Bend Sinister

The Fall

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 21, 1997)
• Original Release Date: October 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Beggars UK - Ada
• ASIN: B00000189K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,622 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Arguably the peak of Brix Smith-era Fall, the rousing, riff-loaded Bend Sinister stands as one of the band's most rounded and satisfying records. With edgy, bubblegum pop mixing with crepuscular experimentalism, the album finds Mark E. Smith flitting between being playful ("Terry Waite Sez," "Riddler") and disgruntled ("Gross Chapel," "Shoulder Pads," and the fuming hymn of hate to the nanny state that is "US 80s and 90s"). Boasting one of the Fall's mid-'80s hits and arguably the group's best-known recording, their take on the Other Half's 1960s amphetamine anthem "Mr. Pharmacist," the CD's an advisable point of entry for Fall novices. Also a favorite of longtime devotees, Bend Sinister is probably the best example of the Fall as a potent rock group. --Taylor Parkes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sound of a hungover thunderstorm, March 14, 2000

By	Nick Walters (England) - See all my reviews

"~This was the album that drew me into the world of The Fall, and I have never left. It was 1986, I was a sixth-former at Mangotsfield School (near Bristol in England), a nervous, shy, country-dwelling, poetry-loving Smiths fan with a deep interest in Science Fiction, an unhealthy obsession with Kate Bush, and an even unhealthier obsession with "Doctor Who" (an obsession which eventually bore fruit as I went on to write a couple of Doctor Who novels for the BBC in the late Nineties). private universe of imagination was full of horrors of my own making, I could see darkness and gloom everywhere and, though not wanting for anything, the future seemed mysterious, murky, scary and thrilling. What sort of music could take me through these teen-angst years? Kate Bush, as mentioned above, The Cure, The Smiths, David Bowie... but there was something missing. Where was the horror, the terror and thrill of the unknown? The cosy cardigans of Morrissey and the dark forests of Kate Bush"~ viewed safely from the window of a fire-lit room were soon to be challenged by - The Fall."~ etc, put something on the system which changed my life."~ ravening machine set loose; dangerous, yet thrilling; drop-dead cool and totally unconnected to anything before or since. I remember thinking, "How did they arrive at this?" It was from out of nowhere. Listening to it now, 14 years later, has the same effect. Never has a piece of music affected me so much. of dark machines and imagination unfettered. I have every Fall album, and though I like some of them better,"Bend Sinister" is the very heart of The Fall, a glinting, obsidian monolith to which the listener has no choice but beautiful surrender.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cleanly-recorded display of conceptual brilliance, March 6, 2000

By	Scott McFarland (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews

To me this is a great album (and the last great one they recorded up until 1995).

The music is strange and dark, but retains energy and tight construction. Elements of grunge, surf, prog-rock, goth, pop and other musics surround Smith's poetry. It coalesces much better on this enhanced UK running order than it did on the associated 1986 US LP release ("Domesday Triad Plus").

Not every track here is brilliant, but most are.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slightly uneven but a great record, March 9, 2001

By	Davdi Sutom "kosmonaut" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I've read a few things about how this record is one of their least memorable releases, yet I can't help but disagree. It's certainly more subdued and sparse than their other "big" sounding records, but all the classic Fall elements are still there: twisted lyrics, driving drum and bass, jagged guitar lines, and general goofiness. A treat to listen to!