11. tragic days......short instro cap......2/10

12. i come and stand at your door ............that drum is too loud n it aint even funny .....he is mumbling.......3/10

I just listened to 4 1/2 Inch. My god that song has power. This album makes the industrial scene look like a bunch of whingeing boy bands.

One of the best Fall albums, although it's dropped in my estimation a bit lately. It's not the production, there just doesn't seem to be a lot to some of the songs. But then I look back and realise that Ten Houses, Spencer, Masquerade, 4 1/2 Inch, Ol Gang, Shanley... there is actually a lot of great stuff here, even if some tracks are more like stretched-out ideas(what ideas, though). Great drumming. I tried programming some of Spencer and Everybody But Myself on a drum machine and it's so hard to get that amount of looseness with a machine. Cool. And as a fan of synthy noises and weirdness, the very first moment I head Masquerade was a real lightbulbs-over-head moment.

What does everyone think of the B-sides from that era?

this is just technical stuff done bollocks ......there's nothing to it.....n its really yuk.......i'm gonna put it on again now to check

1.ten houses of eve.......this one has grown on me a bit ....since feeling obliged to rethink since u lot keep bangin on about this album....turn it down it is bangin is me first reaction......cheeers........the middle 8 slows down too much...hate it...it is miserable....this is not beauty...it is depression....genuine enough depression...but it makes me depressed in a way i hate....i guess this is a modern sort of blues album ....n in that frame of mind i understand it better......but i am depressed enough i need more optimism...
the vocal on the main line is a direct rip off of evil hoodoo...ther'es no gettin away from it ....they could sue for it......the last 10 seconds r the best..........7/10

2. masquerade ..........this is so rubbish as a single.......6/10......if yer like new order a lot u will have no prob with this shit....cos as i remember the whole album it is all rhythm n not much else

The second CD has a live "Pilsner Trail". I liked that one. First time I heard that track until I got the "perverted by language" CD with all extra tracks.

3. hurricane edward........has good bits.....but a lot is just drums hamster noises n waiting for sth likeable....not impressed........pere ubu r much better at doin weirdness like this...n stuck cd noises r boring.....4/10

4. i'm a mummy.......it is a good cover ...and as a statement to say .....hey sorry if i scared yer with this album.....it is good ................8/10.............n good vocals too......

5. quartet of doc shanley 9/10 [the sound starts to work]

6. jap kid 1/10 [not interested]

7. 4 1/2 inch .... 9 or 8/10 [it holds together pretty good]

8. spencr must die 4/10 [ too whispery...i am not bothered]

9. jungle rock...............this is the track that really highlights the fact the mix of the album is take the piss out of the modern way too loud drums..........cos this is a really good performance mixed deliberately shit............6/10 [or 10/10 mixed right yer cunts]

10. ol gang....................old topic for mark this....but now he's old.......different when the foot's on the other shoe........turn that bloody blarney space invader off...but it coulda been good done right so 7/10

13. levitate...............sounds like joy division....................what is original or entertaining........i found 1 note interesting......the tempo change pathetic 3/10

14. everybody but myself..............i could not be bothered with.............3/10




ok put the levitate ep on....

1. powderkex..........collagey but more interesting a noise than the album.......5/10

2. christmastide......the fall playin proper tennis.......8/10 :applaud:

3. recipe for fascism.......v like grotesque.......u bin to the pub....no bin to the park.. 4/10

4.pilsner trail ............it sounds like totale's turns quality..............'plaster on the hand ....craigness' ....but in the context of here it comes across as ...u will listen to any shit u cur SED fan 6/10

5.everybody but meself LIVE.....i dont rate this riff so u better do it good.......n u still dont here..so 5/10

for me .the fall r not v arty ..............n i hate em doin shit like this...i think a lot is down to who mark mixes with....he is easily led

Dave, at least this shows you've listened carefully to it and given it due consideration. But why don't you like it?! Why aren't we worried about an MES mix of Country On The Click......

I don't know. I thought maybe he'd just be changing the levels on some things. I'm trying not to think about the possiblility of him re-recording the keyboard parts, or mastering it so it sounds like an mp3. If either of those happen with the finished album, I'm gonna go round MES's house and stamp on his testicles.

Well actually, thinking about it...

Reasons To Be Worried About An MES Mix Of CotC

- Cerebral Caustic (although that was nothing special in the first place)
- MES is a complete nutter
- The guy seemingly has little or no musical knowledge, probably not the ins and out of album mixing
- Are You Are Missing Winner
- Levitate

Reasons Not To Be Worried About An MES Mix Of CotC

- Levitate
- He's a complete nutter, but not a stupid one
- From what I've heard it's not a bad album, unlike CC and AYAMW.

So... hmm. Draw your own conclusions.

I think your final point is the most telltale. The strength of the CotC songs should shine through.... I hope.

I should add for Dave's benefit - like the strength of the songs on Levitate, which stood up very well despite Mark's deliberately "difficult" production/mix.

I always thought that the songs on Levitate were kinda arranged that way. I liked Mark Prindle's review : "I think these were all proper songs at some point, until Mark screwed around with them". The problem I find with MES's mixing is that it's not as powerful as I'd like. It's a bit too quiet. I mean, this was before he got his ears syringed, so you'd think he'd turn the bugger up so he could hear it properly, or something. That's the mental image I get, anyway.

Why waste time fretting over Smith's mixes? It's his band and he does what needs be to get at the sound in his head. That's where RUR stands up - a singular vision! - and Unutterable falls down, 'cos you can sense he took a relative backseat on the production...

I'm not gonna go for that "Fall'd be great if they only lost the singer" CRAP.

Alas I don't think it matters how good the official COTC release is, the chorus of "Jim's mix was better" will be deafening...

I don't think The Fall would be good if they lost MES. Quite the opposite, in fact. He's the reason the band are great, and also the reason I get annoyed with them. He just needs to surround himself with creative tunesmiths to go that extra mile. I think Unutterable is better than Missing Winner because the all songs are better, not because of the studio gloss. It takes the band into places they haven't been before, while AYAMW covers no new ground.

Levitate second CD: I had the album on its own for about a year before finding the one with the bonus CD. I don't particularly think it's worth it. Powderkex is good, but the rest of it does nothing for me. Was it compiled by MES like the legendary Voiceprint freebie was going to be? I prefer the B-sides from the time, like Ivanhoe's Two Pence and the single mix of Masquerade (although the album version is better). Pretty good remix of Ten Houses too, even if it is the regular version with the bass turned up and a live bit added.

Ivanhoes Two Pence - their best B side of the 90's? Discuss.

I like the live Ol'Gang track too - does anyone know where that was recorded?

There have been a few very isolated incidents on some recent Fall albums where I've thought for a moment, on a track where MES isn't trying at all, and is just mumbling, what it would be like if he wasn't the singer. Because the Fall always, or nearly always, have an amazing unique sound, that is obviously part of MES's vision. So sometimes I think what if MES became just a producer, because he seems to have a knack for hiring bandmembers who are able to write great music. But then in these moments of doubt, I'll listen to a song like "Hand's Up Billy" or hear the backup vocals for a song, and I'm always amazed at just how incredibly lame these ordinary singers sound compared to even a drunken slurred MES. There's something in his voice that no other singer (or non-singer) has. Lou Reed (as a non-singer) had something special in his voice, but I've heard at least 10 people pretty successfully copy it or at least channel the Lou Reed style. I've never heard anyone resemble a MES delivery (though I'm sure someone will point one out for me).

Itchload's completely right, I think. M.E.S. is the most unique singer I've ever heard, I can't even think of anyone similar and can not even imagine the existence of a Fall cover band for precisely this reason. His voice, lyrics and delivery just can't be imitated/channeled. As for Levitate, it took a loooong time for me to get into, but now I rate it pretty highly, probably the best Fall album of the 90's. I laughed out loud the first time I heard "I'm A Mummy."

Why can you not imagine a Fall cover band? Oh I see!!!! You mean like one that would sound identical....stars in your eyes sort of thing.....no me neither

Picked up Levitate this week and still adjusting to the 80's - like synth sound & the techno beats... a drastic departure from the previous release Light User.... If not for the vocal I'd never guess it was The Fall..... All in all it's not bad ... some real good songs... but I don't think it'll end up in regular rotation.... but then again... didn't care much for Light User upon the first few listens and that one hasn't come out of the disc player for 2 weeks... so I guess there's still some hope for the hopeless.

;)

PS: That Levitate sure is one fucked up looking album cover ain't it??

80's!.......80's!
that shit is from the late 90's!

I think it was refered to as "A Turd In Tinfoil".............. :lol:

Didn't Tommy Crooks design the 'turd in a tinfoil' look? There used to be a link on the main site to his Farmhand Organisation web site where you could see a few disturbing films which I think included 'the turd'!

Yes, it was by Tommy Crooks. He also did the drawings on the front of the Peel Sessions CD and Fiend With A Violin.

Ha, I can just see it - "tonight Matthew, I will be Mark E Smith". :lol:

one of the best fall albums of the 90's, no doubt. i think it has a very "90's" sound overall but it was after all, the 90's. and there's nothing as lame as hollow mind or the acute on it.
ole gang and 4 1/2 are "classics" imho.

It's funny how Fall albums fall in and out of favour, particularly with a bit of distance.

Levitate will always have a special place in my heart. It came out on the day I started university, and I'd arranged for it to be delivered to halls, so there's a certain sentimental attachment, ditto Grotesque which was the first LP I bought and remains my favourite. Levitate marks the period when a student loan could finally afford me copies of everything The Fall had ever released, but on the cusp of that I was playing close attention to the new album. As a result, it's one of the five Fall LPs that I'd save from a burning house, without any doubt.

Context is important, bearing in mind what people have said on this thread. It's obviously a reaction to the sharply recorded rough edges of The Light User Syndrome, with everything a bit dirtied up or even muddled in the mix and, as Dave says, a lot of imbalance in things like I Come & Stand At Your Door with that overriding beat on top of the vocals. But I see that as a positive thing - there are alienating methods at work on this LP and its production, which are totally Fall. Some of it could even be classed as chance music, eg the disjointed Hurricane Edward, which always has a certain thrill. I think I like Levitate mainly because of this brittle, frenetic sound. The lyrics might not be so liberal or substantial, but I find the sound of that record really exciting - lots to digest in things like The Quartet Of Doc SHanley which demand relistening (essentially a fun cut-up, which you can always read stuff into), and a killer rhythm to tunes like Hurricane Edward, I'm A Mummy and Inch. The latter is lyrically one of MES's most spare songs, and it completely works - I always love his way of evoking mood with extreme economy, and that's on display here. Ten Houses, for my money, is one of the great opening tracks of any Fall album - its got comedy, tragedy, threat and chaos all bustling for prominence. It never fails to make me cheer.

Jap Kid - a compilation favourite, to be honest. You can see it either as filler or a suitable respite from the noise.

The last three tracks I can take or leave, and Ol' Gang always seems to remind me of Dead Souls, but there's nothing on Levitate that truly disappoints.

Hate to start by being contentious, but I really don't rate this record. Like all Fall albums, it starts well, but after the first two tracks all I hear is an exhausted band scrabbling around for ideas (alright, "Old Gang" isn't bad, but the vocals...? MES sounds confused and drunk - and not in a good way). That said, I saw them live in Oxford just after "Light User Syndrome" came out and the tracks off "Levitate" worked much better - but mainly because they were completely different to the recorded versions (esp. title song - started, then stopped. MES: "cum on, bit faster this time. I know it's winter, but fucking hell").

I would love to hear live renditions of the Levitate songs.

Go Julia!
:rolleyes:

I really like the version of Hip Priest on Live Various Years.

I like Levitate and I think it's among their best 90s albums. It has a certain level of destructivism and nihilism that suits Mark better than the now somewhat dated dancy sounds of, say, Code:Selfish. I don't pick out songs, but listen to it as a whole which always leaves to me the impression of "confidence in directionlessness", a tool well-wielded by the band. Somehow I'm glad the line-up broke up after this one, and not after The Marshall Suite (after which line-up changes seem to matter much less). Though it's sad Steven left, I think it's good to have this veteran on such a potent 'noise' record, rather than the somewhat unbalanced mishmash of TMS. I'm sure that those having the "Inch" mixes understand what I mean.
It is an option to dissect an album and judge only parts of it, but I somewhat miss the overall rating from some folks.

Levitate can be had for a fiver in Selectadisc, London, for those who have complained about its non-availability. I was a bit annoyed to discover this today, as I bought it from a shop in America recently, and it cost about 12 quid.

Personally, I think Levitate's easily the Fall's best since Extricate - certainly better than the more critically lauded The Marshall Suite. I love that raw, lo-fi sound, and the tracks that make stabs at using programming and samplers actually work, for the first time in the band's history. Before then, it sounded like MES desperately trying to catch up ('a sampler, eh? It's good is that, let's set it up and make it make bloody blimey space invader noises, eh?'), but this sounds like The Fall finding new ways to use the technology of dance music and hip hop.

Smiffy's not exactly on top form vocally or lyrically, but so what? This Nation's Saving Grace is hardly a lyrical tour de force, and everyone loves that. An album that mixed the strength of music and lyrics found on, say, The Unutterable, with the experimentation of Levitate would be a an absolute killer, I reckon.