This Nation’s Saving Grace seems to be perhaps the most popular Fall LP.
But which is your favourite track – and why?

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2G+2 / Are You Are Missing Winner / Bend Sinister / Cerebral Caustic / Code: Selfish / Dragnet / Extricate / Fall Heads Roll / The Frenz Experiment / Grotesque (After The Gramme) / Hex Enduction Hour / I Am Kurious Oranj / Imperial Wax Solvent / The Infotainment Scan / Interim / Levitate / The Light User Syndrome / Live At The Witch Trials / The Marshall Suite / Middle Class Revolt / Perverted By Language / The Post Nearly Man / The Real New Fall LP (Formerly ‘Country On The Click’) / Reformation Post-TLC / Room To Live / Seminal Live / Shift-Work / Slates / This Nation’s Saving Grace / Totale’s Turns / The Twenty-Seven Points / The Unutterable / The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall / Von Südenfed's Tromatic Reflexxions

The critics often seem to rate this as the very best Fall album, but I think that overstates its worth somewhat. Very good, top 10 for sure, probably not top 5. Not even the best one with the evil Bricks (in my book). :o

Take that Stephen!!! ^_^

I'd agree that it's not one of the best 3 LPs. The mighty PBL towers over it...

If Brix was so bad, why did MES let her join the group for a second time? (like Bramah, Burns, Hanley..) She may not have been a great guitarist, and her voice could be annoying, but L.A., Glam Racket, Hotel Bloedel...not all bad, y'know.

Mark doesn't have the greatest managerial instincts.... as has been shown time and time again.

Just a minute... Glam Racket?????!!!! Get yer facts straight.

I didn't say she wrote it. But she has been heard singing on it.

That's why he's a creative genius and not... Sting.

Several years after the fact. And her Star section makes me want to vomit.

Presumably you're not a fan of Middle Class Revolt/Simon, Dave & John then...

:lol: true indeed.

Didn't I say to you Stephen, just yesterday, that I had to go a bit easier on poor old Brixie-poo. B)

You did: hence my bafflement at your 'vomit' outburst.

I think I also used the phrase: but sometimes I just can't hold myself back. Or words to that effect. :rolleyes:

You love her really.
Where would we be without the screech of 'Banana!' on Dktr F?

LA does it for me.. But Paintwork's just behind

Not one of my favourites either, though some great songs... voted for Paintwork, second choice would be Damo or LA.

The scream on Oleano (Peel version) would be her finest record moment.

Scares me every time - especially on headphones

conway, is you saying that mark could not organise a piz up in brewery when you refer to his management skills?

Maybe he could manage that :beer:

Paintwork really is a unique moment in The Fall's output, isn't it? I thought everyone would go for that...

:applaud: :sick:

LA used to be my most favouritest track ever - but then I heard all their other albums heh heh - I still voted for it out of nostalgia, though

By the looks of things everybody that voted had the LP and only played side two!
(I know I did)....

That's one of the things I liked about LPs, you always ended up with a favourite side, and curiously I often liked side 2 more than side one (eg TNSG, Bend Sinister, Wire's Pink Flag, er...Pink Floyd's "Meddle"....)

Stephen, you're extremely busy lately on here. Have you suddenly got a lot of spare time on your hands...won the pools or the lottery...someone given you a new computer? Anyway, keep them threads coming...I'm addicted!

Spoilt Victorian Child is the one I often skip. Too straight-forward.

And when someone gets a minute, could they explain the tape recorder 'mishap' that supposedly accounts for the odd spoken interlude on Paintwork. The 'accident theory' never made sense to me - sounds too perfect.

I think that Brix gets (like the WONDERFUL courtney Love) far too much bad press in the "we blokes hate mouthy women a la Yoko" sense. Im sticking up for her and her contributions.

Oh anyone else think that the PIXIES sound like they made a career out of ripping off THis Nations Saving Grace or is it just me? Still i love em anyway...

Hear hear.

She's a bit shit on guitar and vocals though.

I love Brix. Don't think she's shit, and even if I did, energy is far more useful to me than ability when it comes to vocals and guitar playin'.

Fave TNSG track?: "My New house".

Wish I could give you the reason. It's just one of the first tracks I heard from it and it knocked me clean on my ass. Still does.

I like Brix all right. I think her contribution was valuable more often than not. It's hard to say whether the group would have been better without her, but she added a kind of tension, like between MES's misery and her cheery backing vox on the much-hated (though I like it) "C.R.E.E.P." I do find that the more negative, downbeat material from the Brix years (i.e. Bend Sinister) was sometimes not as successful. And I dunno to what extent Brix is to blame for Kurious Oranj, which has great singles but not a lot else to recommend it, IMO. I'm not sure what she added to the '90s albums, though certainly she's what makes songs like "He Pep!" and "Don't Call Me Darling" memorable.

I don't care that much how good people are as musicians. How many Fall songs require tremendous instrumental dexterity? Probably more than I know, but that never seemed like the point. What's made the Fall sound unique has been the way the instruments go together rather than any individual member's great technical proficiency. It's the level of commitment and energy, and the ability to stay more or less locked in the same groove, that matters.

Voted for "Paintwork" 'cause, I dunno, sometimes I wish I lived in England? Has some sentimental value for being discovered a short time before I returned to the States from my stay as an exchange student. End of an era (also the last song they played at the one Fall gig I saw, where it seemed to serve as an apology for the shoddiness of much of what preceded it). I think it's easy to identify with being the one who spoils the paintwork, too, at least at some times. It's also refreshing to see MES admitting his faults (and not chalking them up as virtues).

Yeah I thought that was kinda the point of the Fall. No Musos. In the early days it the songs are hardly complex. Repetition can be done on one string and only has 2 chords. Besides which the bass playing is frequently more important to the fall sound anyway, but on the subject one of my favourite Mark quotes is that line about any one being able to sound good on an intstrument until they learn to play it. That is the essence of it. Tony Wilson (boo hiss reach for ya crucifix) mentions how Vini Reilly was in awe of the Happy Mondays guitarist despite the fact the guy was completely incapable of playing it (see the rather crap 24 hr party people novelisation). But then again I hate the Mondays. But thats the point. I am Damo Suzuki is probably one of the easiest to play songs ever, just a 4 note descension down the fret board, the bass does pretty much the same and thats all there is to it.

i like brix too..... i think she put a lot of effort into bein in the fall... and i think that is the most important thing in the fall.... but she irritated me too [ i thought the adult net was shit].

Barmy, just an awesome guitar part, its all around a kick ass song. I also like Paintwork, i first heard this song, and kept quoting it for days and days.

Interesting that no one has gone for the great opener/closer tracks, which really set the spooky, grey, shadowy feel of the album.

I was heading for Gut of the Quantifier but at the last minute went for Paintwork - it's the guitar break that does it for me :) Play it loud...

I think Brix is underated...Hotel Bloedel is totally fantastic and the shouty bits on Dktr Faustaus (or however it is spelt) and Guest Informant are pretty good too...


:o

...no really

All my favourite Fall albums feature her with the exception of The Unutterable...




....the return of the mid/late 80's Fall fan

Completely ignored in the Perverted By Language poll...

Although it is "totally fantastic", I voted for Tempo House. Hotel Bloedel would be a very close second - not putting my money where my mouth is...or something

Never considered this on a wider, metaphorical level - but v. nice way of looking at the song.

no ...don't here it this way at all....he is more boasting about his faults...the whole song is like a big boast of how he fucks it all up ...on purpose.......so he is in fact chalking them up as virtues.... as ever :)


i may be wrong ...but at least i'm right... B)

Anyone have any theories why is such a house-related album:

1) My New House
2) Paintwork
3) Mansion
4) Buildings on cover