Wonderful & Frightening World of [Extra tracks]

The Fall | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 12, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Beggars UK - Ada
• ASIN: B00000189G
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,838 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #5 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative
  • #48 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Essential Middle Period, April 20, 2003

By 

Randall E. Adams (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonderful & Frightening World of (Audio CD)

I first discovered the Fall during this period--the Brix Smith era. In fact I still remember hearing "Cruiser's Creek" (from "This Nation's Saving Grace") in a record store while on vacation in San Francisco. I was stunned. I had heard a sound that I would follow obsessively for many years up to the bitter and nearly unlistenable end with "Levitate."

Because of the production role played by John Leckie (also responsible for Magazine's first album) "The Wonderful and Frightening World" was the most disciplined and accessible of the Fall's albums to date. As others have already mentioned, "2 x 4" presents a pile-driver dance tune of a type that the Fall would come up with again and again. "Pat-Trip Dispenser" sounds like a 1960s American garage-punk offering, but more unhinged. "Disney's Dream Debased" turns down the volume and with Brix' echoed backup vocals sounds positively high-production compared to earlier Fall tracks. This does not mean it is an ordinary pop tune. It just represents an expansion of the band's musical vocabulary but the end result is the same as on all great Fall tracks: a bent story with a deceptively simple repetitious musical backing. I usually object to long tracks, but the crazed eight minute rant of "No Bulbs" could go on for 20 minutes and I'd be happy.

If you start your investigation of The Fall at this album, or at "This Nation's Saving Grace" or "Bend Sinister," you will have begun at a very good mid-point. Newer albums cover similar ground but are more polished and occasionally more spotty. Older albums also cover similar ground but are much more primitive and can be wildly erratic in terms of recorded sound. It's all brilliant at its best. Start here and then move outward in each direction.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars START HERE, March 7, 2001

By 

Frank Grimes (LaPalma, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wonderful & Frightening World of (Audio CD)

THe Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall is probably the most accessible album in Fall's entire catalog. Along with This Nation's Saving Grace, it is their best work from the Brix period. Actually...it's one of their best works period. It's rather strange hearing Mark E. Smith's familiar snarl in the context of a pop song like "Oh Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P." but it works surprisingly well. But the best song in the album may very well be the opening track "Lay of the Land" which starts off with some strange chanting and builds up to classic Fall punk rock. "God-Box", "Elves", and "No Bulbs" are excellent songs too. In short, this album is the perfect blend of artsy post punk and pop music.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You simply can't beat them!, September 12, 2000

By 

Mr N Forbes-warren "author of RESURGENCE and ... (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonderful & Frightening World of (Audio CD)

In 1984, The Fall released this absolute classic! The CD kicks off with LAY OF THE LAND, a fast-paced and punky number with a rather weirded-out intro - Mark E. Smith talking in a dense schoolkid voice! Strange. 2x4 is a catchy, jaunty, cynical number with a memorable bassline intro. A real live favourite and an amusing chorus - 'hit him on the head-ah! With a two-by-four-ah!' COPPED IT features a guest vocal by Gavin Friday from THE VIRGIN PRUNES, a perennial goth/alternative act from the early 1980s. The CD also features the radio-friendly singles OH BROTHER and CREEP, plus the equally entertaining b-sides. On the second half, The Fall show their surreal touch with BUG DAY, a mellow blues influence with DISNEY'S DREAM DEBASED - a prophecy of the Paris site, perhaps? Hmm. The influence of the presence of Brix E. Smith, Mark's then wife, is obvious here with twangy yet simplistic molten guitar riffing which puts Duane Eddy to shame! I should also point out the recent Stereophonics hit 'I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio' - well, have a listen to the track CRAIGNESS and compare and contrast. Then ask yourself the chicken-or-egg question! But I digress. This is an essential CD for any Fall fan, young or old. Well worth the money!