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The Fall made the leap to a semi-major label -- Beggars Banquet -- with The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, hooking up with noted producer John Leckie to create another smart, varied album. Contemporaneous with the slightly friendlier "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P." singles without actually including them, Wonderful and Frightening World makes few concessions to the larger market -- every potential hook seemed spiked with the band's usual rough take-it-or-leave-it stance. Mark E. Smith's audible, tape-distorting spit on the descending chord blast of "Elves" -- already spiked with enough vocal craziness as it is -- gives a sense of where the album as a whole aims. Brix Smith co-writes about half the tracks, creating a strong partnership with many highlights. It may start with a semi-low-key chant, but when "Lay of the Land" fully kicks in, it does just that, Craig Scanlon in particular pouring on the feedback at the end over the clattering din. Smith sounds as coruscating and side-splittingly hilarious as ever, depicting modern Britain with an eye for the absurdities and failures (and crucially, no empathy -- it's all about a gimlet eye projected at everyone and everything). Two further standouts appear on the second half -- "Slang King," a snarling portrayal of a cool-in-his-mind dude and his increasingly pathetic life, and the concluding "Disney's Dream Debased." Though unquestionably the most conventionally attractive tune on the album, ringing guitars and all, Smith's lyrics portray a Disneyland scenario in hell, however softly delivered. Elsewhere, Gavin Friday from the Virgin Prunes takes a bow with his own unmistakable, spindly vocals on the trebly Krautrock chug of "Copped It" and the slightly more brute rhythm of "Stephen Song."
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
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Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management, MusicPublisher - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Gavin Friday, StudioMusician - Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
JOHN LECKIE, Producer - Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, Composer, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, Composer, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management, MusicPublisher - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - Joe Gillingham, Engineer - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
JOHN LECKIE, Producer - Mark E. Smith, Lyricist, AssociatedPerformer - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - Joe Gillingham, Engineer - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
JOHN LECKIE, Producer - Gavin Friday, StudioMusician - Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, Composer, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - Joe Gillingham, Engineer - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, Composer, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management, MusicPublisher - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management, MusicPublisher - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Gavin Friday, StudioMusician - Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, ComposerLyricist, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, Composer, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Simon Wolstencroft, StudioMusician - Mark E. Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Stephen Hanley, StudioMusician - Craig Scanlon, StudioMusician - The Fall, MainArtist - Karl Burns, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management, MusicPublisher - Brix Smith, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Hanley, StudioMusician - BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
Album review
The Fall made the leap to a semi-major label -- Beggars Banquet -- with The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, hooking up with noted producer John Leckie to create another smart, varied album. Contemporaneous with the slightly friendlier "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P." singles without actually including them, Wonderful and Frightening World makes few concessions to the larger market -- every potential hook seemed spiked with the band's usual rough take-it-or-leave-it stance. Mark E. Smith's audible, tape-distorting spit on the descending chord blast of "Elves" -- already spiked with enough vocal craziness as it is -- gives a sense of where the album as a whole aims. Brix Smith co-writes about half the tracks, creating a strong partnership with many highlights. It may start with a semi-low-key chant, but when "Lay of the Land" fully kicks in, it does just that, Craig Scanlon in particular pouring on the feedback at the end over the clattering din. Smith sounds as coruscating and side-splittingly hilarious as ever, depicting modern Britain with an eye for the absurdities and failures (and crucially, no empathy -- it's all about a gimlet eye projected at everyone and everything). Two further standouts appear on the second half -- "Slang King," a snarling portrayal of a cool-in-his-mind dude and his increasingly pathetic life, and the concluding "Disney's Dream Debased." Though unquestionably the most conventionally attractive tune on the album, ringing guitars and all, Smith's lyrics portray a Disneyland scenario in hell, however softly delivered. Elsewhere, Gavin Friday from the Virgin Prunes takes a bow with his own unmistakable, spindly vocals on the trebly Krautrock chug of "Copped It" and the slightly more brute rhythm of "Stephen Song."
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:11:29
- Main artists: The Fall
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Beggars Banquet
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
1988 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd 1984 Beggars Banquet Records Ltd
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