The Wonderful and Frightening World of buying records by The Fall...

Okay. This is the skinny. I'm reading a book at the minute (not fast enough mind you as I need to get a review up sharpish) about The Fall. Now, I love The Fall. I think they're Britain's (or should that be Prestwich?) only garage punk band of note. I like the way Mark E. Smith is as enigmatic as he is a twat. They tick so many boxes that it's ludicrous that I don't own a proper album by them... why? Have you seen how many releases they've got out? It's a daunting task.

So with that, I'm hoping some Fall devotees will be able to help me out. It's time. It's time to start buying some Fall records so I can end up demented in my quest for all things Fall. Naturally, die-hard fans will demand that I go out and buy absolutely everything they've ever done as they're the best band in the world, even when they're off-par.

However, I want to ease myself in the murk (E. Smith)... so I'll tell which songs I like so you can make an informed opinion. I'm seriously into 'Industrial Estate', 'Rowche Rumble', 'Totally Wired', 'Kicker Conspiracy', 'How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'', 'Prole Art Threat', 'Spoilt Victorian Child'... I'm sure some of youse have spotted that these are essentially the first CD in the '50,000 Fall Fans Can't be Wrong' comp, which I own... so where to start with proper LPs? Over to you Fallheads. [mof]

Comments

[ceri]

you need to start with arguably their greatest album Hex Enduction Hour from 82, then move straight to Slates by way of Perverted By Language. After that you just need This Nations Savings Grace and that's probably it for the essentials, although there are many great moments in other albums. For singles collections it's either Totally Wired, the Rough Trade years or Palace of Swords Reversed.

[David Walker]

I'll accept Nations Saving, but also recently rediscovered The Wonderful And Frightening World recently (via a bag of old cassettes). Great album.

The ultimate 'entry level' Fall album is the old 'A Sides' compilation, which covers all their people-friendly tracks. Every home should have one.

[Nigel Bevan]

I started my Fall obsession 18 months ago I can assure you will in the end buy the lot. 50,000 is the best starting place which you've already done from there on in I would recommend.

This Nations Saving Grace
The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall
Grotesque
Infotainment Scan
Extricate
Fall Head Rolls
Imperial Wax Solvent (New album and its up there)

End of day, your a music buff and I assure you The Fall will take over your life and you'll never listen to music in the same way again - be warned