.
I'd like to like it but don't really. Just too abrasive and tuneless for me. Can do an odd song but not a full album
As track 1 side 1 of debuts go, Frightened may be one of my favs, a unique statement and together with the "We Are The Fall" opener to the next song, reads as something of an anti-manifesto. Always thought that the claustrophobic, paranoid Mood for the opener was the template for the atmosphere for Kasabian's debut. In my pre-stream days I probably listened to nothing but The Fall on 2018, become a little obsessed with MES's contradictory working class intellectual cynicism and his supernatural psychic outlook. I rareiy played this one however, due to it's rawness and uneveness but listening now the Drums and especially keyboards sound fantastic, so edging into the 4 Zone.
Starts with incredible energy and originality, loved the opening triumvirate! It loses its way in the middle but peaks again towards the end of the album. I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Big Special and could really hear influence in some of this album, especially “crap rap 2 like to blow”. I almost really liked this, but lacked consistency for me.
It's been a long time since the generator gave me an album that I did not somehwhat enjoy, but here we are. There are some cool riffs hidden troughout the record but that is the only positive thing I can say about this angry rambling record. Mostly I was looking forward for it to be over.
I can't decide where exactly I land on this one. It's correctly labeled as 'post-punk' because it's doing more than punk rock, but definitely not as much as new wave... like they're trying to convey some new wave ideas but only using the language of punk rock. The Fall does eventually learn to speak new wave (even with horns!), but they aren't there yet in this debut album. In a lot of ways, The Fall is an excellent case study in the evolution of punk/post-punk/new wave. If you're into 'classic' punk, this should be a tolerable listen for you. If not, this is probably a little too hardcore (or weird) to get all the way through. Some of their later records are a little more broadly palatable, but I enjoyed chewing on this one for a little bit.
Just my kind of weird, I really liked this. And you can hear how it influenced a lot of the garage/indie style rock of the 2000’s like the Strokes. Only this is better.
Didn’t grab me, but interesting listen
Vocals aren't everything but.. well I don't have a "but" for this sentence, I just can't get on board with the singing
It inspired some people and had creative vision but man pretty boring to listen to
It's like they're trying to sound bad. Like really fucking bad. Like the opposite of music, whatever that is. No actually, this is what that is. They nailed it. Jesus fucking Christ this is the worst album I may have ever listened to. How do people like this shit? Just fucking burn me at the stake man. Is there a point to sounding like a broken answering machine? Are you trying to defy the music industry? Are you upset at the music industry because they told you what a piece of shit you were? Are you retaliating by being an even bigger piece of shit? Actually the biggest piece of shit imaginable? Fuck you Mark E. Smith. And fuck your stupid fucking middle initial. Fave songs: Fuck you.
I had never heard of this band. Not really my style but I did enjoy it.
Pretty much what I expected and fine I guess. I think I'd like my punk a little less self aware and little more gleeful
Not sure how this got onto this list. Definitely wouldn't have come across this band or album with out the list! Interesting to read how this album was all recorded on 1 day in the studio due to other days cancelled by the engineer being ill.
man weird how all these counter culture non conformist bands all manage to sound the same. The same droning bass lines, bad talky vocals, distortion. Great job on not standing out guys.
Yep that’s a punk album. Even when they’re “iconic” and “groundbreaking” it still just sounds like boring old punk
Really just not my thing. Not a fan of this style of singing and did not connect with the lyrics and themes whatsoever.
2.5
Oh dear.
3.5
There is some ethos of punk I that I feel deliberately shoots itself in the foot. And that is the DIY no-fi sound. And it makes it even hard if it sounds like they're doing it on purpose, because this is recored and mixed like somebody's first day on the job. That snare sound is so unnecessarily boxy and way up in the mix, that it sounds like they found some random guy walking down the hall to come in and record the damn thing. Granted I don't think musically I would actually care for this that much either. I don't like his singing, but that does have a punky snarl that I can kind of see what they were trying to do and why some people would like it. But the sound of this album was just fucking atrocious... even for punk standards. 4.4 ★★
Hate the vocal style, don't like the music and production much more. 2 stars
I thought the first song was cool. The rest less so. 3 stars.
Would prefer it if it was Live At The Apollo or Live At Wembley Stadium with Freddie Mercury on vocals or anyone else other than this Mark E Smith twump. Only one who could be worse would be the Psychedelic Furs dude. Their very first album is basically a completely yobbish and dinful Joy Division. Horrid vocals. Horrid drum sound. Occasionally cool guitar. Mainly bleary, rah-rah bad open mic pub band songs. Some slightly more okay songs too - namely Two Steps Back and… I guess just Two Steps Back. Shame they couldn’t wind up after two albums like Joy Division.
There has to be at least 1001 albums better than this nonsense.
Instrumentals sound really bad, like those cheap chinese toys that play simple tunes, and that's the part I actually liked, there's a certain charm to it. What I didn't like was the vocalist, he didn't even try to sing
Nice tempo to run to but the songs were quite mid
A bit messy at times. I didn't care for the vocals.
This started to grow on me by track 13 so that's something. I like what they're about, I like what they're doing, it's just the same argument of there's so much going on at the same time and since that this doesn't stand as tall as I think it once may have. Still, I am glad I had to listen to it. There's some great songwriting here, some really intense performances, but I can't imagine putting this on in any situation other than this list.
This did nothing for me and it couldn't end fast enough. Even the studio engineers wanted that last song to end. This is second rate Sex Pistols, who themselves are inferior to the Clash and the Ramones. I'm feeling a strong 1/5
6/10
Yay
Post punk does it for me more than punk punk.
Interesting album but I preferred the Infotainment Scan. Rebellious Jukebox was one of my faves and the punk energy was going hard throughout. I think it deserves a relisten (and first listen to all the live recordings I skipped on the two disc Spotify album) but it’s not a great album to me right now.
no coole postpunk. gest premieretag vom classic openair drum kei ziit gha zums am tag lose. de drumsound nervt mi aber des todes find d snare meeega nervig. aber d energie, d sloppiness und die hässige vocals macheds eigentli sehr cool. 3.
hä mega "volli" produktion? für 1979?? frightened isch en BANGER gsi de schluss mite gitarre hahaha muss sege bis jz fühlis uuuhuere es nimmt sich selber nöd zu ernst aber finds recht kreativi/abwechsligsriichi lieder TAKTWECHSEL innerhalb vomene tag uufgno :0 ICH HAN ERST JZ CHEGGT dass das die vo infotainment sind ich han die ganz ziit murder system verstande statt mother sister hahaha da ghörtmer de punk-ihfluss echt nod sehr fest hä echt ich liebs ja er singt schräg aber find d produktion suscht isch easy stabil funny synthiiii ah scho fertig en KANON two steps back findi au suuper weiss nöd es isch sicher guet dass s album nur 30 min lang isch, suscht würds sich wahrsch schochli zieh aber eso findis hammer no s letschte lied! überrascht jz nüt meh hett nöd denkt dass mier das so gfallt, aber es isch es churzwiligs album wo mega spass macht starchs 4i oder es 5i! alsoo ich han gester nomal öppe d hälfti glost, es 5i isches nöd. aber spass machts!
What is the algorithm playing at? Yesterday I got Sonic Youth and today The Fall. Two Peel-beloved bands with sprawling discographies that I like but who are perhaps both best consumed in small doses. I own more Fall albums so would lean more towards them of the two though. This was their debut album so there's a sense the sound is still forming while Goo yesterday was the sound of SY hitting their stride. But you don't go to the Fall for maturity or musical complexity, the main draw is Mark E Smith's mad lyrical non-sequiters and I was surprised at just how profane he is on this. My favourite Fall song of this era Repetition is not actually on this, it was on the preceding EP but was pleased to hear it among the bonus tracks. The Fall often has great opening tracks and Frightened fits into that category.
Not my vibe. Old school rock can be very good or have high points. This mostly made me question why its even on a list like this. I have heard bands from this era that are so much better at the same kind of music.
This album kicked ass
Not my cup of tea
Generally bad
No
I love Mark E. Smith's snarl-singing. I know it's not for everyone, but I really like how raw this album is. Personally, I think it would've been better without the keys, but that's me. Liked Songs Added: Frightened Mother - Sister! Two Steps Back
Not a particularly flattering comparison to have this come right after the damned - seems like a light beer version.
2.5 I listened to this on a not-perfect car stereo and the drums sounded distractingly bad throughout. I will have to give this a go on a more suitable stereo. Nothing really stood out as good/bad beside the drums
Super annoying. This sounds like a band consisting of a bunch of old, drunk uncles at a party, trying to relive the good old days. A real pain.
a little boring but pleasant enough, kind of shouty, i didn’t get very far through
Entertaining punk. Lately been struggling to remember what I've listened to, but I remembered "no Christmas for a junkie"
Hell yes. The first full-length rinky dink foray from greatest weird band in the world. It's difficult to explain/justify the appeal of the Fall to the unsold because they are not all that "appealing", and I think there are better entry points to their endless catalog (Grotesque and Bend Sinister) but this is still quality mutant humanity asserting itself.
On their debut release, The Fall evoke some of their post-punk peers like Public Image Limited, Wire, The Slits and The Stranglers (that electric piano, mostly) while sounding like nothing else. “Rebellious Jukebox” sounds like Gang of Four, with its runaway percussion and agile bass line combining for the album’s most tuneful track. The rest is fairly boilerplate Mark E. Smith: acerbic and inscrutable, speak-singing his weird scotch-in-the-afternoon misanthropic musings and non sequitors over music that constantly threatens to veer off the tracks.
I like the Fall but had not heard this one ( they have a BIG discography). Not one of their best IMHO but still a solid effort.
I know of the Fall. I haven't ever really given them a list, though. Which is odd given they've released...(scrolling...scrolling)...30+(?) studio albums!? Wow. It's good post-punk fun!
Good instrumentals. The laziest vocal performance ever. This combination made most of the album boring. 5/10
Flipped back to my youth
I spent most of this album waiting for the singer to shut the fuck up.
this is stupid and several hours too long
The Fall of expectations and the Rise of Punk supremacy.
Really strong post-punk debut by The Fall
najlepsze w tym albumie byly przerwy na reklamy
2,5
The core album was solid. I don't need to listen to a bunch of demos that makes the total album 40+ tracks
2/5
This was fine. The Apple Music version of this album was the 2 disc expanded version that was like 2x as long. Not sure that I wanted that commitment to an album.
When I was a 20 year old try hard I used to pretend to like The Fall for clout or to seem esoteric or something. 20+ years later...boy, was I ever kidding myself. Another review put it perfectly: this is close to what I like, but not quite it. Just a little too sloppy and atonal. This all said, I happened to catch The Fall at a festival in 2010 and they were pretty decent. Mark E. Smith's cantankerous swagger translated well live. 2/5
I enjoyed This Nations Saving Grace more than this debut. Maybe the writing and production matured, but this one was a bit of a slog to push thru.
Hmmm interesting album. I came in with no expectations. Not really keen on the car warning beeps in the songs. The punk style is cool but some of the songs do feel quickly included on the album and not necessarily thought through entirely, but that could be the punk style and I’m the one who has conformed to what music standards “should” be and following what the man tells me to do. However as the one with the subjective judgement and also the one reviewing the album - I didn’t enjoy this album, nice to hear a different band. But not one I’d come to again. I did think no Xmas for John Quays was an interesting track and one I’d listen to again. industrial estate was good lyrics decrying the class system and showing the plight of the working class, but in the ironic upbeat tone of punk.
Rebellious Jukebox, is a good tune and I can see the influence this band played on future bands such Modest Mouse, of which I am a huge fan. The guitar work throughout the record is rather interesting, however on the whole it is the vocals that make it a difficult album to enjoy, as spoken word-esque is not typically my style. I doubt I will listen to this again.
Three The Fall albums out of 1,001. I really hate music critics. This guy heard the Clash and thought he could do exactly the same thing. No Xmas for John Quays is the worst song so far. Maybe the less said about this the better.
Previously rated: This Nation’s Saving Grace (2/5) ************************************ I didn't remember listening to their other album on this list, but this one is going to end up with the same score. It is simply just unpleasant to listen to, especially the British I-don't-give-a-shit vocals. The best track, Industrial Estate, was unfortunately also the shortest. I don't recommend the album or the band.
wat
I wanted more from this. I liked the overall sound, but the songwriting made this an unsatisfying listen.
J - 2/5 Best Track - "Rebellious Jukebox" F - DNL
Cool early-punk sound
1.5
El debut de uno de los grupos más prolíficos del post-punk británico y banda de culto, The Fall, a la cual, tengo que admitir, nunca le he prestado mucha atención. En el libro se dice de ellos que "compensan sus limitaciones musicales con vivacidad, humor e inteligencia". Y la verdad es que limitaciones no les faltan. La mayoría de canciones no son más que dos o tres notas repetidas hasta la saciedad por el bajo; las guitarras, tres cuartos de lo mismo; un órgano disonante a todo lo demás; una batería intensa que no da descanso, y una voz como de borracho que ni siquiera trata de entrever alguna melodía. Todo ello aderezado con una producción mediocre, orgullosamente "realizada en dos días", y unas letras cínicas y bastante crípticas. Excelente.
Early fall is hilarious in its shoddiness
The limited bits I had heard of them washed over me with little more than the impression "goddamn this is British as hell." This, too, was British as hell. I found myself enjoyed the snotty, punk-ish vocals more than I had in the past. Scratches a nice post-punk itch without profoundly standing out from the crowd. I bet it did in 1979 though.
This is some solid punk rock and it’s not just a bucnh of noise and it’s still the raw primal energy.
No. Just, no.
Not really for me.
Live album jumpscare! Or, at least, I thought so. Great title for an album – I'm intrigued. I’ve heard about The Fall because they share the same name as my favourite Gorillaz album, though I’ve never actually thought to check out their music. I’m curious to see how this one pans out. Yeah, I like this album. The music is similar to Public Image Ltd, which is a big surprise as I think the music of that band is remarkably shit. Anyways, there are some good tracks on here. The breakneck energy of Crap Rap 2 / Like to Blow is pretty enjoyable. Rebellious Jukebox has some catchy hooks. I like the brooding guitar riff on Underground Medecin. The guitars on Two Steps Back are also pretty cool. That instrument definitely hogs the limelight of this album. Music Scene has many interesting parts, though I think the song is admittedly way too long for my taste. May as well check the book for why this is on here. “One of the most most distinctive and influential British bands ever”. Bold claim to start your review with. Recorded and mixed in two days. “...an instant success”. Continues to have influence in recent times. Yeah, this seems like a solid inclusion. The punk picks have been surprisingly lacking thus far, so I can agree with more of them being on the list.
I think it’s just not for me. This kind of post-punk doesn’t engage me, and then in turn I become unfairly irritated by the legacy around this band. This was the dark, dangerous, acidic rock everyone was falling over themselves for? Am I just lame? There are moments that are interesting to listen to and even some highlights on the track list (I did like “Two Steps Back”), but as a whole it leaves me cold and annoyed. Whatever charm there is from the rough-and-tumble songwriting style is spoiled by pretension. I liked it more than the other two The Fall albums I’ve gotten, I guess. Their music seems to be just a few degrees removed from music I love, but it’s a few degrees too many.
It’s better than “The Infotainment Scan” that’s for sure. Not a very high bar, though.
very weird sounding, i like the 8-but sounding synth that plays in a lot of the songs but i hear it a bit too much making a lot of the songs sound very similar, the vocals sound like he’s drunk which i like in a funny way, i think overall it was decent but i don’t think i’d go back to it
It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and I mean that in the sense that I'm not really into this genre at all. So it's not to my taste, but there's things to appreciate in here. There's some nice grooves, and he has a manic energy that works. Very rough around the edges, but it's got a bit of bite. 2.5 rounded up.
Apparently recorded in one day, this is certainly as energetic and raw as you would expect. The lyrics are a talking point. It's good to hear challenging music like this but I am on the fence in terms of actual enjoyment.
Shouty shouty obtuse lyrics
Fabulous, as good an introduction to The Fall as you could ask for. Genesis of all the shambolic dysfunctional chaos that was to follow in the next 40-odd years, all of it magnificent in it's inimitable way.
I have tried many times to board The Fall train, but I just don't get the appeal. It seems like the kind of genius you come up with on a drunken night and regret in the morning.
Interesting yet chaotic
Very smooth for classical punk. Pairs well with vacuuming rugs or hosing off the driveway.
Hell yeah wear that funny hat and put as many Fall albums on here as you like. Knew you dickheads wouldn't like this. All my previous Dimery anger is now directed to any sub 3 star loser. Up the Mark E, down with lists. That most popular review is full of it.
It's yet another punk-album on this list. It's solid, but nothing special and I think with the post-punk approach where you usually find The Fall categorized in I'd find more interesting stuff.
mark e smith is a bit annoying
Meh. I want to like because of the instrumental work, but the singing and punk-ish elements largely put me off.
There are albums that demand your undivided attention (Portishead 3, The Band brown album, many others), and many more that want to demand your attention and just wind up annoying (the vast majority of popular music, to be honest). Alas, Live at The Witch Trials is just a postpunk Bob Dylan album (or a Mountain Goats album, or to be honest, a rap album, with certain exceptions)--too much effort put into the lyrics compared to the musical output. If you're not paying attention to the lyrics--I mean staring at your speaker and hanging on every word--this album will only serve to frustrate you. Mark E Smith was perhaps a better author than musician.
Started as a 2 but glad I kept listening so I could give it a proper rating. 1
The Fall are an influential English punk band. I've heard of them but don't know ANY of their songs from their 31 studio albums. They're influential, but not important and don't need to be listened to - especially not 3 albums on this list. Best Songs Frightened Rebellious Jukebox Mother-Sister!
Better than Coldplay
Didn't hate it, didn't love it.
Old school punk. i'd take a few songs but wasn't in the mood for the full album
Meh. Kind of repetitive after a long while....
If this is the Brit rock that made it onto the best albums, I pray I never hear the ones that made it onto the list of worst albums
= the Beatles
That's not my taste in music - But ok
Heard some good things about The Fall, and this is my first album. Pretty good, the drums are really loud in the mix but solid post punk stuff
Crappy Rap 3 when?
Enjoyable in its special way. A good Fall album, but including it on this list maybe feels generous.
An auspicious debut from the Fall, and the sound is already there. I generally like the later stuff like with Brix better, I feel some of the brittleness of the sound is shed. But still good stuff.
I guess I like The Fall. This was a lot of fun and fits the overall vibe the generator has been giving us lately. Anyone else notice the overall quality of the albums we’ve been getting lately? Of our last 30 albums, the global review of 17 have been below 3.00. Of the remaining, only one has been above 3.30 (Fear of Music). The average global review of those 30 is 2.9943333 To put it into context, the average global review is 3.4. I guess, some things to consider are we’re listening to 1001 albums, so a pocket of 30 like this doesn’t seem so note worthy in the grand scheme. But, when you’re in the thick of it, it can feel a little tiresome. Hopefully this means we’ll get a good run eventually. Also, our group’s average rating of the 30 is 3.51, which is right around our average.
7.5/10 Liked this a lot better than I expected. It may be a bit rough, but still sounds pretty good. Highlights: Futures and Pasts Music Scene Frightened Rebellious Jukebox No XMas for John Quays
It’s fine. Sometimes annoying, sometimes repetitive. I bet that’s what’s intended though.
I’m about 45 seconds into this album and it’s already trash.
NO an extreme fan i enjoyed it, but it's not really my cup of tea FAV: 1. Mother - SIster ! 2. Industrial Estate 3. Psyho Mafia
Genuinely awful. Just some guys screaming and banging on their instruments for 40 minutes. Wanted to rip my ears off. One of the worst displays of punk rock I’ve ever seen. Just terrible.
## In-Depth Review: The Fall - *Live At The Witch Trials* (1979) ### Overview The Fall's debut album, *Live At The Witch Trials*, released on March 16, 1979, is a landmark in post-punk history. Despite its title, it is not a live album but a studio recording completed in a single day (December 15, 1978) due to Mark E. Smith falling ill and canceling three scheduled studio days . Produced by Bob Sargeant, the album captures the band’s raw energy and establishes their signature blend of punk aggression, literary wit, and avant-garde experimentation. ### Lyrics: Cynical Rants and Social Commentary **Themes and Style**: - **Working-Class Alienation**: Tracks like "Industrial Estate" depict the grim reality of factory life with lines like *"The company air will fuck up your face"*, contrasting sharply with romanticized portrayals by contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen . - **Drug Culture**: "Frightened" (written by Smith at 16) explores speed-induced paranoia, while "No Xmas for John Quays" (a pun on "junkies") and "Underground Medecin" dissect addiction with bleak humor . - **Anti-Industry Vitriol**: The 8-minute closer "Music Scene" rails against music executives with sarcastic quips like *"Oh aye, you’re a good lad, and here’s a pound note"* . - **Existential Absurdity**: "Mother-Sister!" weaves cryptic, Oedipal imagery, while "Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow" delivers the band’s manifesto: *"We are The Fall / Northern white crap that talks back"* . Smith’s lyrics blend Mancunian slang, fragmented narratives, and biting satire, rejecting punk clichés for a more intellectual, if abrasive, approach . ### Music: Post-Punk Chaos and Innovation **Sound and Influences**: - **Genre Fusion**: The album merges punk’s rawness with Krautrock repetition ("Two Steps Back"), garage-rock organ (Yvonne Pawlett’s "twee" keyboards), and dub-inspired basslines (Marc Riley) . - **Instrumental Highlights**: Martin Bramah’s "Beefheartian" guitar work on "Mother-Sister!" and Karl Burns’ primal drumming create a claustrophobic, "schizoid" atmosphere . Tracks like "Rebellious Jukebox" feature serpentine basslines that "coil like inside-out dub" . - **Structure**: Songs eschew traditional verse-chorus formats for hypnotic riffs ("No Xmas for John Quays") and chaotic improvisation ("Music Scene"), prefiguring post-rock . ### Production: Lo-Fi Urgency **Approach and Impact**: - Recorded and mixed in under 48 hours, the production is stark and unpolished. Instruments are separated distinctly—bass, drums, and guitar occupy isolated sonic spaces—creating a tense, "edgy" sound . - **Strengths**: The immediacy captures The Fall’s live intensity, exemplified on "Frightened," where Pawlett’s keyboards and Bramah’s "smear guitar" build a "monstrous atmosphere" . - **Weaknesses**: Some tracks suffer from muddy mixing (e.g., "Live at the Witch Trials" feels undercooked at 51 seconds), and the rushed process limits dynamic range . ### Themes: Alienation and Rebellion - **Class Struggle**: The album channels working-class disillusionment, framing Northern England’s industrial decay as a backdrop for defiance . - **Anti-Conformity**: "Rebellious Jukebox" positions the band as cultural outsiders rejecting pop trends (e.g., ABBA) . - **Psychedelic Dread**: Drug narratives evoke psychological turmoil, with Smith’s vocals oscillating between sneering detachment and frantic despair . ### Influence: Blueprint for Alternative Music - **Post-Punk Foundations**: The Fall’s abrasive minimalism influenced bands like Sonic Youth (the "wall of sound" on "Frightened") and Pavement . - **Legacy**: Critics note its role in shaping gothic rock ("Before the Moon Falls" on *Dragnet*) and art-punk . The album’s inclusion in *1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die* cements its cult status . ### Pros and Cons | **Pros** | **Cons** | |-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | **Lyrical originality**: Smith’s wit and social critique remain unmatched . | **Vocals divisive**: Smith’s "drunken rants" alienate some listeners . | | **Innovative sound**: Fusion of punk, Krautrock, and dub creates a unique template . | **Inconsistent production**: Rushed recording leads to uneven mixes . | | **Historical significance**: Captures post-punk’s ethos of rebellion against commercialism . | **Accessibility**: Lacks melodic hooks; challenging for newcomers . | | **Band chemistry**: Bramah’s guitar and Burns’ drums drive relentless energy . | **Underdeveloped tracks**: Short songs ("Witch Trials") feel fragmentary . | ### Conclusion *Live At The Witch Trials* is a seminal but polarizing debut. Its strengths—lyrical brilliance, sonic innovation, and raw energy—solidify The Fall’s status as post-punk pioneers. However, its lo-fi production and abrasive delivery may deter casual listeners. As Pitchfork notes, the album’s "wobbly and toxic" sound remains a defiant antidote to polished rock . For those willing to embrace its chaos, it’s a foundational text of alternative music. > **Key Takeaway**: Not a gateway album, but essential for understanding The Fall’s 40-year reign as "Northern white crap that talks back."
This Nation’s Saving Grace was better
I gave up after No Xmas for John Quays, which ended up being literally the same two notes repeated in the same rhythm for 4 and a half minutes straight.
Started out not bad but got old quickly. A little too discordant and repetitive for me.
Rating: 7/10 Somewhat catchy post-punk.
Mark E Smith is a fascinating individual and one of the most difficult men to ever pick up a guitar. His contempt for his bandmates, contemporaries, and audience is pretty apparent in most everything he did, said, and made. This band has had 66 members during its lifespan for a reason. Although, people attempted to put up with him for a reason: the man was kind of, sort of a genius in his own weird way. Live At The Witch Trials is an extremely interesting debut. The Fall can be lumped in with the other post-punk bands at the time, but no one did it like this. This isn't to say that The Fall was far ahead of the rest of the scene, but they were kind of a singular, inimitable thing. For a band that really isn't *that* aesthetically extreme, there is something disproportionately alienating and caustic about The Fall's music. I think a lot of it may be that it seems like Smith had very little interest in keeping the band's energy from hurtling off the tracks, especially for how intricate some of these songs come across as. It kind of feels like everyone is pulling in a different direction, but the forces all balance out. And on top of all of it, Mark E Smith is *ranting*, it almost feels like he's trying as hard as possible to keep everyone from settling into a groove. And as a result of all this, The Fall's sound feels chaotic and nervous. I will also say that The Fall is really not for everyone, and they really don't seem to care that a not-insignificant portion of the population is left in the dust here. Despite that, I would really urge everyone to give this one a shot, it probably isn't The Fall's best, but it is *very* good, and is honestly probably one of their most accessible. It's really the kind of thing you struggle to find anywhere else.
Meh
the guitar is really groovy, and goes great with the (possibly) a synth (idk what it is but it sounds great). Its all i could want from 70s punk really, thouh the monotony and repetitivity are not smth i really like and by god are they a lot of this album. Everything that makes this stuff so great live makes it kinda annoying to listen to in a space that isn't well, y'know a concert venue or a pub. This album really overstays its welcome, if this and that the who album traded lengths that would be benificial. I brought up the album i was listening to with people i know that are knowledgable about punk and they were like 'kirk what are you thinking, you aren't gonna enjoy the fall, thats pretty hard to get into' so that probably is part of the issue i have with it, given that this is one of the first times i have tried anything thats og punk since that one sex pistols song i played on guitar hero in april. Its kinda sad that the vocals break this album so much because otherwise we have some adequate drumming, some great bass, and some great guitar. Part of me was tempted to take off my headphones and bask in the unholy fusion of cute thing by car seat headrest and animals by maroon 5 i was tormented by on my bike ride home. overall it wasn't that great to me.
Fine, I liked a few but it was hard to get through.
punk, but make it longer and less interesting. and this is the most excessive reissue songs added so far on this list and I'm 400 albums in. Just a slog to get through the original album, no way I'm listening to 40 +songs of this.
This is normally the type of stuff that I really like, but this was just kind of boring to me. Cool for a few songs.
The drums sounded nice but I don't like that punk sound very much when it doesn't have a strong lead and direction. Not sure how to describe how I mean that but I feel it's antithetical to pink. May just not like the genre
I don't even think I've heard of The Fall but this is awesome. Maybe my favorite album from this list yet, I've gone back to it more than any other. NO CHRISTMAS FOR JOHN QUAYS!!!
This is shite, not for me
Not really my thing. Punk, but with less of a driving beat than I’m used to.
Know Fall. Wouldn't know one of their songs if it fell on my head. Sounds like other bands. Really don't like this monotone type of singing over what some may call a "tune". Not for me.
When an album sounds so fresh and new and is so old its impact is obvious. The Fall's 'Live At The Witch Trials' sounds modern and indie and very reflective of the post-punk era that at times I was thinking it was Television. 3.5/5
Do we really need 2 Fall albums. Gave the last 1 a good score, and initially this was going the same way but started to loose interest and glad when it ended, he may dig repetition but afraid found the whole thing got tiresome. 2 Star
I always get The Fall and The Alarm mixed up. But I don't know either. However, you can hear the roots of some pretty prominent indie bands here. Fontaines DC's Grian Chatten has clearly heard of them and my have even adapted some of the drawl of Mark E. Smith. This album appears to have unleashed a torrent of follow-ups. How have I never heard them? I listen to Television, Wire, Husker Du. Odd. But a good album. Something I could probably really grow to love on repeat listens in the right mood. Man, the 70's and the punk scene were so gloriously weird.
I wasn't fan enough to try to listen to the whole album
I always thought The Fall was some sort of a "difficult" band, but this is very easy to like. Maybe it's because of the recent resurgence in post-punk by bands clearly influenced by them.
Really drives home how thoroughly many of the punks could not sing. Pretty creative, at least. Best song: Two Steps Back
I have only heard one track by this lot before, Bremmen Nacht, and I rather like it. So I was hoping for something similarly different. And yes it sort is. It's sort like the bastard child of Depeche Mode and the Sex Pistols. A bit of a mixup of electronica and punk. I'm undecided at the moment 2 or 3? I'll probably end up over scoring it with a 3 because of the potential it has with me. I'm sur if I listen to it a few times it'll grow on me, but don't think it'll get that chance.
I rarely give up on an album on this list quite as early as I did with this pile of rubbish. Talentless.
The Fall, what can I say about them and this album? As fans say, there is no middle ground, you either get and love them or you don't and hate them. Luckily for me I have loved the Fall since I was 16. I got to hear this a few years later when I bought it from a record fair, and although it's not their best from their golden period (1979-95), it's still great. 'Frightened' is the best, and I've always had a massive soft spot for 'No Xmas for John Quays'. This is the sound of a band with limited resources and equipment making innovative music, which was a signature of their early years. MES RIP.
As before, I don't like The Fall, largely because of the vocal style. At least this album was short. Rating: 2
Happy to see a 2nd album from these guys. After our first album hit the list I took a little journey into their portfolio and I can say I'm a fan. I think Mark Smith has very unique voice that just fits perfectly with the bands sound and style. Great energy throughout and there's not much to dislike, if you're a fan of the punk sound. This album is a little raw, but it's from 1979. Favorite tune is Frightened, but again, I pretty much liked most of the songs off this album. Thought the opening of Bingo-Master's Break-Out sounded a bit like a Clash tune. Also liked the reference to President Carter. After all, he loves repetition too! For shits, I checked to see if they were still around and I'm sorry to hear Mark has passed. So much for trying to see live. I can imagine this would be a pretty fun concert. This is a good one and really have enjoyed my listens. Spotify then kicks in with some solid music picks too! 3.5
3.5 I previously referred to The Fall as sounding like “karaoke from a guy who’s about to be cut off at the pub”, and I still stand by that here - but in the case of this particular album, it worked for me. The more conventional punk sound does huge favors for that kind of performance, and while it tends to border more on drunken ramblings than it does any kind of charged commentary, a part of me was still like “Go off, Mark!” with each song. Yeah, a lot of the stuff in the middle sort of blends together, especially considering the loose structure and same general Homestar Runner-esque keyboard patterns that are paired with most tracks, but when you keep things short and catchy like this does, it’s pretty hard not to enjoy yourself at least somewhat, incoherent as it might be. I can’t say that I listened to the full 2.5 hour deluxe edition of the album found on Spotify, but I thought that the 11 track, 38 minute run from the original release was perfect. This isn’t really the kind of thing that feels like it needs to be longer than that (hence my hesitation with the deluxe edition), though ironically, my favorite songs ended up being two of the longest ones, Frightened and Music Scene, the opener and closer, respectively. This probably isn’t the kind of thing I personally would call a must-listen, a masterpiece, or even really all that important aside from being among the earlier post-punk albums, but I found it enjoyable - and sometimes, that’s all music needs to be.
Just sounds like noise
Favorite Track: Frightened
Scratchy with grooves. A great noise with longevity.
It feels like it's a frontier of the genre but not enough of the songs really stuck with me.
Habil punk. En genre som, i mina öron, svårligen når särskilt högt. Men rätt klassisk punk och det är smånajs.
Nej, det är var verkligen inte min grej. Visst, det är lite fartfyllt och finns energi, men han sjunger illa och det är rätt tråkigt och oinspirerande i övrigt. Förstår inte vad denna gör på listan.
I don’t know how many other participants here appreciated this album, but this is an album I’ve returned to time and again - and a band whose entire discography I’ve bought a couple of times over the past three decades. While not my favorite Fall album (one of the candidates for that category would be Hex Enduction Hour) it is a solid work and a quite interesting listen. Mark E. Smith is one of the most literate and well-read lyricists in post-1976 rock music and here his vocals are clear as a bell vocally- something that would sort of devolve as the years progressed. The basic formula of the band’s sound is here - the musicians (it was rare when any Fall studio album had the exact same lineup as its preceding release) vamping repetitively behind Mark’s wordy vocals - with personnel changes frequently noticeable from album to album. Look for a version of the album that also has bonus tracks that include the band’s first two singles “Bingo Master’s Break Out” and “It’s The New Thing” plus their early John Peel Sessions.
No
My ears would like to file a lawsuit for subjecting them to this crap
Tone deaf toads croak on for more than 2 hours? Fuck right off... Cannot believe this list included this BS.
A little cacophonous, a bit dissonant in places, overly rap-like - mostly the writing and vocals are poor. A"no" for me.
Oof this was one to just get thru
The coolest part about this album was that the whole thing was recorded in just one day. That's the only cool thing about it though.
I think I can appreciate the creativity and punk ethos here, but this did not resonate with me. Respect for having it on the list but not something I will ever listen to again.
2/5 don't like punk
Aaahhhh yes, the pretentious man’s “this is what you SHOULD be listening to”. The Fall has really good material scattered throughout their catalog, yet none of it hits you hard enough to make you love them. Stand out tracks: Rebellious Jukebox, It’s the New Thing, Various Times. This band does a lot, and not a lot, at the same time, and not in a charming way.
Surprised to not have known this band, I feel like they deserve to be in the same group of household names as sex pistols and buzzcocks. yet they were new to me. Pleasantly enjoyed the punk vibe and thought they have considerable talent. The drummer shreds, bass lines were steady and lyrics entertaining . Just complex enough to be super interesting and straight forward enough to be legit punk.
I really struggled with this one. I want to like it. I like punk music. I like post-punk music. Overall, I like the post-punk feel and attitude of the album. I like the instrumental parts and the backing tracks. I just don't like the singing and it's making the album completely unenjoyable to me.
Like a shitter, mancunian version of the chats.
Interesting early punk, enjoyed the Brit-trash vibe
I was not a fan of this album. It was too discordant, too arhythmic, just annoying to listen to.
Fav song: Frightened I didn't hate this but I didn't love it either. I'm not into Smith's singing style but I don't mind it either. I really liked the production in many parts. I'm not overwhelmed by this album. It's fine.
Outstays its welcome
Was alright but didn't strike a chord with me. Probably won't listen to this again.
4.5/10
Dreadful noise.
I think the last song ends with some QCHORD!!!
Pretty dang goood
Reminded me a bit of fugazi to honest. It started strong and then got a bit repetitive
Not terribly familiar with the band, never heard this record, but I like it! Feels a bit like a less polished more punk Gang of Four, which is high praise. I'll have to give these guys a bit more playing time in the future.
Really didn’t like the singer’s voice very sing tally
My ears are traumatized/10 ts makes bob dylan sound like Beethoven, will never listen again💔
0/10 if I could give it 0 stars I would
Utter shite
My second album by The Fall in two weeks, which has put me in a strange place where I am ranting at the coffee shop and leaving strange notes for my postman. I even tried to fire my wife from the band, but she didn't know what I was talking about.
These guys sound like they want to be a really shitty version of the Ramones
Enigmatic and influential, this is also pretty good as a debut.
Happy for the people this speaks to. For a punk album it feels far too over produced. Music never grabbed me. 2/5
i just really don’t like this type of music
Rating: 2 Notable songs: N/A Short album. Can sort of tell it was recorded in one day. Not great, not the worst. Wouldn't listen again.
Loved this!
Curmudgeonly, challenging, and singular.
I first tried The Fall by borrowing the murky Dragnet from the CD library in 1999. Apart from Your Heart Out, I couldn't get into it. About a decade later, I was chatting with an artist at his exhibition opening. I told me I had to give the Fall another chance. By then, it seemed to late, and I wasn't going to do what some poncey painter told me to do. Two years ago, I gave them another go. Hex Enduction Hour and This Nation's Saving Grace are murky too, but not in the same way as Dragnet, lyrically and conceptually murky. Live At The Witch Trials falls somewhere in between. If the Fall was intimidating, it wasn't the sheer quantity of albums, but the brusque, inscrutable character of Mark E. Smith that presented the challenge. By then, though, I'd read enough Machen to grasp the urban gothic fantasies of Smith's rantings: "Someone's always on my tracks... I'm out of my place... I'm frightened." The grotesquery and mental contortions are much scarier than any goth or metal album, because, whatever happens, the grimness of British working-class is always visible. "By the window I didn't scream!" It's possible to read Smith as glimpse into the Lovecraftian conservative mind: "I don't know how to use freedom"; "We are not black"; "No Xmas for Junkies"; "Non-sympathetic to spastics"; "And aye you're a good lad, Oh here is a new flat" - something about social housing?; ridiculing 'the new thing.' However, I see him better described in this passage from Hieroglyphics by Smith's believed Arthur Machen: "I think that the Hermit (as I shall call him) had begun to find the perpetual solitude of his years a growing terror, and he was not sorry to have a listener; at first, indeed, he talked almost with the joy of a child, or rather of a prisoner who has escaped from the house of silence." 3 Paul McCartney tells a story that just after Revolver was completed he listened to an acetate of the whole album and was gripped by the notion that the whole thing was out of tune. He contacted the rest of the band in a panic and they had to reassure him that it sounded alright. That story popped into my head early on listening to Live at the Witch Trials and the album might be, I think, somehow more Beatles than it is punk. It has the bones of pop music. The top line is not melody exactly but not unmusical nonsense either - it has lots of rhythmic character and repeats ideas; it’s a sort of rhythmic and structural placeholder for a melody that might have been worked out later but wasn’t. The drums and the bass, while not quite Ringo and Paul, are alluring even when ‘wrong’ (*that* bass note on Rebellious Jukebox turned my stomach) I detected no irony or contempt for pop music here either - there is a palpable sincerity about this record that is difficult to explain. I liked it, although I took the notion early on that the drummer takes too many rolls and then that spoiled it for me a bit. 3/5
I feel like I've heard of this band before but now I'm not sure I've ever listened to them. They're post punk but definitely have a punk like sound.
Simple but effective. The punkier songs were better than I expected, and the album is bookends by two really solid if basic songs. Not something I thought I would've liked, but very solid. Top tracks: Frightened, Futures and Pasts, Music Scene
Bollocks
1,3/5
Kinda bullshit
Not enough energy. I also didn't think the synth went with the feel of the album
this album gave me cancer
This didn't do much for me, good, jagged, and snarling punk but pretty forgettable. I'll take Buzzcocks any day over this
Mixed feelings on this. Some cool tracks and experimentation but all together, pretty forgettable. Rounding up to 3 stars but probably a 2.5 for me. Not super familiar with The Fall but from what I've heard by them, this seems pretty far from their creative peak
If you're not in the mood, this is just a drunkard singing pub songs.
Great to see The Fall on this list. This isn’t among my favourites but it’s still classic Mark Smith (Nation’s Saving is more fully realized by a ways).
The Fall...every time I listen I hear so many of the contemporary bands that I love. Massive influence. Mark E. Smith has such an amazing delivery. 4/5
The humble beginnings of The Fall. The music is kind of good but also kind of... not. It's so unpolished and uncaring that it's a little charming. The cheap keyboards and performing style remind me of a high school punk band. They're not exactly great but you kind of root for them because they have potential. That kind of feeling runs through much of punk and postpunk history so I can kind of see the appeal of The Fall. But I also wouldn't necessarily return to this one.
I love this kind of stuff. A+ album title, too
It's a bit of a shame that this debut album came so soon in the collection after their later album "This Nation's Saving Grace", as they're the type of band that seems best taken in small doses. Of course, I'm not sure I'd ever really warm up to their style and sound, as this album didn't really do much for me; I thought "Rebellious jukebox" and "Two steps back" were perhaps the best tracks. And I appreciated it that most songs, and the album cover, were relatively concise time wise. I suspect this is the type of band and album that would have been much better appreciated and enjoyed back when it first came out, as it's clearly rebelling against contemporary music and the labels that produced more popular fare. It also sounds like they had great live shows, which would have been fun to see and hear.
Great album title! Well done but just not my thing.
This was serviceable but didn't blow my mind. Not loads to say. At least it was short.
2.5 stars. Early rudimentary early punk. A little too noisy and formless for my taste but can see how it would be influential and there are some decent guitar riffs. Standout is "Mother-Sister".
Nice and dark, it's the sound of a group of people who probably don't like themselves very much. They dislike other people even more so. Spiky bass, snappy drums, demented keys, ringing guitars and drawling vocals make for some compelling sounds. Swirling and manic, the noisy production underlines the hypnotic compositions. Favourite tracks: Rebellious Jukebox, No Xmas For John Quays, Two Steps Back, Music Scene
Love the drums, do not love the synth.
very rough and raw, not my favourite fall album but did enjoy it!
A leftfield choice but one of my favourite Fall albums. I love how weird and lo-fi it is, somehow jaunty and creepy at the same time. Also I love the classic MES weird pronunciation of the 'scene' as 'sken-eh' in Music Scene
Don't know what I was expecting for this but I enjoyed it more than I expected I would, I'd listen to it again
God that was a slog
Favorite track: frightened other picks: music scene, no xmas for john quays, industrial estate
worth another listen
I like the guitars on this
Pretty raw sound. Punchy snare.
I fucking hate the fall
"No Xmas for John Quays" is insufferable but the rest is generally good proto-post-punk
Was really intrigued after the first track. Reminds me of the elevated production punk you hear on London Calling. Did not deliver too much beyond that but overall a good experience.
Adding a star because of the great album title. This kind of bratty, sloppy punk just does nothing for me. The instrumentation (is that a rhodes electric piano in the mix?) is unusual for the genre but not in a particularly interesting way (it sounds like maybe they just had one in the studio and thought, lets try that), and the songs are more ideas and patterns than real songs.
I didnt think this had much of anything to offer. Very rarely do I give 1 star and this came awfully close. The wiki was entertaining enough (they recorded the entire album in a single day 😂) and some of the punky lyrics had something to them. I just didnt think any tune was worth a damn on this album
Got 3 songs in and made the call to bow out. Not my cup of tea. Thanks guys.
Unmemorable
Masters at work
there's a certain playfulness to this where it seems like they're just having fun, that makes it hard to get too upset at it. it's not exactly unlistenably bad, but well, i probably won't be listening to it again of my free will either
I like Rebellious Jukebox and Mother-Sister, Industrial Estate, Futures and Pasts. I don't particularly care about the long, meandering, dissonant songs. I got easier to listen to as the album went on.
Opening song was really good, but afterwards the style turned from experimental into a classic post punk, which was drilling a hole in my soul with each subsequent song. Not my favourite album, but still quite better than others from the genre.
no
couple of bangers. interesting album. might rate it higher after a revisit but a solid 3 for me.
First of all this is a dope name for a record. Sounds a lot like The Clash to me which is good, pretty grungy which I like. At times a little repetitive (I mean the bonus tracks have a song called Repetition) but I like it. Probably better than I'm giving it credit for but I don't know how many times I would wanna listen to it.
I just don't think this type of post punk is for me
The Good: There is a trial… The Bad: We aren’t sure who is at trial… The Ugly: the fucking album Never heard of the fall. Couldn’t care about the fall… Will never play the fall again. 1* because I don’t care to listen to someone who is tone-deaf semi-sing “odd poetry"
Compelling style and attitude, but diversity on the album is a bit lacking. The rudimentary keys are enjoyable for me. I’ve always loved that kind of thing. It makes the music feel more accessible.
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