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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The second album to feature vocalist Mark E. Smith's then-wife Brix on guitar, The Wonderful And Frightening World is the one where her pop sensibilities begin to surface, ameliorating the band's chaotic energy and framing Smith's splenetically misanthropic lyrics within tighter song structures. This might have failed to please some long-time Fall fans, but the band still deliver muscular and pounding settings for some of Mark E. Smith's finest rants: "Bug Day" recounts a vision of insect revolution, "2x4" extols the braining of people with planks of wood, and opener "Lay of the Land" revisits the frantic rockabilly much in evidence on Fall recordings. The CD release adds seven extra tracks, culled from singles and EPs, including "No Bulbs" and "C.R.E.E.P." (a hilarious demolition of trendy zeitgeist-surfers). This LP and its successor This Nation's Saving Grace explore a lighter, more song-oriented territory, and as such, are a good introduction to the band's vast back catalogue, and a palate-cleanser for more seasoned Fall followers. --Burhan Tufail
CD Description
Remastered from the original analogue tapes specially for this vinyl edition is pressed on 180g VINYL, this is a LIMITED EDITION of 5000 copies, with gatefold sleeve printed on heavyweight board and newly designed inner bag. The eighth Fall album consolidated the abrasive sextet 700;s relationship with producer John Leckie, who helped expand their musical palate without sacrificing individuality. The presence of guitarist Laura Elise, better known as Brix Smith, expanded the unit 700;s tonal capabilities, but they remain firmly a vehicle in which singer Mark E. Smith vented his spleen. His vitriolic lyrics were as uncompromising as ever, even if now-accustomed dissonance is occasionally paired with neo-psychedelic nuances. The Wonderful And Frightening World is the one where her pop sensibilities begin to surface, ameliorating the band 700;s chaotic energy and framing Smith 700;s splenetically misanthropic lyrics within tighter song structures. This might have failed to please some long-time Fall fans, but the band still deliver muscular and pounding settings for some of Mark E. Smith 700;s finest rants: “Bug Day” recounts a vision of insect revolution, “2x4” extols the braining of people with planks of wood, and opener “Lay of the Land” revisits the frantic rockabilly much in evidence on Fall recordings. The Fall are one of those quintissentially English post-punk bands. Formed in Manchester in 1976, the band were very much part of the early punk local scene that heralded The Buzzcocks and have existed in some form ever since, and are essentially built around their founder and only constant member Mark E. Smith. The group 700;s musical output has gone through several stylistic changes over the years. However, The Fall 700;s music is often characterised by repetition, an abrasive guitar-driven sound, and is always underpinned by Smith 700;s vocals and often cryptic lyrics, abstract poetry filled with complicated wordplay, bone-dry wit, cutting social observations, and general misanthropy (sometimes more implied than clearly stated, but apparent nonetheless). The band 700;s output is prolific, they have released over 27 studio albums, and more than triple that counting live albums and other releases. They have never achieved widespread public success beyond a handful of minor hit singles in the late 1980s, but have maintained a strong cult following. The band were long time favourites of the dearly departed BBC DJ John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and cited The Fall as his favourite band, famously explaining, “They are always different; they are always the same.”
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Mark E Smith, with then-wife Brix and his merry men of music troubadors joined forces with producer John Leckie, (who would later go on to produce The Stone Roses and Cast, amongst others), to construct one of the finest overlooked albums of the eighties. The album opens with 'Lay of the Land', a seven-minute rumbler with near heavy-metal guitars towards the end and an unforgettable acapella chorus, which leaves the listener reeling and reaching for the smelling salts in the dying seconds of the song, by which time all the guitars have gone out of tune, due to their sonic mis-handling. The next track "2x4" opens with yet another classic Steve Handley bass riff, whilst "Copped It" is merely an extraordinary audio collage of vocals and sound that was later used by dancer Michael Clarke in his reviews (see also "I am Kurious Oranj"). "Elves" owes much debt to Iggy and the Stooges, with Mark E Smith singing through a paper bag and sneezing at one point in the song. Leaving aside the excellent additional singles and b-sides that grace the CD-reissue but not the original album, the final five tracks comprise nothing less than an audio calling-card of why the Fall remain one of the most enigmatic and least-understood bands in Britain. Lyrical wizardry, melodic overdrive, experimentation without boredom and one of the finest drum and bass teams in the business gel perfectly to produce five classic tracks. I have listened to this album so many times I am now on my second (vinyl) copy and yet, due to the magnificence of John Leckie's production as much as the songs themselves, I still hear something new on every listen. I implore you to try this album. Live with it and persevere with it for six months and then try to find another album that can be compared to this apocalyptic and apoplectic peer-crushing jewel.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
-Is a statement that could apply to most Fall albums (*apart from the endless compilations/live albums/live compilations and the odd mess like The Light User Syndrome & Levitate)- 1984's Wonderful&Frightening World of The Fall is where Brix Smith began to register. From this album to 1988's Frenz Experiment, The Fall moved away from the epic-climes of tracks like And This Day, Garden & Hexen Definitive to something close to pop.
Lay of the Land is the great opening track (a memorable Whistle Test performance saw Michael Clark join the band's performance), producer John Leckie (The Stone Roses, The Bends, Empires&Dance) captures a more muscular Fall. The tracks have the potency of Joy Division/New Order in terms of sound- 2by4, The Stooges-quoting Elves & the jangly O!Brother single saw The Fall move into pop-rock climes (though still remaining The Fall).
This album comes with several bonus tracks- the singles O!Brother/God Box & CREEP/Pat Trip Dispenser & the Call for Escape Route EP (No Bulbs, Draygo's Guilt, Slang King & the Gavin Friday guested Clear Off!)- which make the whole even greater. Lay of the Land, Bug Day, Elves...all wonderful- the Smith/Smith/Hanley/Burns/Hanley/Scanlon line-up arguably the perfect Fall (well, they were the line-up I heard first)The album proper concludes on the strangely moving territory- preceding such classics as Bill is Dead, Living Too Late & Edinburgh Man- though we go out on a high with the jangly rockabilly of No Bulbs, complete with great backing vocals...
I'd argue for many Fall-albums, follow-up This Nation's Saving Grace is seen as their best album of the Brix-era- which I think devalues both this & Bend Sinister (1986). The 16-tracks of this reissue show one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands of all time on a frequent peak of creativity...
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of my favourite Fall albums. I owned the original LP but got it on CD again recently. It sounds as good now as it did originally. Favourite tracks are Lay of the Land, 2x4, Copped it and Elves - an amazing opening set of tracks for the album - then also Pat-Trip Dispenser which I think is one of the added tracks from singles released at the time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The place to start with The Fall
Fall fans like myself are in no doubt that they're the greatest band ever, but they're not exactly easy listening and are certainly not for everyone. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Sir Percy Blakeney
Just as good as all the other reviewers say it is
So buy it now and wonder how you've managed for all these years without it. And then buy every other record by the Fall and throw all your other ones out as they will suddenly be... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2007 by J. Greaves
anything is better than bug day!
1984 eh? strange year for me. first my wife left me.....then i won an inflatable speedboat...she soon came back. Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2004 by hank chinaski
For The Fall, this is it.
Bought this when it first came out in nineteen eighty whatever,(yes on a big shiny black disc thingy called a record, that required a gramaphone and needle to make noise) thanks to... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2000
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