The Fall - "The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall"
The Fall are #6 on my list of all time great rock bands largely due to their work from the 1980s. To me they are the best band of the 1980s and not only because their recorded output spans the entire decade. Their eminent position is largely the result of the six albums recorded for Beggars Banquet between 1984 and 1989. It is true previous ‘80s Fall releases have their champions – e.g., Grotesque, Hex Enduction Hour, Slates - but The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall was The Fall’s first undisputed triumph, firmly establishing the band as a beckoning British institution to be reckoned with. After eight years baffling a British music industry seemingly suffering from an incurable attention deficit disorder, Mark E. Smith’s playwrighterly lyrics were given the proper setting in which to shine, largely though the efforts of a new label, a new producer and new wife Brix E. Smith - an American no less – who was also The Fall’s new lead/rhythm guitarist and an effective vocal foil to Mark in Fall Line-up #17. It should also be noted that of the 17 new tracks from 1984 (many of which get multiple, yet not repetitive, airings here), Brix has songwriting credits on 11 of them.
The Fall had just left Rough Trade over justifiably felt slights. The Smiths might have taken their name from Mark E. and Brix E. Smith - if the Manchester myth be true - but Rough Trade was more interested in consolidating success of Morrissey’s band over that of The Fall, even if The Fall was riding a crest of powerful singles that matched The Smiths’ material for quality. Signing with Beggars Banquet in 1984, however, triggered an outpouring of timeless work that rivals any band’s. It is often said of Jimi Hendrix that his music sounds as new today as it did when first released. The same can be said of the trilogy of elpees the band issued between 1984 and 1986. The Wonderful and Frightening Frightening World of ... The Fall was the first of those elpees and it now gets the fully deserved 4-disc treatment with an informative 40-page book chockfull of interview snatches, photos and reprinted reviews as well as a list of recommended reading material.
Disc 1: The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall (40:10)
This legendary album is known as a commercial breakthrough but listening to the nine tracks in proper running order for the first time in decades, I’m struck by how uncommercial this record sounds. I think us Fall fans thought it was commercial-sounding based on the two keyboard-sparkling singles that preceded it – ‘Oh! Brother’ and ‘c.r.e.e.p.’ – but as is true of most Fall elpees form this era, the singles are not to be found on the The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall.
I think we thought it commercial at the time because it was the band’s step up from low-fi to hi-fi; the first time the band had production values worthy of The Beatles. This was not surprising because it was the first time they were working with John Leckie, a producer who had worked with The Beatles, although on solo projects, most notably George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band (and Yoko Ono’s too), Paul McCartney’s ‘Hi Hi Hi’ single. Leckie had also worked with Pink Floyd, Be Bop Deluxe, Simple Minds, and on Public Image Ltd.’s debut single prior to his entanglement with The Fall.
The songs were recorded live in the studio with Leckie not letting Smith’s behavior get the better of him. Smith likes to take the piss out of everyone. He runs The Fall like Connie Mack ran the Philadelphia A’s and believes creativity breeds on tension. The proof is in the output. Gavin Friday of The Virgin Prunes appears as “a friendly visitor” on ‘Copped It’ and ‘Stephen Song’, pinning winning vocal performances that make me want to look up the Virgin Prunes’ discography. The Fall’s many line-ups is the stuff of legend (and one recommended book: Dave Simpson’s The Fallen), but the fact remains that throughout the ‘80s, Smith was not the only constant. Bassist Stephen Hanley – who photographs very strangely: sometimes he looks like an old man! – and guitarist Craig Scanlon were part of The Fall for the entire decade. Their integral role in The Fall is acknowledged in each having a song – i.e., ‘Stephen Song’ and ‘Craigness’ -named for them.
I also think what sets The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall apart from previous Fall albums is this the first time Smith showed a wistful side. Maybe it should have been called The Wonderful and Wistful World Of … The Fall. The most palpable proof of this is the album closer ‘Disney‘s Dream Debased’: a song about a woman’s death riding The Matterhorn in Disneyland, an incident that occurred on the day that Brix E. Smith took her husband to her favorite amusement park. The Fall have never sounded so touching as on this track.
Disc 2: Singles and Rough Mixes (72:32)
This collection reminds me that ‘Oh! Brother’ was released two and a half months before ‘c.r.e.e.p.’: it’s always felt the other way round to me. Interestingly – for me anyway – these recordings date from the first sessions with Leckie, when they also recorded the two opening tracks from The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall. The 12-inch version of these tracks (“O! Brother” and ‘C.R.E.E.P.’ )get an almost dub treatment. It is dub as if produced by rock and rollers and not Jamaicans and are the two tracks I implore you to seek if you have not yet heard them. They could change your life … or – at the very least – your opinion of The Fall.
What is also interesting about The Fall’s three singles from 1984 is that it’s impossible to separate the A-sides form the B-sides. When Beggars Banquet released a single disc greatest hits CD in 1990 as well as a double-disc CD collecting all the B-sides of the A-side songs on the greatest hits package, it was impossible to tell which one was better. Actually it’s the B-side package, which contains many lengthier versions of the A-side “hits”.
Disc 3: BBC Radio Sessions (68:48)
Many Fall fans on the other side of the Atlantic insist the band’s best recordings have been those done for BBC radio broadcasts. Disc 3 offers up 15 performances for Americans to judge for themselves. The first four from the 12/12/83 Peel Session (broadcast 1/3/84) have long been available – most notably on the The Complete Peel Sessions 1978 – 2004 box set (one of two of the “you gotta have it” box sets issued in the aughts: the other being The Pogues’ Just Look Them Straight In The Eye And Say Poguemahone!!) – but the other eleven performances are hard to come by and they are a real find. Mark E. Smith’s lyrics on the BBC session recordings are definitely easier to discern.
The Peel Session suffers in comparison to the others for several reasons: it’s the earliest; the session predates Leckie’s affect on The Fall’s sound; and - though it post-dates Brix E. Smith’s addition to the band - she was still easing herself in and her influence is as not yet pervasive (in a beneficial way). By The Jensen Session (recorded 2/12/84 and broadcast 3/1/84) she fits more comfortably in. Only ‘Creep’ was recorded at both sessions but differences between them are telling. Both performances are shorter than the studio version but whereas the Peel version is faster and punkier, the Jensen version is insidious and fluid and when Brix sings you senseshe’s proven to the other band members that she’s more than just Mark’s wife. The Long Session (recorded 9/9/84 and broadcast 9/17/84) postdates the Leckie recording sessions of The Wonderful and Frightening World Of … The Fall and showcases a line-up bursting with confidence. ‘No Bulbs’ – the third single of 1984 for The Fall – had not yet been released so radio listeners would not be aware of the fun Mark was having with the words and that’s Brix doing the “friendly visitor” vocals on ‘Stephen Song’. ‘Slang King’ is more percussive on this session, and I just don’t mean the drums. Everything sounds like its getting slapped by drumsticks. This is the disc that’ll probably get the most play and it ends with three performances from a radio show called Saturday Live. These performances have more a live feel – it’s a real din with churning guitars - and sets you up nicely for Disc 4 if you play the Omnibus Edition in order.
Disc 4: Live at Pandora’s Music Box Festival (50:45)
If The Fall has an Achilles Heel, it is their live performances, which are hit or miss. Sets are forward looking in that songs played are usually recent or new material with one cover song and one or two oldies. I think Fall concerts used to be longer in the 1980s, but we can attribute the shortness of this performance to the fact it is a festival that took place on September 22, 1984 at De Doelen in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The set was eight songs long and fans must’ve enjoyed The Fall’s appearance because there is a two song encore. The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall was not yet released – that would occur on October 12th – but that does not prevent The Fall from playing five songs from it, including ‘Lay Of The Land’, the album and concert opener. It’s a strong performance with only ‘Craigness’ misplaced and capped by ‘No Bulbs’, one of the truly great of many great Fall songs and it shines here as it always does. I doubt I’ll ever play this disc again but its inclusion is warranted as it presents another angle of The Fall in 1984.
The question then - for you shopper - is should you buy this?
If you’re merely curious, then I suggest you get the 1988 single CD (reissued in 1997) that mirrors the 1984 cassette, which included A- and B-sides. If you’re a fan, the question is should you get this or wait for the February 2011 Omnibus Edition of This Nation’s Saving Grace from 1985? It is, after all, the better album. But with the A- and B-sides thrown in, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall is a better collection. And with the disturbing rumors that the Omnibus Edition of This Nation’s Saving Grace will only be three discs due to live radio broadcasts are a-missing and outtakes not very different, my recommendation to you – shopper – is that you should not wait. Your money will be better spent on the Omnibus Edition of The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall
