Customer Reviews

Infotainment Scan

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I do not comprehand the guy who wrote amazon review hence this one. Infotainment was my least favorite Fall, after one month the favorite. This LP was realesed 91, wayyy ahead of anything at the time. Could be realesed 2010 and still would be. It just sounds different from early Fall. But say it is bad(it's not)The worst Fall record would still beat ANYTHING out there, some classical excluded ( B.the 9th, all of Gorecky) "i have forotten what others are still trying to grasp" - Mark E. Smith. Appropriate as far as popular music goes. To the gent who wrote one of the above reviews, NO, you can't sing along to Fall.

It's really bizarre to think that this LP has managed to disappear for the most part under the wealth of The Fall's other work. This is a great record, with inspired covers--particularly of Scratch Perry's "Why are People so Grudgeful?" It's a surprisingly upbeat record; Mark E. Smith even has a quasi-ballad with "I'm Going to Spain." Also recommended (if you can find it), The Fall's LP "Middle Class Revolt", also on Matador Records.

Boredom here? No way. All the tunes are winners. MES expands on this one. The cover of Chic's "Lost in Music" is excellent. I love "Fireworks" and "Service", on which he just raps away. MES has put out tons of Fall product in the 90s. If you looking for a place to start, why not with this one?

Some hardcore Fall fans sneer at this one, claiming the cover versions were better than the Fall originals. Rubbish! The opener, "Ladybird", is pure Mark E Smith whimsy wrapped up in a thunderous Hanley/Scanlon riff. "Glam-Racket" is a Bowie-Glitter hybrid that rattles the windows. "Service", with its Bach trumpet-style synthesiser and rumbling piano cords, is so evocactive of a dark English street you can almost feel the damp. Everyone will have their favourite cover. Their surprise reworking of Sister Sledge's "Lost In Music" opens up new dancefloor avenues. My personal fave is "I'm Going To Spain", a Eurovision failure that Smith turns into a pop masterpiece, while Smith's interpretation of Lee Perry's "People Funny Boy" is a faithful celebration of the strong bond between reggae and rock forged by Bob Marley. A classic Fall party album which makes you dance while diagnosing more symptoms of the English Disease.

This superb 1993 release from Britain's finest and most original band The Fall is a prime example of their developing 1990s sound which at this time was dabbling into techno and breakbeats(most notably here on WHY ARE PEOPLE GRUDGEFUL - a cover version so I've heard, and A PAST GONE MAD LIGHT), yet still maintaining its trademarkk sounds - repetitive chugging chord-laden guitar riffs, distorted bass and Mark E. Smith ranting! And quite rightly so as well! Their cover of LOST IN MUSIC, an old Sister Sledge 1970s disco song is a good laugh - how pleasurable it is to hear a cheesy dance record such as this get typical Fall treatment - IT'S A CURSE would make even the most miserable gothic dance with its upbeat darkness, PARANOID MAN . . . is simply a hilarious pastiche of people who are so self-conscious and self-obsessed its unreal, GLAM RACKET is an attack on retro teenagers who were not around in the 1970s to appreciate it properly and THE LEAGUE OF BALD-HEADED MEN is a throwback to one of The Fall's earliest songs - REPETITION, the driving bassline is almost the same note progression. And there's more than just these highlights. Overall, one for those who are diehard Fall fans, and a good one for those unfamiliar with this wonderful and innovative post-punk act to start off with Difficult to fault.

Take away track twelve "The Monkey Moon Mix" and this is a perfect record. The first five tracks are outstanding culminized by the phenomenal "It's A Curse" which despite being about a minute too long is one of my all time favorite Fall tracks. The Infotainment Scan is the first release after Brix Smith either left or was booted out of the band and despite her absence the polished sound that she helped to develop is quite evident. One of the highlights is a cover song called "I'm Going To Spain" which if you surf the net can be found on a compilation record of the ten worst songs ever written. Personally I've never heard the origibnal bit Mark E. Smith somehow mangaged to take what apparently was a piece of crap and turn it into what sounds like an all-time radio classic (although ironically the song never really received any airplay). As I said one of my favorite Fall cd's and well worth the money spent.

A sadly obscured, yet high quality album. Is there any bad MES album? But, to give people the feel for it, I would say the songs largely resemble that of 'Athlete Cured' from the Frenz Experiment. Slightly more subtle with techno intermixed here and there. But of course the same wonderful MES stream of consciousness vocals. Deserves to be in any fan's collection.

Hey! Who's in charge? The samples you have provided for The Fall's "The Infotainment Scan" sure as heck ain't The Fall!

I always protested when people say that one Fall album sounds exactly like any other Fall album. It simply isn't true. Well, eccept for this one. It#s not precisely a bad album, but it sounds so much like the one before it and the one after it that if you have either "Code Selfish" or "Middle Class Revolt" and are not a hardcore fan or collector you need not worry about this one at all. I am a diehard Fall fan, and this one bored me stiff.