Urban Hat€monger ?

During 1982 & 1983 several live albums by the Fall were released on various labels around the world , here is a brief overview.

Album Tracklisting: Middle Mass-Crap Rap / English Scheme / New Face In Hell / That Man / An Older Lover etc. / Slates, Slags etc. / Prole Art Threat / Container Drivers / Jawbone And The Air-Rifle / In The Park / Leave The Capitol / Spectre Vs Rector / Pay Your Rates / Impression Of J Temperance

Review:
Live In London 1980 was released a limited edition of 4000 copies by the Chaos Tapes label who would issue live recordings of punk bands in cassette format. It's been re-released several times since under the name 'The Legendary Chaos Tape : Live In London 1980'. All the other bands put out by the label were either 2nd gen punk bands or Oi bands , so why they were releasing stuff by The Fall is anyones guess. Also because the material from the Slates EP was unreleased at the the time the gig was recorded the label had no idea what the songs were called so they just put question marks on the tracklisting.
The gig itself was recorded at the Aklam Hall in London on 11th December 1980 , they also recorded the gig there the following night but didn't use it. Which bemused Mark E Smith because he felt they played better the second night. The set is mostly made up of Grotesque and Slates material with only Spectre Vs Rector dating earlier. It's worth getting the album just for Spectre Vs Rector as it's far superior to the studio version. The sound quality while not being great is listenable & no worse than Totals Turn. If you can tolerate that then this is a good energetic & lively set of the Fall in this era
4/10


Album Tracklisting: The NWRA / Hip Priest / Totally Wired / Lie Dream of a Casino Soul / Cash 'n' Carry / An Older Lover / Deer Park / Winter

Review:
Recorded on the last night of their first American tour in Detroit in 1981 'A Part Of America Therein' was released by Cottage Records to help promote the bands second American tour in 1982. It was during the 1981 tour that drummer Paul Hanley was refused entry to the country by US immigration for being too young to play at the +21 clubs the band were due to play at , so Karl Burns returned to step in which resulted in the band having two drummers for the Hex Enduction Hour recordings. During this tour the UK was gripped by a number of race riots in Brixton , Toxteth & Handsworth , so when the band came on stage they were dubbed as being '... from the riot torn streets of Manchester England'. After such bravado in the introduction the band would start up The NWRA with a kazoo almost sounding like a novelty cabaret act. This is probably the best Fall live album there is Mark E Smith is on form , the sound quality is good and the crowd were into the music. Smith himself said he was surprised at how positive the American audience was to The Fall , especially after spending years playing to indifferent audiences in the UK for so long. Album highlights for me are the storming versions of Deer Park & Winter from the then unreleased Hex Enduction Hour. Unlike most live albums this isn't a greatest hits live package , The Fall don't do greatest hits gigs if you go to a Fall gig you'll hear stuff off the last album , stuff off the current album and stuff of the next album , maybe a cover or an old favourite if you are lucky. What The Fall do is snapshots of an era and this is a snapshot of this line up of the band at their peak.
6.5/10


Original Album Tracklisting: Impression Of J. Temperance / The Man Whose Head Expanded / Room To Live / Hip Priest / Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul / Prole Art Threat / Hard Life In Country / The Classical / Mere Pseud Mag Ed /Marquis Cha-Cha / Backdrop / Fantastic Life / English Scheme / Joker Hysterical Face / No Xmas For John Quays / Solicitor In Studio

Re-issue Extras: The Container Drivers / C'n'C Black Night / Look, Know / Who Makes The Nazis? / Gramme Friday / Slates, Slags etc

Review:
By some miracle The Fall found themselves with a top 20 hit in New Zealand with Totally Wired. Deciding to pounce while the iron was still hot a group of promoters fresh from having some success organising a tour of Australia & New Zealand for The Birthday Party approached Mark E Smith about The Fall doing the same thing. Smith , desperate to get out of the UK for a while agreed and shortly after The Fall were off to tour that part of the world for the first time. This was the infamous tour of the nightclub brawl between Smith & Riley. The final gig of the tour at Mainstreet Cabaret in Auckland,on 21st August 1982 was recorded & released by Flying Nun records as an album that came with a 12 inch single for the New Zealand market. The album quickly became a popular import in the UK until Mark E Smith saw it. Apparently not happy seeing a picture of a recently fired smiling Marc Riley in an airport on the cover and also at not being paid Smith ordered that unless he received a substantial amount of money he would block all imports of the album. Flying Nun didn't have the funds to pay for this so the album became a sought after rarity until Smith re-issued it on his own Cog Sinister label 15 years later.
I have to say i'm not really a fan of this album the songs just sound flat & the audience don't really seem that into it. To be honest the bonus material recorded from other gigs on the tour sound a lot better. the sound quality is worse but there's much more atmosphere. This one really is for completists only. The Deep Purple pastiche is quite funny though.
1/10

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