Look, I know (Look, Know) there is no Fall fan who just owns the albums, without a least a few outliers, but still there are a huge amount of singles/live/compilations/EPs which contain some of the greatest Fall tracks, and without which your understanding of The Fall will be diminished.
I don't think I've seen this quoted, but I remember listening to Peel in the late 90's, when he read out a listener letter asking for a guide to what would be the essential Fall records for a beginner: Peel's response, quite rightly was that every album, along with all the compilations and most of the bootlegs were needed. However this was before all the deluxe reissues, which tidy up the singles and Peel sessions, and the deluge of cheap compilations, containing hastily thrown together tracks better heard on their album/single counterpart. A list of the best bootlegs would be a mammoth but very useful task. I have stuck to the officially released stuff.
And so in reverse order...
23. The Remainderer EP (2013)
The latest Fall release, comes as a nice double 10". Rancid rockabilly growling par excellence. Amorator! is the best track, with terrifying lyrics, 'Never forget, your brain is a bubble of water' and 'The frost covers up what the sloth bird brought'.
22. Hip Priest & Kamerads (1985)
Classic Fall artwork with MES' heavily abbreviated cryptic stuff all over the reverse. Look, Know is on here, which for some reason was not licensed for the Hex reissue. Also has a clutch of Hex/Room To Live era live recordings, including an epic 15min And This Day with dubious audience participation.
21. I Am As Pure As Oranj (rec. 1988)
Recorded at King's Theater Edinburgh, this is a recording of the Ballet in whole. The Fall at their biggest and boldest. Hanley's bass powers through the whole thing like a graceful elephant.
20. Live 1977
Six live CD's were in this series were released, all of which contain good quality recordings from a variety of Fall eras. This one is the least well recorded, but it is the very first recorded document of The Fall which makes it necessary. Interesting to hear them in the context of the scene that birthed them. Of the other Live CD's, on Live Various Years, you can hear me whooping excitedly prior at the start of Hip Priest from '97, at which point they had only started picking the odd back catalogue tune to play live (hence the excitement). Live '78 contains the best version of early tune Mess Of My... with MES' speed fueled ranting audibly eviscerating the lucky audience.
19. Inch (1999)
Un-Compiled elsewhere I think, this is another techno collaboration with the DOSE boys who also did Plug Myself In; and is a beat heavy version of the Levitate banger.
18. Perverted By Language Bis
The first Fall promos are on here. Wings, Kicker, Eat Y'self. Plus live versions of Totally Wired, The Man Whose Head Expanded and contemporary PBL track. Essential to get the visual Fall aesthetic down. Early Brix cameo, and a nice interview with MES and his cat. Of the other DVDs I think the Hacienda one is good, albeit a bit shoddy in places, worth the admission price for the tight as a gnats chuff Ludd Gang alone.
17. Masquerade (1998)
Completely bizarre, The Fall at their weirdest. About to fall apart, the last recording of the Hanley/Burns line up, MES totally cryptic (more than usual) possibly drunk. The main track is a weird lopsided techno, with the whispered bit just totally bizarre. Actually Fall singles in general at this point were bloody weird. The preceding single The Chisellers remains unlike anything, and only really makes sense in it's own twisted universe. Ivanhoes Two Pence continues the theme of being cheated and money troubles, of which The Fall were having plenty at this time. Calandar features Damon Gough AKA Badly Drawn Boy after MES bumped into him after he mistook his car for a taxi, this is perhaps how MES conducted business around this time, as collaborations were frequent, and we hope consensual. Scareball finishes, Hanley and Burns absolutely on the money. I really rate this stuff you know!
This double CD would be easily dismissed as just another random collection of tracks, and that is in fact what you get on CD 1, where some bright spark closed their eyes and thrust the pen onto Sing! Harpy followed by I'm A Mummy. However the interest lies in CD 2, which collates the outliers from MES's collaborations with Edwyn Collins, Tackhead, Clint Boon, Inspiral Carpets, Elastica, DOSE, Mild Man Jan and Long Fin Killie. Some of which (Inspiral Carpets, Long Fin Killie and DOSE) compete with the best of The Fall, and save you the pain of tracking down the individual singles and albums of the artists. You also get that epic live Life Just Bounces I mentioned earlier.
15. Last Night At The Palais (rec 2007)
The Fall were kindly asked to perform at the last night of this legendary London venue. This also comes with a DVD of the gig, Featuring the short-lived and unlikely line up including two bearded American blokes, this show proves the line up as an impressive live proposition, and this should be their legacy rather than the studio album. The only recognition of the occasion from MES 'Thank you for allowing us into your secure area, now we are going back to civilization, goodnight'.
14. The Fall Vs 2003
A stop gap release between albums, this prefigured the move into the industrial synth Fallstomp of Country On The Click. Susan Vs Youthclub apparently taken from a story-line on Neighbors. Janet Vs Johnny is an early version of the track which ended on COTC. A mysterious track which to me seems more tender than the album version, along Bill Is Dead and Birthday Song lines, a great track.
13. Rude All The Time (2001)
Originally released as a very limited 7", but now available on the Are You Are Missing Winner reissue. This kind of make more sense as a standalone track, Starting with 'turn the music up' then 4.30 mins of Stooge riffing. Later adapted into My Ex-Classmates Kids for the album. The characters which inhabit this song have reminded some of Dylan, eg. the commander in chief, deputy collector etc..Interestingly Dylan also urged the band to turn the music up, on the famous 1966 Albert Hall bootleg.
MES at his ranting, wired best. Tracks from Grotesque/Slates and even an early outing for Jawbone an the Air Rifle. MES shows scant regard for imitating recordings, some tracks featuring pretty much re-imagined lyrics, seemingly improvised, and all will stick with you . The country and northern sound is birthed and the band know they are unbeatable at this point.
11. 458489 & B Sides (1990)
As Bend Sinister has yet to receive the deluxe treatment, this is the place to get your Hot Aftershave Bop, Lucifer Over Lancashire, Auto Tech Pilot, Hey! Luciani and Entitled. Compilations of all the singles and B's from the Beggars period. All the HITS!
10. Austurbaejarbio (rec. 1983)
Recorded in Iceland following the departure of Marc Riley. This is the stripped down line up that would record Perverted By Language. Epic minimal double drum, one guitar versions of Tempo House, Voxish, Garden, Kicker etc...
Available on the Code:Selfish reissue, but better heard as separate to that album. Has got personal resonance with me, as it was released at the time I saw them at Glastonbury (I brought the T-Shirt), Features Cassell Webb and Craig Leon on vocals and production lending a mystic vibe to the whole session. Pumpkin Head Xscapes and The Knight The Devil And Death alongside Arid Al's Dream are a great trio of unusual Fall tracks with hints at mythology, astrology and darkness, MES channeling his pre-cognition.
8. Kicker Conspiracy EP
A double gatefold 7" featuring probably my favourite Fall track, Wings. Just can't be replicated in a satisfactory manner on any singles collection, extra tracks at the end of Perverted By Language, or anything else. In fact, all Fall 7"s up to this one are essential, if only for the artwork and scraps of MES's writing. Most of MES's alter ego Roman Totales missives are on these early single sleeves.
An MES collaboration with Mouse on Mars. Coldcut once said that British rappers could learn a lot from listening to MES, and this may finally be coming to fruition with Sleaford Mods. MES has always sounded great over electronic music, and this is basically him fronting a well established techno act and making it his own. I guess Mouse on Mars are lucky he didn't call it The Fall. This is actually much better that the Fall album of the same vintage, Reformation TLC.
6. Totale's Turns (It's Now Or Never) (1980)
As with In A Hole, an important addition to any serious Fall collection. The first official live release, and a format they would stick to: cherry picked tracks from recent tours plus a clutch of studio outtakes, or tracks which didn't fit elsewhere. MES audibly starting to wrestle control of the band on and offstage. The group edging away from their punk peers. Mike Leigh on drums pre Paul Hanley. MES in perfect sync on No Xmas -'I cannot exist, in light like this, turn it down, RIGHT'.
Basically, in it's original format this is unbeatable. The long version of No Bulbs on 12" vinyl sounds great, and is cut really loud. I used to play it out at an indie club in 93-94 surrounded by Britpop stuff, and this shit all over it. Also comes with a Slang King 7". No brainer.
Legendary NZ Flying Nun release. Quite simply the Marc Riley, two drummer Hex era Fall, with MES on ad-libbing best form. One of the very best Fall releases live or otherwise. Used to cost quite a bit for a good copy of the original. Think I got it for my 16th Birthday. Brilliantly recorded depth of sound. Be careful what copy you get, there were a few dodgy reissues and bootlegs with poor quality sound. Best version of No Xmas For John Quays on here with a steaming MES, 'And Quasimodo was there, with his friend Bugs the bear'.
3. The Twenty Seven Points (1995)
Covering the period from 1991 -95, when The Fall toured almost constantly. This warts and all live compilation is probably my favorite on this list, representing The Fall that I knew from following them through all this period as an utter fanboy. False starts, walk outs, tender versions of Bill Is Dead, a brutal Passable (the best version of A Past Gone Mad), two new tracks Noels Chemical Effluence and Cloud of Black, both of which are great, MES' intro tapes. Wolsoncroft, Bush Scanlon, Brix's return. If you want a feel for the soap opera of the Fall on tour, and how things could go from the sublime to the ridiculous in the blink of an eye this is the one. Another live document of this era In The City 1995 is worth seeking out for the epic 10min Life Just Bounces.
2. Slates (1981)
Personally I would put this in the top 3 Fall albums. However as it didn't make the aforementioned list, due to it's 10" EP status, it has to be on here. U Skinny Rats. Leave The Capitol often battles with Wings as my favorite Fall track. Fit and Working Again was the first Fall track I heard, taped off of Peel, he played Jerusalem and I'm Frank the following week.
Hard to argue against this being The essential Fall release, as it covers the whole shebang. The Peel sessions are as important as any other recordings in the Fall cannon; they can shed light on their studio counterparts, there are exclusive tracks, and often the tracks improve upon the released versions. Early live favorite Mess Of My, was a huge influence on The Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo, Teardrop the nascent indie scene and an early showing of the MES attitude. Winter probably outdoes the Hex version, as does '89's Squid Lord, revealing it's multi-tentacled Lovecraftian nightmare much more so than the muddy Seminal versh. The last Peel session improved upon the Fall Heads Roll sound with every track, Blindness being a recent classic. That's just to name four out of ninety seven beauts.
