Tag Archives: the fall

THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 13: Cerebral Caustic

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The Fall’s fanbase is notoriously obsessive, but there aren’t likely too many fans who would consider the band’s seventeenth full length studio release, 1995’s ‘Cerebral Caustic’, to be one of their very best. It lacks the sheen of 1994’s ‘Middle Class Revolt’, and kicks off a three album run of less essential offerings. The rougher production values call back to the band’s origins in some ways, but with less distinctive material in hand, the bulk of ‘Cerebral Caustic’ often sounds like Mark E. Smith and cohorts going through the motions with a selection of garage rockers given a post punk edge. If you approach it expecting not much more than that, it’s actually fine for what it is, but considering the band featured Karl Burns, Steve Hanley and Craig Scanlon at this point, and the album marked the brief return of Brix Smith, it should be better than it is.

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THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 12: Fall Heads Roll

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On 2003’s ‘The Real New Fall LP’, Mark E. Smith and his band sounded somewhere near the top of their game. Some of their more critical fans might claim the record didn’t quite capture the fire of their early work, but the record boasted more than its fair share of memorable performances. It showed the now veteran act in a position of strength and would be a hard act to follow, if not impossible, especially considering Smith had a habit of shaking things up whenever he felt things might be going too well.

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THE FALL – The Fall Sound Archive Vol. 11: The Unutterable

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In the early 90s, The Fall hit upon a relatively commercial sound on albums like ‘Extricate’ and ‘The Infotainment Scan’, but as the decade wore on, they found themselves somewhat floundering. Unable to capture a distinctive sound, at least beyond Mark E. Smith’s trademark drawl, their albums became a little hit and miss. 1995’s ‘Cerebral Caustic’ traded in their sharper edged approach for something far more lo-fi; the swiftly delivered ‘Light User Syndrome’ sounded like Fall-by-numbers (although they were great on that tour), and 1997’s ‘Levitate’ abandoned most of the band’s post punk and garage tendencies for extra synths and a barrage of dance rhythms, creating the ultimate opinion-divider. The best bits of 1999’s ‘The Marshall Suite’ reminded everyone that the band were still capable of delivering a few bangers (‘Touch Sensitive’ would go on to become one of The Fall’s most enduring tracks), but by the turn of the millennium, it began to seem like The Fall mightn’t deliver a “classic” album ever again.

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THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 10: Middle Class Revolt

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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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THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 9: The Infotainment Scan

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By the beginning of the 1990s, The Fall were barely recognisable from the band who’d given the world ‘Live At The Witch Trials’ just over a decade earlier. Mark E. Smith’s fearless approach had steered the band down broader musical avenues, far beyond their punky roots, and the line up of The Fall that delivered the brilliant ‘Extricate’ album in 1990 were a hugely sophisticated musical unit. The flirtations with a Manchester influenced indie sound and a few dance oriented beats on tunes like ‘Telephone Thing’ from that album, and the synth based sounds on tunes like ‘The Mixer’ and ‘Sinister Waltz’ (from the following year’s ‘Shift-Work’) may have lost them a few fans, but regular coverage in the music press and a desire to stay contemporary won The Fall new admirers. By the time of the recording 1993’s ‘The Infotainment Scan’, The Fall’s “90s sound” had really found its feet.

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