Customer Reviews

Light User Syndrome

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

 

 

Mark E. Smith manages to make the same album repeatedly yet each time as interesting as the last. There are some stand-out tracks on this album notably, Spinetrak and Hostile. The female harmonies are excellent throughout and this is a must have for all Fall fans.

The Fall released this perennial classic in 1998, and is the best to date of their recent work. Brix Smith reappears here and adds some interesting backing vocals, and performs well on SPINETRAK, which contains hints of French 1970s prog-punksters METAL URBAIN(anyone remember them?). DIY MEAT is traditional Fall - Smith rants about home improvements and BBC radio to a jazzed up, one-chord onslaught similar to HEX ENDUCTION HOUR-era Fall(C. 1981). A nonsensical and off-time German spoken track is also a delight; STAY AWAY(OLD WHITE TRAIN) is a great Johnny Paycheck cover- great original as well, as is their version of LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN(a Gene Pitney number, I believe), subtitled here LAST CHANCE TO TURN AROUND. Delving into weirdness and an almost dark, European Teutonic gothic sound(most notably on OLEANA, COLISEUM and the excellent CHEETHAM HILL) it picks up the pace at the end with SECESSION MAN, a very poppy little epistle which would have made a great A-side with sampled saxophones and tiunkling glockenspiel sounds cascading around 80s discopop keyboard effects. Wonderful stuff indeed. Let's be honest, you just can't beat them! Britain's most innovative and original band have struck again!

This is a very strong Fall record, different from their early material, but very much worthwhile. Mark E. Smith mumbles quite a lot and there are some great turns-of-phrase (he's a handyman...)

"Waleed lives in Baghdad. He wants to hear the Fall. Penelope is a teacher. She lives in Honey Grove, Texas, and heard the Fall on the BBC World Service. Sebastian works in Hamburg. He's a doctor and roams the internet in search of Fall information. Not all the time, mind. Jeff does the same. He lives in Ipswich and has compiled an authoritative Fall discography. William is my son. He said, 'Fall LP's don't really need sleeve notes, Dad.' He's right, of course." -John Peel

Probably easier to download the whole album, even though there is some filler.

I recommend buying these singles:
He Pep!
Oxymoron
Oleano
Spinetrak
Secession Man
DIY Meat
Cheatham Hill

Solid songs:
Chiselers
Last Chance to Turn Around

Heavy, hard-rocking FALL at their/his best!
Let the LIGHT envelope and consume you!!
No regrets.

After having been quite a fan at the end of the 80's - start of the 90's I had given up on the Fall when I came across this one. They were playing it at Newbury Comics in Boston. I did not recognize the Fall right away but was struck by the melodic brilliance of the songs and I bought it and was blown away. The Colliseum for example is incredible.

When i saw that not one person had stopped to review this cd, i just had to write something. A totally underrated Fall cd. True, it may not be a Bend Sinister, a Grotesque, or a Frenz Experiment, but it is definitely a must for any Fall fan. The cd is the climax of 90's Fall. Got some awesome songs; the first half of the cd is just awesome. The second half takes some adjustment to but is no less great. It does not lack the characteristic Fall energy, nor the biting lyrics, nor the right-on bass lines. Any Fall cd is worth the money a few times over...this cd is cheap and will provide you with hours of entertainment.

the music of The Fall is both engaging and off-putting...equal parts clever and brilliant mixed with the confounding and annoying. the casual fan of punk or post rock will probably be confused. and that my friends, may be the point. or maybe not. you decide. take a listen.
The Light Users Syndrome presents a bit of a fuller and more realized sound. the songs are quite strong and show the band in good spirits. this one has a more listener-friendly approach and it's melodies favour the pop side of things a little bit more so than many of their other releases up to this point in time.