Customer Reviews

Slates

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I love the Fall, some of their later records have gone by the wayside for me (they are outrageously prolific - and like Captain Beefheart - largely a vocalist songwriter surrounded by a variety of musicians).

I got my hands on slates at about the same time I wasn't graduating High School. My friends and I studied it meticulously, like all Fall albums (there's sometimes more just on the liner notes than many other bands have in their entire records!) This orginally was a 10" vinyl Lp and looked GREAT. The six songs had 4 downright poppy and unforgettable hooks in them - and the lengthy ponderous "slates" was - while droning on and on like a Delta blues piece, full of interesting verbosity from Smith.

This release is a gem - as it's saddled with some great extras - to fill out the CD length and allow for longer playing. The original release was just the first six tracks - ending with the fabuous "leave the capital".

"Fit and Working Again" was damned near anthemic for me at 18 - and even now evokes a kind of material excitement and madness of growing up.

"Older Lover" is brilliant and promising as well.

They were never really to sound like this again - and like many great things - a kind of recorded snapshot of musical and social history.

I hear these days that Smith is mostly an onstage drunk surrounded by musicians half his age who wouldn't even know Slates... but, that's another story that includes a fist fight from the boney old man with his former band mates... Ah! Rockstars!

this is a good addition for the die hard fall fans that have to have everything. if you love the fall you will want this cd.

I first heard the 'Slates' EP when it came out and was totally bothered and befuddled by it. I remembered thinking the cover looked fantastic. I listened to a borrowed vinyl copy many times and never could decide if I liked it, or if I even got it. Years later I got another copy, with all these bonus tracks. I'm still not sure I get it but it sounds great to me. Cleans indie rock garbage out of your ears. Some of their poppiest stuff and also some of the most abrasive.

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.

Slates is great fun...but i'm wondering why it has been released seperately from the A Part Of America Therein, 1981 album. just to make room for bonus tracks? hmmm...