This Nation's Saving Grace [Original recording reissued]

This album came from what is commonly referred to as The Fall's "pop-period", particularly because they managed to amass a few minor chat hits through a more polished production (by Fall standards at least) and the involvement of Fall-leader Mark E. Smith's then-wife Brix. Brix brings along a more American pop/rock element, involving sweet guitar hooks and backing vocals, though they're combined to that ramshackle Fall style which is still vaguely familiar from the rigid and uncompromisingly difficult classic, Hex Enduction Hour. This album even kicks off with a Brix-solo track... although admittedly, it is a one-minute twenty-one second instrumental, titled Mansion. The album proper opens with Hanley/Smith penned composition Bombast (featuring that classic opening line "feel the wrath of my... bombast" before the song goes on to establish a sort of sound for the rest of the album.

The sound continues on the next song, Barmy, which is one of my favourites from this album (along with other highpoints like Vixen, My New House, Paint Work and one of the three bonus tracks, Cruiser's Creek), with Brix and Scanlon continuing the great guitar sound of the first two songs into something almost approaching mainstream rock... I say almost, because any attempt at a sustained melody is put to rest throughout the song, as Smith brings in a burst of feedback, a sprinkling of drum and bass and a taste of tuneless violin. At five and a half-minutes it certainly keeps our attention... surging off into strange and dissonant territory, before pulling back to that lovely original guitar melody.

The next three songs are all more pop-oriented than the songs found on Hex, with Spoilt Victorian Child continuing one of Smith's favourite lyrical obsessions with allusions to the class struggle, whilst L.A. and the abovementioned Vixen both draw heavily on the American pop sensibilities of Brix, who adds the rather sweet backing vocals that jar beautifully with that infamous Mark E. Smith whine. Gut of the Quantifier is another highlight, a full band contribution that leads perfectly into My New House, which I suppose could be categorised loosely as rockabilly (as could a few of the songs here), with Smith wailing that catchy refrain "have you seen my house... my new house... have you seen my house... have you SEEN my new house...?" over the top of it.

Paint Work is an infuriating masterpiece... another song like Barmy which could have quite easily been a gorgeous pop song in the hands of someone else, but here gets turned into a near seven-minute ramble with different time-sequences, key-changes and a purposely lo-fi approach to the recording, curtsey of producer John Leckie (The Strange Idols Pattern, Dukes of the Stratosphere, The Stone Roses, The Bends, etc). The guitar melody here is lovely, with Smith intoning different variations of the phrase "hey Mark you're spoiling all the paint work" over the top of it, before the song gets cut short by a recording error, a burst of instrumental distortion, a blast of studio chatter... then it picks up again as if nothing had happened (this continues until the end to create a song that is as hypnotic as it is gleefully annoying).

The most difficult track on the album is the six-minute trek into the realms of experimental Kraut-rock, with the Can-referencing, I am Damo Suzuki. Once again, Smith repeats the title over and over again... though this time, the musical bed of jangling rockabilly guitars and sweet percussion is replaced by jagged drums, distorted (almost screaming) guitars and funky bass. It's one of those songs that may take a few listens to fully sink in (although to be fair, I found that the album as a whole took a few listens to fully sink in) but after a while, the trance-like rhythm manages to take a hold, and I often find myself walking around the house shouting "I am... Damo Suzuki"!!

The album closes with the great Petty (Thief) Lout and two bonus-tracks, the unmistakably rockabilly Rollin' Danny and the great pop-influenced Cruiser's Creek. This Nation's Saving Grace is a great, if perhaps difficult album. Less abrasive than Hex Enduction Hour, though probably a little more memorable than the equally great Wonderful Frightening World (I can't speak for their other albums, given that they have about 5000 CD's available for purchase, and I'm on a tight budget), I would, regardless, recommend this as a good place to start for anyone interested in discovering this particular period of The Fall.

Don't be afraid of the wonderful and frightening world of The Fall. Buy this album - you won't regret it.