Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What The Fall was before Brix and techno, December 3, 1999
Northern England's working-class answer to Can at their zenith, 'Grotesque' is easily the quintessential Fall album. All extraneous elements are discarded: no Brix, no techno nonsense, just pure ME Smith and Co. Lo-fi, cantankerous, humorous, and infectious, 'Grotesque' is possibly the best product Manchester ever produced. 'English Scheme' and 'In the Park' alone make this record mandatory. And now with additional tracks...
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Californians always think of sex, or think of death..., September 20, 2002
I am currently addicted.....almost 20 years ago, in the mid-80s, the cover of this album screamed at me to buy it from a Berkeley record shelf.....and hence the Fall was discovered. With the additional songs added at the front, this CD kicks even more arse than the lp, what with the awesome "How I Wrote Elastic Man" and "Totally Wired" added......also great is "English Scheme", "New Face in Hell" and "C'N'C-s Mithering"...Mark's wonderful Mancunian snarl and memorable observances set to irresistibly catchy, lo-fi rhythms....wow.....love it! Punk out! If you love Mark and the Fall, purchase!!
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"they say I rip off Johnny Rotten", methinks Mark's better!!, October 15, 2001
This is a full album & 2 singles that came out before it. I'll start w/ the singles. Elastic Man & Totally Wired are in my esteemed opinion the most brilliant & worthy use of the 7" format is the history of the universe. Hank Rollins even agrees. I heard TW 1st & played it all the time, picked up some later lps & onyl played them a few times & figured The Fall must be better in small doses [a 1981 single Lie Dream of a Casino Soul is similarly fabulous] but eventually got around to Grotesque & realised how overwhelmingly wrong was I. Here you have wit, groove, innovation, a certain need to jump around the room. I am proud to say this was recorded the year I was born [1980]. Some of the songs are short & punkish, like Pay Yr Rates, English Scheme & In The Park ["you thought it'd be great but a good mind does not a good f**k make"], whilst the rest are a bit more trance-like w/ narratives about unsavoury characters & record industry hobnobbing & regional pride, witness the finale The North Will Rise Again [initialed for the title to the confusion & subversion of the masses]. There's even a notable surf guitar solo in the Container Drivers. It's far from average punk, w/ inventive studio multilayering that reveals itself more on repeated listenings [of which you will have many w/o a hint of boredom]. Much more could & should be said but my only complaint is that a minute has been edited off the end of Putta Block where Mark does his worst Bill Haley impression, & they even have a pic of the 7" label under the cd to acknowledge, 4 minutes where it's 3 on the cd. But what's here is all good stuff. REALLY GOOD STUFF I should say.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
