You've had a go at me privately about this, haven't you? You're Stefan's mate DS yeah?

Anyway, it was up to Voiceprint to sort things out with Phonogram, but obviously that didn't include procuring master tapes. Everything that had been on CD was mastered from CD, the rest from very clean vinyl.

If you can hear scratches on Zandra, you've got better ears than me - I just played it loud on headphones and it's clean as a whistle. There is minor needle noise on the So What About It remixes (esp at the beginnings), but that's about it. I believe the engineer has done a fantastic job on it.

The Free Range tracks are so close to the album versions, they didn't add anything to the compilation (and there wasn't room). I don't consider a track coming to a stop rather than fading out a major point of difference sorry. Check Susan vs Youthclub (when COTC comes out).

photoshop is the future....it is cheaper n quicker.....artists have no chance....jackson bollocks can piss in me microwave

i wish artists would volounteer to do the fall artwork.....but they r probably too stuck up their own arses to give a shit

I got Listening In and then a day later dropped it so now it has a huge scratch. So now I have to go out and get ANOTHER copy, which I'm not sure if I'll do soon, since I can't see paying $15 for three versions of the WORST FALL SONG EVER (So What About It?), and most of the other tracks I have on singles. Sigh, I'll probably do it anyway, because I'm a gay numbnuts.

I want to buy this, I like "complete" style compilations of singles, as you might gather by my ideal tracklisting for Palace of Swords. The only reason I haven't is because I have the reissues of Code: Selfish and Shiftwork, both with a handful of bonus songs, so I'd only be getting a hanful of new tunes and a lot of remixes. The compilation works really well for people who already have the old versions of those albums.

Anyway, it's grown increasingly harder to compile Fall singles collections because where in from 1977-1983 they didn't have 8 minute dance remixes for every song, so the b-sides used to easily fit in with the a-sides. Now the mode seems to be solid A-side, Solid B-side, 10 minute remix, which can throw off the flow of a single compilation.

I hate to disagree with fellow Fall fans but I find the songs on Listening In to be a bit too pedestrian. Nothing Special.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll buy any Fall cd that has songs that are new to my ears, but .... this is not my favorite Fall period.

Extricate was a weird Fall album. A lot of my “FM rock” friends liked it a lot - they thought it was way out there.

Shift-work was easy listening - the lyrics were too repetitive. :zzzz:

Code - Selfish (love the title) was half-baked.

In the future, Voiceprint should release the Listening In tracks as bonus songs to the appropriate albums.

What’s with the crappy cover? Can’t MES support artists anymore? Photoshop technicians suck big time. Just take a look at the Early Singles cover. Blah! :banghead:

What do record executives know?

Voiceprint should check in with Lawrence Hayward for tips on album design. :P

Quick question about The Knight The Devil & Death - there's a version of this on Listening In with vocals, right? Was this on the original release (as I wasn't 'into' The Fall back then)? Because the one I heard on some Reciever compilation is an instrumental.

OK first off the bad news .

Several tracks are mastered off vinyl. Now I know MES doesn't keep anything, but as the sleevenotes state, this was The Fall's (only) period of being signed to a major label. So if the masters were lost for one track, it would be a mild surprise, but for over half these tracks?

That said, scratches are only particularly audible on Zandra, and one or two of the So What About It? remixes - in both cases these tracks are genuinely rare. It is puzzling though that tracks that can be found on CD secondhand (for instance on E-Bay) weren't used for the mastering. Also the matter of the missing single versions of Free Range, So Called Dangerous, and Arms Control Poseur has been raised before.

OK rant over; aside from that it is a very good collection, Conway's sleevenotes are thorough, and the sleeve of each release it compiles is pictured.

It does make great listening despite the source of many of the tracks (by the way I don't hate vinyl - I find that some Fall stuff sounds better that way - particular 99% of the Beggar's period stuff, but as from 1990 onwards most of the CD's sound better to my ears, hence the moan...).

Like many Fall compilations before it, it is good value - it costs a fraction of the price of the singles it compiles.

As for other new CD's, I did see a posting on the old board about the standards of the new CD's. For instance Extricate has been remastered, and I think there were comments about what to ask for to ensure one gets the new version.

Is it possible for these comments to be dug out and posted again, and other comments about the reissues?

What with several titles being reissued, I would only buy them again if they have been improved in some way.

I ought to add, another good point was that this reintroduced me tracks I hadn't heard in a while, or even better, has made me reappraise tracks I'd not listened to much before.

Zandra and Don't Take The Pizza I always thought as very average Fall rockers (for lack of a better word!) before, now they're stuck in my mind - and not as a nuisance either, I rather like them now.

Great to reacquaint myself with Ed's Babe again. I always did like this; when I first saw the Fall live I loved Free Range, about a year before it was released officially. While this track doesn't quite scale those heights, I did love seeing it played live, for instance in Slough Festival in '92, and Glastonbury the same year.
I've long considered it a forgotten Fall classic. Anorak-y detail, I don't suppose anyone knows where it was recorded? It is actually live, presumably with overdubbed backing vocals.

Hi Conway

Re your comments

"You've had a go at me privately about this, haven't you?"
To be honest yes, but you do seem take this very personally. Maybe it's because you have been involved in this product.
However, this forum is titled 'Reviews' and I have presented a balanced one, otherwise it would be a 'whitewash'. :)

" You're Stefan's mate DS yeah?"
I am not, actually. It does show I am not the only one who has had similar concerns though.

"Anyway, it was up to Voiceprint to sort things out with Phonogram, but obviously that didn't include procuring master tapes. Everything that had been on CD was mastered from CD, the rest from very clean vinyl."
Why obviously? Because one can hear master tapes weren't used, or because they are not usually used for compilations?
Sorry, but to hammer the point home "Everything that had been on CD was mastered from CD", well I have a Telephone CD single, and I'm getting a Popcorn Double Feature CD single, to replaced my scratched one ( :( ) off E-Bay.
To be honest I don't want to make a big issue of this though, I just wanted to point out the good and not so good points, and I am happy to qualify either.

"If you can hear scratches on Zandra, you've got better ears than me - I just played it loud on headphones and it's clean as a whistle. There is minor needle noise on the So What About It remixes (esp at the beginnings), but that's about it. I believe the engineer has done a fantastic job on it."
Ok, perhaps scratches is a strong word - the bottom line is I can hear little scratching sounds here and there. To be very anal here, I have found that when recording vinyl to, say minidisc, some 'scratches' can be removed, by litterally playing the record backwards through the 'scratch' - ie dislodging trapped dust.

"The Free Range tracks are so close to the album versions, they didn't add anything to the compilation (and there wasn't room). I don't consider a track coming to a stop rather than fading out a major point of difference sorry. Check Susan vs Youthclub (when COTC comes out)."
A matter of opinion - in the case of Free Range and Arms Control Poseur, the mix itself is slightly different. So yes, not major differences, but would be nice if they were compiled some time. Free Range and So Called Dangerous are longer too on the single.

I have no interest in picking an argument, or belittling the work you and Voiceprint have done. However I do feel the need to be objective about CD releases. If one doesn't point out shortcomings, how can improvement ever be expected? Ok this item may never be revised, but constructive feedback may influence future releases.

I get the impression poor feedback about the artwork (not from me, incidentally, although I shared the concerns there) on past Fall products has influenced Voiceprint (and probably Castle too) on re-releases.

It is true that Fall compilations do get a poor press often, unfortunately, so if the fans don't make their opinions known, or offer constructive criticism, there's only the blithe press barbs.

I am aware I am opening up myself to 'anal', 'anorak' etc criticism. However I love The Fall's music, and I do often listen in headphones, so even while I appreciate they are often a 'lo-fi' band, I still want to hear that 'lo-fi' music in the best possible quality.

The bottom line is, like I said, the CD is very good, and good value too.

Hi Patrick

The Knight The Devil and Death is not instrumental here.

Ed's Babe, TKTDaD, and Pumpkin's Head Escaped all appeared on the Receiver CD's as instrumentals, in an earlier form. The completed tracks, clearly recorded later, with vocals, appeared on the limited Ed's Babe CD single (and 12") in mid 1992. These tracks, and the fourth from that single, Free Ranger (a remix of Free Range) are reprised on the Listening In compilation, and from CD too, which saves having to hunt down the rare original.

Despite my comments about the vinyl source for some of these, it is true that Zandra, and three mixes of So What About It? (incidentally, I don't think it's their worst song at all, I rather like it!) are very rare indeed, so in this case my 'from vinyl' moan could be considered churlish.

Also the High Tension Line 12" never came out on CD, and it's two B-sides - Christmas With Simon and Don't Take The Pizza, are very good indeed. Although the former is obviously 'seasonal', given the sarcasm (Mark's spoken 'it's that time, again. And all those films, again' is hilarious - you have to hear it!) it doesn't seem too out of place to hear it as summer arrives - quite a jolly tune by Fall standards too.

It's great to Blood Out Of Stone again too - very powerful that, and I always did love Life Always Bounces. When the revived (and remade) this back in the mid 90's, I remember the feeling of euphoria I felt after hearing it as an encore at the Forum, in London. It's true 'Life just bounces, so don't you get worried at all....'

So, Patrick, I suggest you snap this up and hear what you have been missing!

Hmmm

I may have pointed out the good and bad things, but I really do think this is one of the better Fall 'non normal album releases'. It's up there with 15 Ways, Nottingham '92, Live Various Years, The Early Years, and In The City for me. Ok that's quite a few, but considering my category covers about 20 compilations and live albums...

However you are entitled to your opinion of course!

For the record, Extricate is a favourite of mine, I guess I understand about your 'FM rock' fans liking it. Shiftwork - you're not far off to be honest, but like a couple of the songs on Listening In, I have also reappraised a couple of songs on the former. Code Selfish - I like this a lot myself, one of the best.

At the risk of turning this into the umpteenth 'best album' debate...my favourites include
Witch Trials, Dragnet, Room to Live, Wonderful and Frightening, Extricate, Code Selfish, Light User, and Unutterable. All the albums have many great moments though.

"In the future, Voiceprint should release the Listening In tracks as bonus songs to the appropriate albums."
- This seems unlikely. Conway's pointed out that the Voiceprint boss seems to want to limit extra tracks to 2 a piece. Personally I favour 4 or more, 2 seems slightly on the 'why bother' side. However I am aware that some people don't like loads of extra tracks (or any at all) as it supposedly 'spoils the original statement' or words to that effect.

"What’s with the crappy cover? Can’t MES support artists anymore? "
- Hmm, I thought the cover was alright - it pictured all the relevant sleeves. Personally I'd love quality colour photos of the band on each sleeve, but The Fall aren't that type of band at all!
They can't win though can they? The arty sleeves on some of the Receiver compilations were knocked as being too 'Fall-like', now they go back to basics, put the covers of the singles featured on the compilation...still no good! :)

As for MES supporting artists- as he's recently suggested, I don't think he has much to do with compilations of the group's work, as he always says he's only interested in the current albums...

btw,
great liner notes Conway! :applaud: