In some ways, The Fall’s 1994 release, ‘Middle Class Revolt’ has spent most of its life living in the shadow of its immediate predecessor, ‘The Infotainment Scan’. With the help of a rather spirited cover of ‘Lost In Music’, ‘Infotainment’ found its way into the consciousness of the more casual listener and, as a whole, the album showcased a more commercial sounding Fall at somewhere near their best. In retrospect, ‘Middle Class Revolt’ has actually aged just as well, and a few of the record’s deeper cuts provide a really interesting listen.
The 2025 super deluxe release from Cherry Red Records, wisely, takes a tried and tested approach when it comes to re-presenting the album with a wealth of interesting period extras. Mirroring the ‘Infotainment’ box set, the vastly expanded ‘Revolt’ greets the fans as a six disc tome, with the original long player joined by a disc of studio based extras and a generous four disc helping of sounding live material drawn from different sources.
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Looking at the live recordings first – since those are often the big draw with the Fall Sound Archive reissues – as you might expect, the source materials lead to a mixed bag in terms of overall quality. The gig from the Assembly Rooms in Derby (5th June, 1994) is arguably the best known of the three shows since it was previously issued as a Cog Sinister official bootleg in 2018, and well circulated. There’s no getting around the fact that this is rough. Everything is obviously captured on a dictaphone in someone’s pocket. During the “long intro”, the crowd’s bustle and chatter makes more noise than anything on stage, and even once the soon to be familiar strains of ‘M5’ begin to appear, Mark E. Smith and that week’s Fall sound like they’re half a mile away. There’s little during this first “proper” number that would inspire anyone but the most hardcore Fall obsessive to keep listening.
However, allowing time for your ears to adjust, it’s actually a superb Fall gig. As with many Fall shows from this period and beyond, Smith has no time for nostalgia. The first half of the set pummels the crowd with a half dozen numbers from the then most recent album, and it’s not until the arrival of ‘Free Range’ (a track that’s still only two years old at this point) that Mark and company give any genuine concession to anything that would’ve been remotely familiar. The busy sounds that emerge make it sound as if this would have been a gig highlight for those present, but listening back via the bootleg recording, it’s finer points are certainly lost in translation. On the plus side, MES’s vocals couldn’t be clearer considering the lo-fi source, and hearing him repeatedly barking the title between less obvious phrases captures something close to a classic Fall sound.
The mechanical rhythms and grinding basslines that drive ‘Ladybird (Green Grass)’ – also appearing mid-set, and at the time, barely a year old – share a rough power, audio-wise, but in terms of band tightness, everyone sounds as if they’re really sparking off each other. Even MES – known for never giving the same performance of anything twice – sounds focused, attacking his chosen lyric with a real sneer, suggesting he’s actually enjoying his time onstage. Of the newest material, ‘War’ arguably stands as a highlight since it sounds suitably ugly with its repetitive groove overlaid by a throbbing bass and chugging guitar, rarely deviating from their original riff. The hard edged post punk sound and repetition, repetition, repetition here really echoes the earlier ‘And This Day’, showing how Smith’s overall vision hadn’t necessarily weakened, even if a more commercial studio oriented sound in recent years had helped The Fall to expand their audience.
Other new fare like ‘Behind The Counter’ and ‘15 Ways’ also shows off a punchy rhythm section, even if the latter doesn’t really allow for a great listening experience overall due to a very cluttered sound. Unfortunately, the more sedate ‘Reckoning’ sounds like an indistinct indie-rock mulch, but the scattergun rhythm of ‘Middle Class Revolt’ makes up for this, since the drums manage to punch through the heavily reverbed and lo-fi sound. …And if you want a clearer idea of how much this gig doesn’t really pander to the more casual listener, it closes with ‘Life Just Bounces’, a fierce post-punk jangler that relies on riffs over hooks and, at the time of recording, hadn’t even appeared on any of the band’s studio records. Despite capturing a band who sound very much on form, it’s fair to say that this recording from Derby is for obsessives only.
A gig recorded at Tramps in New York – September 1994 – is, again, taken from a bootleg source, but is in much better quality. The audience sounds like it numbers about sixteen people. Much like the Derby gig, the set is heavily weighted to newer material, but everything is played surprisingly tightly. The band seem even more focused, and throughout ‘Behind The Counter’ and ‘M5’ – providing a strong opening pairing – the marriage between Steve Hanley’s bass and Craig Scanlon’s chopping guitar lines is perfect – and even with MES sounding half buried within the noise, it’s clear that The Fall are on fire.
Throughout spirited performances of ‘15 Ways’ and ‘Reckoning’ – which make The Fall sound like the world’s strangest indie band on this night – the feeling of everyone being in the same place, musically, and without MES attempting to sabotage anything, really comes across, but with the arrival of the brilliant ‘Free Range’, everything steps up a gear. Here, Mark can be heard barking over a sharp motorik beat, whilst grinding bass riffs and hard, clanging guitar riffs stoke up a classic Fall sound. Despite the less than perfect audio, this is a great example of this line up’s live power, and even once things slide into ‘Ladybird’, sharing a punchier bass over whooshing keys, the energy in the room feels massive when experienced decades after the event.
The second half of the hour long show isn’t quite as fierce, but strong renditions of ‘Big New Prinz’ and ‘Middle Class Revolt’ do some severely heavy lifting, whist an outing for ‘Lost In Music’ offers a crowd-pleaser and something approaching light relief, before ‘Glam Racket’ lets The Fall apply a world of call and response shouting to a stomping groove. Again, the bootleg source doesn’t quite convey the track’s full force, but fans will certainly get swept up in the energy that’s present here, and for the committed Fall fan yet to have picked up a stand alone copy of this official bootleg on CD, then this will be a welcome collection filler.
A recording taken from Shepherd’s Bush Empire – the day after the release of the ‘15 Ways’ single – is of even greater interest to the die-hard Fall fan, since it’s actually in near perfect audio quality, likely from a soundboard source. Almost everything sounds clear enough to pass as an official recording. Also, rather perversely, its the only show within this set that hasn’t been issued previously, even as an “official bootleg”.
Running a little longer than most gigs from the era, this London show also makes time for a few songs that aren’t part of the regular ‘Revolt’ tour setlist. An especially furious ‘Surmount All Obstacles’ opens the show with a spiky sounding MES barking various phrases over an incessant drum part and particularly loud synth work. A similar feel drives the deep cut ‘British People In Hot Weather’ showcasing some terrific drum work and a classic Smith vocal, often sounding like a self parody-ah. A strange, warped sounding ‘Behind The Counter’ cements any feeling that this gig comes with a real edge, and midway through the track, it’s a pleasure to hear Mark’s signature drawl in a genuine clarity – and especially so, if compared to the other live recordings in this box set – even if this track never ranks among The Fall’s best or most melodic. Even better, ‘You’re Not Up To Much’ takes a garage rock core and overlays elements of distortion that really bring out the best in a raw performance, and the rockabilly heart of ‘Big New Prinz’ attacks with the subtlety of a truck. If the rough and ready elements of the New York show convey excitement through their welcome rawness, then this brings an equal thrill through sheer volume and a weighty sounding drum part allowing everything to be experienced with a genuine power.
By direct comparison, ‘Happy Holiday’ feels really throwaway, but the recording allows an insight into the interplay between bass and keys, showing how there’s often far more at stake than MES sneering and the buzzsaw guitar work taking centre stage. Sounding more like classic “vintage” Fall, but only four years old at the time of this show, ‘I’m Frank’ works a brilliant drum part against clanging guitar sounds and another aggressive vocal, in a near perfect snapshot of a direct sounding band. At least that that’s the case before a few randomly stabbed notes appear in lieu of a proper keyboard solo, threatening to derail everything… For lovers of the accessible ‘Extricate’ album, its inclusion here will feel vital – as will the whole of this gig as part of this box set.
Even the “set regulars” are shared with as much vitality: an angry keyboard part cuts through the centre of a particularly sharp ‘Free Range’, making The Fall sound like a band driving a stake through the heart of the indie scene, ‘Glam Racket’ provides a perfect showcase for Simon Wolstencroft with his rhythmic attack sharing the ultimate post-punk/glam stomp crossover, and the ever reliable ‘Strychnine’ delivers a speed driven punky noise that Smith approaches with a genuine enthusiasm. As for a couple of the then new numbers, ‘Middle Class Revolt’ takes a perfect post-punk stance, its riff applying Smith’s beloved “repetition, repetition, repetition” motif with great effect; ‘15 Ways’ has a punkier feel than its studio counterpart and, even with wavering sound, plays like a set highlight, and ‘Ladybird’ is home to some great, muscular bass work from Hanley, greatly audible against the clattering drums. This gig is a pure joy. It might’ve taken an absolute age to see an official release, but it’s brilliant – it certainly feels like a perfect centrepiece for this reissue.
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The first two discs of this mammoth collection replicate the earlier 2CD edition of ‘Middle Class Revolt’, pairing the original album with a disc’s worth of singles, b-sides, remixes, and the obligatory Peel Session. There’s a minor difference in that the disc of extra recordings has been resequenced with everything building towards the Peel Session, rather than presenting the session as the first (and main) feature, as it should be. The session, regardless of demotion, is still superb.
Three brand spanking new tracks – ‘M5’, ‘Behind The Counter’ and ‘The Reckoning’ – are still some five months away from being released as studio tracks at the time of recording, so this session does some really heavy lifting in promotional terms. ‘M5’ sounds immense with a really clear vocal juxtaposed by a repetitive, somewhat haunting keyboard line, while Scanlon really attacks his guitar. The more melodic ‘…Counter’ sounds rather more like Fall by numbers, complete with MES drawling in the manner of someone doing a typically lazy MES pastiche, but the unity in the rhythm section shines through, making this performance solid enough. Hinting at the forthcoming record’s more “indie based” tracks, a fine rendition of ‘The Reckoning’ places Scanlon front and centre, making The Fall sound more like a lop sided Wedding Present at times, and the punky ‘Hey! Student’ is markedly different from the album take, pushing for far more of a rockabilly angle, much closer to the original ‘Hey! Fascist’. The whole session is enjoyable, but this track is the essential listen, since ‘Fascist’ only really exists on borderline unlistenable bootleg tapes.
The single mixes of ‘War’ and ‘Behind The Counter’ come under the category of “nice to have” for the sake of completeness, but neither offer much of a deviation from their respective album cuts; the single version of ‘M5’ is noticeably a little more live-sounding and would’ve certainly been a more welcome addition to the album instead of the cleaner version chosen, and a remix of ‘Behind The Counter’ adds a bunch of keyboard noises that sound like a mistreated harmonica. These are really only of interest to the more obsessive fan, whilst a selection of dance oriented remixes, despite showing how The Fall had moved a long way from their roots by the mid 90s, aren’t the sort of thing you’d reach for often, and certainly don’t improve on the original cuts. ‘Cab Driver’ is much better: its world of baggy beats, swirling guitars and wavering vocals sound tailor made for the indie clubs of the day, and for lovers of material like ‘Telephone Thing’, it’ll be a favourite deep cut. Two versions of the ‘Happy Holiday’ feel a little flippant by comparison, but whether you favour the indie-centric original (which sounds like a Fall leftover from any point over the previous four years) or the dance oriented “promo mix”, it manages to be a track that’s surprisingly enduring. Overall, these bonus materials are definitely of more of a limited interest in comparison to other sets, but ‘Cab Driver’, ‘Happy Holiday’ and the fabulous Peel Session ensure that this disc will still spend a decent amount of time in your CD player.
As for the original album – which at this point, feels rather weirdly like a surplus disc, since fans will already own it in some previous incarnation – there’s still a lot to enjoy, decades after its original release. Miraculously having survived a tour without Smith firing anyone for eating a salad or dancing to music he thought beneath them (both of which actually happened at some point during the band’s tumultuous history) the ‘Infotainment Scan’ line up of MES, Scanlon, Steve Hanley, Wolstencroft, and keys man Dave Bush returned to the studio in late 1993 to begin work on what was to be a swiftly delivered follow up. ‘Middle Class Revolt’, somewhat understandably, given the musicians involved, would also be musically rather similar to its predecessor.
Any similarities aren’t necessarily a drawback, however, especially when approaching the album decades later. Its more commercial aspects – relatively speaking, of course – showcase a really focused band. This is especially evident on tracks like ‘15 Ways’ with its hefty indie jangle, the bass heavy ‘$500 Bottle of Wine’ offering a throwback to the more club-oriented aspects of the brilliant ‘Extricate’, and the very 70s swagger of The Groundhogs’ ‘Junk Man’, twisted into a bass, drums and kazoo oddity, and sounding not unlike a moody companion to the former album’s ‘Glam Racket’. The latter is especially notable, not for its musical approach, but for marking the return of drummer Karl Burns, making his first appearance with The Fall for over a decade. He would exit again a short time later, but return in time for the ‘Revolt’ US tour, and can be heard as part of a two drummer line up on this box set’s lo-fi recording from New York.
A little rougher sounding, ‘You’re Not Up To Much’ is a great showcase for Craig’s hard edged rhythm guitar work and a fat bass sound from Hanley. Both musicians are presented so highly in the final mix, they’re in danger of drowning out Mark’s rambling vocal. The slightly muddy sound feels like a throwback to ‘Dragnet’s lo-fi origins, even when the music played has clearly moved away from that early album’s post-punk roots. In this respect, John Peel’s famous claim that The Fall were “always different, always the same” is more than valid, and Peel actually makes an appearance during ‘Spirit of Mordgan’, a weird audio verité piece that shows how, even during The Fall’s arguably most accessible period, MES hadn’t lost his desire to challenge. This does derail the album a little, though, and seems like an odd inclusion when the far superior ‘Cab Driver’ gets relegated to b-side status. Things swiftly recover with the help of ‘Hey! Student’, by now sounding very different to the earlier Peel Session recording, and capturing The Fall sounding like a speed driven juggernaut.
When ‘Middle Class Revolt’ takes a couple of unexpected turns, it’s a little more ragged than ‘Infotainment’, but no less cool. Another highlight, ‘Surmount All Obstacles’ contrasts funky bass work with sharp post punk guitar, and shares a MES vocal swamped in effects, making everything feel as if its come from a warped/water damaged tape, and the slight industrial tones of ‘War’ continue to show how, for a band who often aimed for an abrasive sound live, a surprising amount of care went into making their 90s studio recordings sound not only contemporary for the era, but also very interesting.
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If you’re about to invest in a 6CD reissue of ‘Middle Class Revolt’, you’ll already be familiar with the original album, of course, and probably even own the 2CD reissue. Even if the studio album doesn’t quite summon the pep or have the immediacy of ‘The Infotainment Scan’, the vast amount of bonus material present in this reissue makes such a deluxe package worthwhile. You’ll have several Fall live shows in your collection, but the Shepherd’s Bush set makes this an absolute must-have, and everything else acts as a strong overview of a great era. It sort of goes without saying that, as reissues go, this certainly isn’t for the casual buyer – especially considering how rough two of the live shows sound – but Fall fans will certainly welcome the opportunity to get a couple of harder to find bits as part of a well curated box set.
Buy the box set here.
April-June 2025
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