The Wonderful and Frightening World Of...
| The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... | ||||
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| File:The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by The Fall | ||||
| Released | 8 October 1984 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 40:09 | |||
| Label | Beggars Banquet | |||
| Producer | John Leckie | |||
| The Fall chronology | ||||
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The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... is the 7th album by The Fall, released in October 1984. It was the band's first album with the successful Beggars Banquet label who put them with name producer John Leckie. Brix Smith co-wrote around half the tracks. Paul Hanley left the band immediately after the accompanying UK tour, ending the group's distinctive "twin drummers" period.[1]
Production
The album was produced by John Leckie.[2]
Three older, previously abandoned songs were returned to during these sessions. "Oh! Brother" and "Copped It" dated back to the group's earliest incarnation (they can be heard on Live 1977 issued by Voiceprint Records in 2000) and "Draygo's Guilt" was being performed live in 1981 (it can be heard on the Live in Leeds section of the Perverted by Language Bis DVD, issued by Cherry Red in 2003).
The album's cover artwork (like that of its predecessor Perverted by Language) was painted by Danish-born artist Claus Castenskiold.[3]
Reception
Ned Raggett in a retrospective Allmusic review feels that the album is not aimed at the commercial market, describing Mark E. Smith's vocals in "Elves" as "audible, tape-distorting spit", Craig Scanlon's guitar work in "Lay of the Land" as "feedback ... over the clattering din", and Smith's lyrics in places as "coruscating and side-splittingly hilarious" and "portray[ing] a Disneyland scenario in hell"; overall his view is that it is a "smart, varied album".[2]
Ryan Schreiber in a Pitchfork Media review described it as one the highlights of The Fall's career full of "artsy and other-worldly" songs ranging from "bouncy and insane ... Sex Pistols- meets- Plastic Bertrand new-waviness" to "refreshing pop rock".[4]
The album reached 62 in the UK charts on September 1984.[5]
Track listing
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The album was belatedly issued on CD in 1988. The track listing duplicated the content and running order of the cassette edition almost exactly, substituting the extended "C.R.E.E.P." for the 7" version, although it added a brief spoken introduction by Brix Smith unheard elsewhere. (The running time for this version of "C.R.E.E.P." is 3:08; all other running times listed above for the cassette apply to the CD version.) The CD was not, however, given the cassette's extended title.
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Personnel
- The Fall:
- Mark E. Smith – vocals, tapes
- Brix Smith – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals
- Craig Scanlon – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Hanley – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Hanley – drums, keyboards; grand piano on "Clear Off!", backing vocals
- Karl Burns – drums, percussion, lead bass guitar, backing vocals
- Gavin Friday – vocals on "Copped It", "Clear Off!" and "Stephen Song" (credited as a "friendly visitor")
- John Leckie – production, backing vocals on "Lay of the Land"
- Joe Gillingham – engineering
- Claus Castenskiold – cover painting
References
- ↑ "The Fall gigography: 1984". The Fall Online. visi.com. 29 October 2008. Accessed 16 November 2010.
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External links
- The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... at Discogs (list of releases)
