Fall Heads Roll

The Fall

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: October 4, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Narnack Records
• ASIN: B000AP2ZEE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99,084 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As Mark E. Smith's band head toward their third decade as the shambolic art-punk outfit that all arrogant art school kids must love even after they've gotten over their own arrogance, the amazing thing is not that they exist or still have a following despite Smith's notorious predilection for doing things onstage to his bandmates not even Rick James would have tried. What's amazing is how good their records still are, and the ways that a singer who looks like the specter of death crossed with Andy Capp who has such a limited range is so consistently engaging. Not as blindingly hateful as their prior two albums, Heads Roll is in fact among the group's finest post-Brix releases. As usual, the group's cover choices are Catholic, and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" by the Move is on par with their take on "Victoria," which is to say, excellent. This album is long and listeners would do well to program out the last third or so, but thanks to modern technology this is not tough to accomplish. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

The latest studio full-length from England's most prolific rock band. Fourteen tracks of intoxicating splendor promise to captivate old and new fans alike, laced-up with monumental garage-pop hooks effective enough to candy-coat a bruised liver. Pressed on 180 GM black & 180 GM marble vinyl.

As Mark E. Smith's band head toward their third decade as the shambolic art-punk outfit that all arrogant art school kids must love even after they've gotten over their own arrogance, the amazing thing is not that they exist or still have a following despite Smith's notorious predilection for doing things onstage to his bandmates not even Rick James would have tried. What's amazing is how good their records still are, and the ways that a singer who looks like the specter of death crossed with Andy Capp who has such a limited range is so consistently engaging. Not as blindingly hateful as their prior two albums, Heads Roll is in fact among the group's finest post-Brix releases. As usual, the group's cover choices are Catholic, and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" by the Move is on par with their take on "Victoria," which is to say, excellent. This album is long and listeners would do well to program out the last third or so, but thanks to modern technology this is not tough to accomplish. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars most impressive., October 6, 2005

By	Jules (W. Hollywood) - See all my reviews

Unlike with most of the Fall's releases over the past five years or so, I did not approach "Fall Heads Roll" with nearly as much skepticism as I did those other recent records. I believe that it was off their website or one linked to it that I downloaded some 2004 Peel Sessions of "blindness," "clasp hands," and "what about us." These were truly excellent recordings, with an intensity that reminded me much of "Hex Enduction Hour."

Their previous full-length "the real new fall lp" is a great album in its own right, and one that can really grow on you, but I just flatly disagree with those reviewers who feel it necessary to cast "fall heads roll" as a somewhat lesser version of it. On the contrary, this record has an intensity that the previous one too often lacks (even though it remains quite engaging). Moreover, the "softer" moments on "fall heads roll" (Midnight Aspen / Reprise) don't at all grate on the rest of the material (which was the major failure of otherwise good early 90s records such as "Extricate," ect), but they instead merge much more organically with their surroundings. One could tell from the last full-length that the Fall had regained much of the sharpness/wit that characterized early classics like "Room to Live" (i love those 'i hate the country' songs), and "fall heads roll" delivers in this area even more satisfyingly.

Mark E. Smith's new wife and keyboardist Eleni plays a significant role throughout the record, and it's great to hear the band gel around her and M. E. Smith. As much as some may hate the parallel, this new(ish) lineup could very well return the band to the creative and catchy heights they achieved in the best of the Brix period. One or two more successive albums like this and there will be little disagreement with such an observation. As it stands now, I'm not quite ready to uncross my fingers. As long as there's not another divorce in the near future (which would very likely thrust Smith into further self-conscious emotional griping that diluted albums like "Extricate"), I will do my best to remain optimistic.
Even in such a case, "Fall Heads Roll" will not become stale anytime soon. Truly a modern classic and, as the previous reviewer suggests, I will not accept any reaction less that enthusiastic from those friends who remain casual spectators into the world of the Fall. And in this case, I don't think I even need to worry about that.

17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fall Lout., October 17, 2005

By	AllOverWith "cannes2000" (L.A.) - See all my reviews

The Real New Fall LP can blush like a prom queen, because the positive reaction to this album is nothing but belated recognition that the last one was exceptional. Mark E. Smith has put out so many middling albums -- albeit in an addictive and consistent way that makes nostalgia pointless -- that I think people, and I know this was the case for me, almost didn't believe their own ears when they heard how vital and fully in control of every moment Smith was on Real New Fall. No one talked about a new era beginning when it came out, due to this disbelief, this skepticism that someone who was so complacently turning out 6,000 albums a year, could actually be on the verge of a rebirth, despite the evidence of their ears. And now, still acting despite the evidence of their ears, people ARE talking about a new era, with the release of Fall Heads Roll, which is funny because this album is nothing but Cerebral Caustic with a cooler title. And I like Cerebral Caustic, just like I like every Fall album, but just as no one would confuse Hex Enduction Hour with I am Curious Oranj, please don't confuse The Real New Fall LP with Fall Heads Roll. This is not a continuation of the same brash and exhilarating energy; this is the lowpoint Mark E. Smith of the late 90's, barking in your ear on the metro as you pretend to suddenly be engrossed by the Business section of your Manchester Evening News, trying not to choke on the gin fumes emanating from his toothless mouth as he lays out conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, all of them correct, but none of them audible.

There's nothing wrong with that, and much that is refreshing; who else would record an album in such an utter state of disarray? Smith sounds so ghastly here that you half expect one of the songs to cut out partway through, to be followed by a dull thud as his lifeless, pickled body hits the floor of the recording studio. That's about all the tension there is in this album, unfortunately -- it ain't in the music, which is just plain lazy and repetitive without the clever embellishments and detours of the best Fall ( in which category I'd include at least a couple of those detested 90's albums, by the way. )

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mighty Fall, October 5, 2005

By	D. Prey-harbaugh (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Fall just released one of the best albums of their careers. Fall Heads Roll comes through on every level. The Fall is a truly unique band and incredible on so many fronts, but the pleasures inherent in The Fall are often subtle and apparent after repeated listenings. The new album is immediately breathtaking with humor, vitriol, noise, all benefited by clear punchy production. Every moment is genius and control. Finally here is a Fall disc that you can pass onto those friends who you have been trying to convert for years.