I used to adore them but somehow lost my interest a couple of years ago.

I was quite surprised when I lately read that they are still around and have released another album recently, so:

- how doy you like that album? is it worth wile buying ist?
- what do you think of the current line-up especially in comparison to that one in the early nineties?
- is there a tour schedule that would lead them to Germany or the Netherlands this year?

Heard the US Fall (as they are all Americans now) are very good and the shows are still basically Fall shows in that you never know what you're going to get.

Haven't heard the album but generally good reviews.

Mark E Smith interviewed in Record Collector recently.

Left Eye died.

"No Anchovies, Please"

I have been a massive fan of The Fall since they began in the seventies. The new album has had good reviews and there is a totally new band apart from his wife/girlfriend who remains from the last outfit.

The album was a bit mixed for me - about half is exzcellent and the rest not up to much. The title track is an absolute killer and one of the best things he has ever done. Let down a bit by some weaker material such as a Merle Haggard cover (what is the point?)

I prefer the previous 2 albums to this - more consistent but this is worth getting for any Fall fan - particularly for the Reformation track

Andy

I used to love The Fall. I was a huge fan from 1983 (when I first got into them) until 1994, when they released their first truly dodgy album, Middle Class Revolt. Then things went seriously downhill as Mark E Smith's booze problems started affecting performances and albums. I'd say they haven't really made a decent album since The Infotainment Scan, but The Unutterable (2000) and The Real New Fall LP (2003) are their best albums since then.

They're nowhere near as good as they once were when Craig Scalon and Stephen Hanley in the band. In fact, they're not even The Fall now, they're Mark E Smith and his revolving door of musicians. Reformation Post TLC is pretty weak. Mark's lyrics are particularly dire now.

You wouldn't know Mark E Smith is really a shadow of himself now, from all the glowing press he gets. That's because a lot of people who were into the Fall in the 80s now write for newspapers. See Stewart Lee, a professional Fall fan.

Agreed that they are nowhere near the 1980-86 period but Mark E Smith is always worth my attention. Was a bit pissed off the last time i saw them in London - came on very very late - played a really short set plus Mark seemed to be in a bad mood and was just going through the motions. I had to leave before the end to catch a train home it was so late

Andy

nashville Wrote:
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> Agreed that they are nowhere near the 1980-86
> period but Mark E Smith is always worth my
> attention. Was a bit pissed off the last time i
> saw them in London - came on very very late -
> played a really short set plus Mark seemed to be
> in a bad mood and was just going through the
> motions. I had to leave before the end to catch a
> train home it was so late
>
> Andy

Which gig was that? I last saw them in a pub in Croydon, shortly before he fired his umpteenth line-up (Ben Richards/Spencer Birtwistle). They were great, I have to admit. Apparently the new line up are very good, but I've got a couple of bootlegs from the recent tour and they seem to completely fall apart as soon as Mark comes on.

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> Left Eye died.



.....I think it's a different TLC, Elmo....

love 'The Theme From Sparta FC'

Nikolai - the gig was actually back in 2005 (how time flies) and was at the Forum in Kentish Town. John Cooper Clarke and some other band were supporting. The Fall took an age to get onstage and from the outset you could see that Mark E was in one of those moods. I don't think that he's a big fan of these "larger" gigs because there were a lot of people in the audience who knew nothing much about his music. It didn't help matters when some knob threw a platic glass onstage and hit him sqaurely on the bonce. At the end he did not even come out to sing Blindness and the band just played it as an instrumental - I had left by then

Andy

Thanks for noticing, Lukester. I think that flew over most on here.

"No Anchovies, Please"

Such a handsome lad!

nashville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nikolai - the gig was actually back in 2005 (how
> time flies) and was at the Forum in Kentish Town.
> John Cooper Clarke and some other band were
> supporting. The Fall took an age to get onstage
> and from the outset you could see that Mark E was
> in one of those moods. I don't think that he's a
> big fan of these "larger" gigs because there were
> a lot of people in the audience who knew nothing
> much about his music. It didn't help matters when
> some knob threw a platic glass onstage and hit him
> sqaurely on the bonce. At the end he did not even
> come out to sing Blindness and the band just
> played it as an instrumental - I had left by then
>
> Andy

I was at that one, Andy. It was dreadful. Bo Doodak - the opener - was great, but the rest was very lacklustre. And short. I've seen them far worse. The two shows they played at The Clapham Grand in 1993 were lamentable. On the second night a pissed-up Mark decided to push the amps into the audience. He could have killed a bunch of people. Craig Scanlon pulled him off.

The new album is fine though not outstanding. 4 killer tracks. Cant beat the 6cd peel sessions released after John Peels death for an overview of the history of this amazing band.

Ive seen them about 6 times in the last few years and all bar 2 gigs were fantastic, though if Mark isnt up for it on the night you waste your time- tickets are always reasonably priced.

The new band are excellent but so was the band he sacked last year!

balders Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The new album is fine though not outstanding. 4
> killer tracks. Cant beat the 6cd peel sessions
> released after John Peels death for an overview of
> the history of this amazing band.
>
> Ive seen them about 6 times in the last few years
> and all bar 2 gigs were fantastic, though if Mark
> isnt up for it on the night you waste your time-
> tickets are always reasonably priced.
>
> The new band are excellent but so was the band he
> sacked last year!

You should've seen them between 1983-92. That was their peak live era. I saw them about 17 times then. A few gigs were lacklustre, but, more often than not, they delivered. Smith was mesmerising, the lyrical equivalent of a Charlie Parker or Charles Mingus. The band changed, shed personnel, but always retained a core nucleus of Craig and Steve. They were a great foundation, really fertile ground. The Fall were relentlessly experimental too, each album very very different to the last. It's not the case anymore. Now it's one or two standouts and much boring rockabilly riffing. Very dull. And his lyrics are only mildly more interesting than Paul Weller's these days.

I'm afraid what we're witnessing with The Fall now is a fairly dull soap opera with a will-he/wont-he punchline revolving around Mark's erratic performances.