Live At The Witch Trials

Oh boy. If I forgot how to play an instrument then I could join the band I think

Was expecting/hoping for Dragnet, but this one is closer to The Fall that I really dig than the other records from them on this list. Wonderfully understated, sardonic punk rock.

This is the closest to punk The Fall ever gets but it’s a mutated form with extra limbs. The band may be out of tune, with inconsistent timing and a punk bluntness, but the wandering instrumentals are much weirder and more explorative than punk ever was. "Post-punk" indeed. Mark E. Smith is my cult leader of choice. His deranged vocals make everything bizarre and the tuning makes it all wobbly and woozy but it’s oddly catchy at points. On the occasions he or the band arrive at a hook its quickly dropped. It’s incredibly strong from front to back but sonically at odds with anything else The Fall put out across the many years that followed. It's both a brilliant album and a curious artifact.

Solid 4 for The Fall's debut, a bit ramshackle for me but groovy, hectic, and ultimately unique.

I enjoyed the last The Fall album that came up on this list, and I liked this one even more. I was put off by a lot of the reviews, plus the album run time. But solid punk DIY.

Waren ihrer Zeit wohl ziemlich voraus. Die hab ich sicher nicht das letzte Mal gehört.

I'm not surprised that this is not a particularly popular album with a lot of folks. I like The Fall and I like this album, but I'm not sure this is the one I would use to introduce someone to the band, unless they had already embraced a particular punk aesthetic. This record frequently feels meandering and unfocused. It feels like the musicians haven't quite mastered their instruments yet and are still working out the arrangements. The songs themselves are pretty comfortably within the genre conventions of post punk, with the bass providing a lot of the structure and dissonant guitar for texture. The use of a fairly cheap sounding keyboard is a little different. The vocals on the other hand, stand out, nobody really sounds like Mark E. Smith. It's an odd mixture of repetition, rant, and the poetic. It might sound like I don't like this record, but that is definitely not the case. I tend to appreciate this warts and all approach where you hear where a band is at a particular time and place.

Was expecting another generic British rock album. Pleasantly surprised with a fun punk album! This of course is due to my ignorance of the band. Turns out they absolutely deserve to be on this list.

The Fall. Be still my beating heart.

Intrigued- I'll come back for this, I think. I cut it off at Music Scene, because it's a lot to have on while trying to do almost anything else. Excellent nastiness that demands your attention. I was excited to hear rebellious jukebox in the album context.

Pretty good pretty good

Recorded in one day? Yeah it definitely sounds like scratch takes. I think it was mixed in one day too.

Good album

Spent plenty of time not ranking this one because it's tough. I like the Fall, but how much do I like the Fall? Which Fall do I like? How does this nascent one compare to later Fall? Does it matter? I don't have good answers. The Fall, in their postpunk, seem to fulfill the promise of PiL - this is a bit more musical, the sneer a little more directed, the lyrics a little more thoughtful and oblique and arty (can you imagine a track as obvious as Religion on this album?). Mark E Smith pretends to sing, a rarity, but of course the album is at its most Fall-like when he sneers and barks-uh his intrusive thoughts at you. It's not anti-music like Einsturzende Neubauten, it's anti-music like shears pointed at your chest-uh. IF you like that, and I recognize that's a small part of the population, this is a great ride. Of course, it's also very easy to hate, the way my kids did: 2 seconds into 2 Steps Back she shouts, "I DON'T LIKE THIS SONG!" So I turned it off. But I do like it, and I've been singing NO CHRISTMAS FOR JOHN QUAYS in my head like a nervous tic for days.

If you told me these were outtakes from the first Clash album, I’d believe you.

I like it. One that I feels pleases the converted, whilst providing a (sadly no longer an option) template for seeing them live over studio.

There’s punk and then there’s punk, and this is the lesser variety, as far as I’m concerned (or perhaps I should say: I just wasn’t in the mood for it today).

The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials (1979) On Day 285, this record proved to be a thoroughly rough, unrewarding experience. While I already knew and liked "Rebellious Jukebox" from my post-punk playlists, and found a brief moment to appreciate on "Industrial Estate," the rest of the album was a chore. The single-day recording session resulted in a cheap, rushed production that felt completely hollow, paired with lead vocals so disengaged and monotonous they dragged the whole project down. The tracks meandered with so little presence or structural payoff that the record ended without me even realizing it was over. Outside of one or two sparks, it was an entirely forgettable listen. A 1.5 / 2.

I could not wait for this to end. It was unlistenably dissonant. One star to the drummer

So this is the album that spawned all the most annoying bands to appear on C86?

There’s no band quite like The Fall and no Fall album quite like this one

Decent

Pretty damn good. A couple great tracks.

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

Giving a high 3 just because it is slightly on the short side to be higher for me.

There are The Fall albums I like more than this - on the longer tracks the discordinated nature loses some of its charm. High 3

Better than expected. Drummer keeps things together

Two The Fall albums within a week. Meh. Don't like these guys. 2/10 for it being live over studio

It's a post-punk record

Punk del bueno, no muy pesado. Bueno

Mitt eneste forhold til The Fall er denne tekstlinja fra Jens Lekman: I thought she said maple leaves And when she talked about the fall I thought she talked about Mark E Smith I never understood at all Tenker jeg fortsetter det slik.

Almost what I like but not quite

espantoso

Shit

Die stem is niet mijn ding. Muziek is lekker

Колись давно слухав цей альбом. Пам'ятав його трохи іншим. Тоді не сильно сподобався. Цього разу мені дуже сподобалась його енергетика, хороший рівень драйву. Панк складова через свою простоту все ще дуже виразна, хоч і звук вже відповідає приставці пост.

Дуже впливовий гурт і цю впливовість можна почути в купі сучасних пост-панк та арт-панк колективів, наприклад ті самі протомартір. Але якщо бути вже відвертим, то саме The Fall - не моя чашка чаю.

No disrespect, but I feel like writing these songs must have been the easiest thing ever? Hardly any of them have any melody. Two Steps Back is OK though.

I liked it, but not enough. I'm not sure what the feel of the album was supposed to be.

Absolutely hated this. What the fuck is Stewart Lee on?!

Lowkey couldn't make it through this. If it was playing in the background at a record store I might like it

7.9

Stabil, hat mich neugierig auf weitere Alben der Band gemacht.

För ett album på endast 30 min varade det förvånansvärt länge, men jag gillade ändå ett par av låtarna.

The Adverts did it better.

Some interesting guitar and drums. Really not into the vocal style though.

I imagine the CIA has used this album to get terrorists to divulge information. It’s two hours of the worst kind of British rambling rock, where every song feels like it started 10 minutes ago and forgot where it was going. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, some of the tracks are live performances that somehow sound even worse. By the end I was ready to confess to shit I didn’t even do.

the fall realistically doesn't need any albums on this list, but if one was to be included, it sure as fuck wouldn't be this one. Is it bad? No, not at all. It's pretty good even. But 3 albums by this random post-punk band is NOT what I believe is necessary. But that’s kinda beside the point. I like the instrumentation on this a LOT, however I don’t really love the vocalist that much, though, It’s not that I dislike him, he’s just not my style. I love this kind of weird post-punk though. I just wish a more radical British dude were at the helm than this guy. He has some good moments though, and I respect him a lot. I think the biggest problem is the album doesn’t have enough standouts to really convince me that it’s GREAT. Pretty good though. LOVE the groove on “Mother - Sister!” Near the end, the vocal performance on “No Xmas for John Quays” really hits. I like “Industrial Estate” for its simplicity and directness, and I like “Rebellious Jukebox” just as a song as a whole. Really there’s just something missing, but that’s really fine, because it’s still a very pleasant album. 6.8/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: NAH REASON: NOT RELEVANT OR REALLY GOOD ENOUGH EITHER

That was alright, I’m not necessarily going to remember that one. Brief punk album that does not rank super high in the genre for me, but is still listenable

I’m a fan of punk - but this was forgettable.

The upside of punk is that most songs are less than two minutes.

i started this and thought “oh, 30 minute punk album, i’m in for a treat”, and then it just kind of annoyed me for the most part? not sure if it was the production, the vocals, or just my mood today.

This is fun, I enjoy the chaos sound, I like that I spend a lot of time not really knowing if I enjoy the vocals. But by not being sure I don't feel like I take it all in either. I can hear a lot of influences for other things I like in here, I feel that it is missing some genuinely good songs which the other albums were comparing it to here often have. I saw the fall once. Mark e Smith spent a good 20 mins of the set looking for a notebook behind the drummer. He found said notebook read some lyrics from it out to us and then it sort of ended. It was either genius or appalling. I think it might have been both, but maybe my musical tastes are more basic and I'd have preferred an actual gig. Enjoyed it. Would like to hear more, didn't blow my mind low/mid 4.

Skrikpunk med falsk sång som är ömsom nice och ömsom onice, men funkade bra att jobba till

Not my cup of tea.

Really feels like the Buzzcocks and college radio merged for this album. I'm really shocked this came out in 1979. Doesn't feel like a late 70s album at all. It's good, but I think my tolerance for post punk music only goes so far. This isn't going to be a quick add to my usual rotation.

Two days in a row of not being able to get 10 minutes into an album. I think I made it to track 2 this time though. Just no bueno......

That was alright. Again nothing that I would say is a must listen, but that seems to be the norm with this list anyways.

The Fall is harsh and not for everyone. The music is grating and I do have to be in an open mood to make it through the album, but for me, it isn't bad.

Not very good

Malísimo. Muy malo. Creo que no soporté más de dos canciones completas. No me gustó nada.

You would be impressed by this if it was a couple of local 15 year olds who cobbled this together. But it's supposed to be more than that. I'm all for experimentation but you don't need to listen to more than a few of these songs to get that they are angry and making noise because of it.

isso aqui é barulho com sotaque britânico

Music is fine, singing is atrocious. Hard pass for me.

Не альбом, а гребаный шум

No me interesa

Late 70s post punk. Really boring punk album, irritating vocals.

Strange, discordant, angular with MES snarling all over it. Wonderful

Jamais écouté avant. Top : Frightened Flop : No Xmas for John Quays

feels like being stuck in a shabby pub with a bitter, restless man who has decided that everyone around him is an idiot and refuses to stop explaining why. The guitars and bass keep grinding through repetitive patterns while the drums stumble and push underneath them, and Mark E. Smith doesn't so much sing as bark, mutter and rant over the top. Sometimes the sheer awkwardness becomes compelling, but just as often I feel trapped in his monologue, waiting for the next interruption that never quite comes. The album's raw, deliberately unpolished sound makes that feeling even stronger.

quite punk-ish / stranglers-ish in attitude. Not bad

Not a huge fan of Post-punk, but they do lean a bit more in the old school punk direction. With a different singer and a bit more thrash, I think they could have been great. As it is. They're just ok if not a little sub-par. The re-Issue with those live tracks at the end would have been better, but I have to go off the original issue.

This is awful.

Favorite Song: Industrial Estate Least Favorite: Rebellious Jukebox

2 stars Kind of generic British post punk. I know it’s a silly thing to say when this came out at the beginning of this stuff, but it wasn’t more interesting than things I’ve already listened to.

割とよくて、脳みそ空っぽで聴ける系の音楽なのかな そういうジャンルは割と好みで、洒落たシックな音楽だけをいっぱい聴くだけじゃなくて、こういう音楽も聴くことで音楽が秘めている根源的な楽しさを見出せる気がする。

Apple music takes you to a 41 track 2 cd reissue, I hate when that happens. The original was only 11 tracks, and they were completely forgettable, so don't bother listening any further.

meh

4/10 - not quite full-on punk but just generic rock

6/10

I liked this album marginally better than the previous album from The Fall (which I got about four weeks ago), but... I still am not impressed. The music never goes anywhere or does anything interesting, and while it is fine on the lyrics side with some cleverness, it's nothing really special. This just feels like another filler album, and it's disappointing that two slots on the list went to this group when so many other (more) significant albums were left off. Like I said, I enjoyed this album more than their later effort, but I just can't bring myself to care about anything here, other than maybe some decent bass lines. Favorite track: "Underground Medecin"

Abrasive doesn't even do it justice. It grated on me for the full play through but I realised that's it's secret weapon. Some good stand out tracks. Not an album I'll revisit but I recognise it's qualities.

A bit shit, but I’m pretty sure I get it.

Overall: 8/10 What a strange album! I can totally understand why some people wouldn't enjoy this, but I had a great time. I got another album by these guys a long time ago from this website that I thought was great as well, but I vibe with this one so much that I almost want to see if that other album is as good as I initially thought. My favourite thing about it is the guitar, they're kind of all over the place in a way that still seems coherent and cool to me. Fav Song: Rebellious Jukebox

Meira pönk og ég ekki orðinn neitt rosalega mikið meira pönk. Ekkert hérna nær í gegn sem gott lag svo þetta er bara leiðinlegt pönk.

Utter shite. Worst guitar riffs I’ve ever heard. Like a 13 year old with their Baby’s First fender starcaster. The other instrumentalists aren’t much better. This pissed me off driving to work today. Not because it’s punk music that got me fired up about working for the man and other anti establishment shit- but rather that I had my time wasted by these talentless hacks and Robert Dimery’s incompetence at curating a list. ⭐️

I'll admit I'm biased against Live albums. For me, this was not a good introduction to The Fall.

Real British Shit

Been on a run of pretty good albums the past week. Not vibing with this as much. Giving too much Halloween Town vibes.

Not sure how I've never heard this before

Only have some cursory knowledge, of this band, but excited to hear them. A little too discordant and purposefully harsh for my taste, however, there are some good bits. The music itself is good, but the guitar can be grating at times. I feel like they figure out their niche in "Mother-Sister!". The vocals are fun, lots of different takes, styles, spoken word, yelling, etc. This really seems like a huge precursor band for Idles, who I love for sure. Last song finally finishes will a more polished and refined sound. Overall, I like parts of it, but not a ton. Kind of a 2.5, but I'll round up. 3/5 Favorite Tracks: Mother-Sister!, Futures and Pasts Least Favorite Tracks:

I don't have patience for this

I like the energy, I like the performance, nothing wrong with it.

Meeh.... No me gustó

Troo bri'ish rockas Yeah this was pretty fun. I can't remember the lyric but he says "I run away from toilets, I run away from feces" and that really resonated with me... The vocals are fairly homogeneous but the lyrics were great. Might give the extended edition a go. When first listening to it I thought it was "No Xmas for Junkies". Favorite(s): Crap Rap 2/Like to blow No Xmas for John Quays Least: Rebellious Jukebox 4/5

Fav: No Xmas for John Quays, Underground Medecin L: Rebellious Jukebox 3.5 I’m having trouble rating this one. It has good comedic value but not as much as other albums and it veers from being funny into annoying a bit too often. I didn’t smile quite a bit while listening to it which counts for something. I probably will end up listening to a song or two from this now and again. The more I think about it maybe the more I like it. I guess it does a good job at being music for a particular mood. Album Cover: 2 It's not put together right or something, especially the words on it. Album name: 2.5 Could be an interesting title but I don't know that it fits how I feel about the album.

I think I would've liked this a lot more a few years ago. Punk really just be shouting the title of the song a few times and calling it a day. W: forgor L: forgor 2.5/5

Ok, I really like post punk and weird dissonant off kilter groovy music, so in theory I should love this, but I just found it boring. All the songs feel like they are 20 bpm too slow, and they drag on for much longer than what feels like their natural end point. It is still interesting how early they've adopted this sound, I just wish the songs were better. High 3.

First of three "The Fall" albums I've gotten in a 5 day span which should be illegal. Spastic but with no real cohesion that makes the songs have actual song qualities. Dissonant but in an annoying way. Vocals sound like he listened to the Sex Pistols and is doing a bad impression. Hoping the other two albums are an improvement.

Absolutely no need for this many albums from this band. The talent that exists in Manchester and we're showcasing this?