The Frenz Experiment

The Fall | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2011)
• Original Release Date: October 21, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Beggars Banquet
• ASIN: B00000189L
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,305 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #47 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The saintly Fall - they can do no wrong!, August 22, 2000

By 

Mr N Forbes-warren "author of RESURGENCE and ... (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Frenz Experiment (Audio CD)

Let's be honest, you simply can't beat The Fall, for their consistent originality and innovativeness. This essential album from 1988 is no exception. Opening with the haunting FRENZ and the punky, driving CARRY BAG MAN with dominant bassline, this CD takes you through their 1988 LP release(as titled) and also the flip sides of VICTORIA, one of their minor UK chart hits. The other, more well-known ones, their cover of THERE's A GHOST IN MY HOUSE(R. Dean Taylor's Motown release hit) and also the infectiously poppy HIT THE NORTH also feature. But it's the lesser-known, more experimental tracks that deserve a note. ATHLETE CURED, well you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a cross between The Surfaris' WIPEOUT and Spinal Tap's TONIGHT I'M GONNA ROCK YOU - honestly, they stole the guitar riff from here! AN interesting mix complete with a narrative ranta about an athletic star on drugs, methinks! IN THESE TIMES is dark, brooding and poppy, THE STEAK PLACE sees the band experiment with a folky style, OSWALD DEFENCE LAWYER, in spite of it being the weakest track on the CD is a curious tale of the trial of Lee HArvey Oswald. BREMEN NACHT sounds like music from a Mission Impossible chase scene only louder with a repetitive guitar line and sampled horns - Mark E. Smith throws in some German for good measure and rants about a bad gig he played in Bremen, Germany('On minding, my usual timing, on minding, casual setlist') - sometimes you're hard put to hear what he rants - is is 'violence inthe city' or 'barnacles in the sea'? Oh, what the hell. This Fall release delivers the goods and is a breath of fresh air even by today's musical standards. Their cover of The Kinks' VICTORIA does the original justice too. Overall, a must listen!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arguably their best in a long line of greatness., November 16, 1998

By 

Timothy N. Thomas "trianglelines" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Frenz Experiment (Audio CD)

Let's make this simple-- Mark E. Smith tells the truth. He tells it to himself, and he delivers it to you. Frenz Experiment succeeds in deliving Smith's sardonic swagger direct from his Burroughs-damaged concience to your content-starving lobes. Whether he has issues with a couple's public display (Get A Hotel), his coterie of friends (see title), or the poor bellhop that got on his bad side, there is little doubt that Smith can make anything seem the stuff of sinister paranoia. There is of course one thing you should understand: Mark E. Smith does not sing, he rants, so if you expect his crooning to do justice to Ray Davies's Victoria, you have another think coming.... Oh, buy this record. It will change your life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Obscure 1980s music., May 10, 2008

By 

David (Seattle,WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Frenz Experiment (Audio CD)

I bought this after hearing "Victoria" which was played on Music Choice's new wave or retroactive station, Music Choice being a music service that comes with the more expensive digital TV service which costs too much for what you get!

This is ok music and sounds like late1970s English punk crossed with some of the polished sound new wave music had during the 1980s. I like "Ghost in My House" the best. I don't have satellite radio so listening to the car radio is unbearable these days. This is the kind of music that the grungers were probably listening to before the grungers ruined both rock and alternative.