Search - Fall :: Dragnet

A must-have for any Fall fan!

Mr N Forbes-warren | Newport, South Wales, UK | 10/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whichever year you first discovered the Fall, you MUST have this 1979 classic LP! This ranks as one of their best and has the first appearaince of Marc Riley on guitar, he is now a DJ on BBC radio and also formed his own band, Marc Riley and The Creepers, back in 1983, who are also well worth a listen. DRAGNET opens with PSYKICK DANCEHALL, with a spoof disco beat at the beginning and during the verses and a thoroughly shambolic but effective two-chord chorus. Mark E Smith, vocalist, rants, shouts and sings off key in his inimitable and unique style. DICE MAN, about the book, methinks, is a pastiche of Bo Diddley with its beat, and also clock the punkiness of PRINTHEAD, a surreal look at the music press from what I can decipher of the lyrics! Smith always throws around cryptic and indecipherable stories in the songs when he feels like it.



What I also liked about this LP was the rough and ready production obviously done on a low budget. The CD version is better quality, obviously, but the roughness came across better on my old vinyl copy. Other sings of note - BEFORE THE MOON FALLS, a very repetitive, chugging 'epic'(says word with sarcasm) with a one-chord riff in places which works, if you don't know this song give up the guitar now. SPECTRE VS RECTOR, their version of The Exorcist; FLAT OF ANGLES, a harsh but sometimes poppy number with hints of early Pink Floyd which tells of the tribulations of living in a tower block; PUT AWAY, which shambles along sounding like a bad band rehearsal and is a story of prison. On the CD, you also get ROWCHE RUMBLE, SECOND DARK AGE and another take on PSYKICK DANCEHALL which is actually sharper and ballsier than the album version. These tracks are off a 1979 single release which did well that year.

Overall, great to see that this post-punk classic is available on CD again for Fall fans old and young to enjoy. If you're into bands like The Hives and The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, give The Fall a listen so you can see where they got it all from!"

Wild! Extremely Imaginitive Album

Scott McFarland | Manassas, VA United States | 05/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is The Fall's second album - the lineup which recorded their debut "Live at the Witch Trials" fell apart, and bandleader Mark Smith recruited mostly-new working-class lads into his band, which was now more guitar-based and Velvet Underground-influenced. They recorded this album which was generally thought to be so far-out and abrasive that it was "practically unlistenable".This 2004 edition is undoubtably definitive. It sounds much better than the previous CD issue that I have (not that that one was especially bad). I think that the sound, the full psyched-out fractured glory the band was after, comes through much stronger than it has before. All instruments are distinctly audible and the "muddy, distant" sound the album was formerly noted for is no hindrence to being moved by this music. For the first time, I find myself transfixed by the album.It's a strong, wild, imaginative album. The band's time is not rock-solid but it's not bad either. Rock and rockabilly rythms collide with guitar drone and primal rhythms to create a mood of unease - kinetically spikey unease. Influenced somewhat by Captain Beefheart and Public Image Limited along with the Velvets but going further in many directions than those bands did, this record is a real acheivement. As is its sonic restoration."

Extremely good fun

filterite | Dublin, Ireland | 08/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I've heard of the other remastered jobs on this ( " right I'll just use me old vinyl. Oh f**k it's scratched" ) this truly must be the definitive collection for this album. It may seem cheaply recorded for some but this is The Fall at possibly their rawest and possibly their most bile-ridden best. It truly has to be The Fall at heart. No other way to describe it, really. Highlights to watch out for are Spectre Vs Rector and Rowche Ramble with all it's outtakes. Possibly the most fun you'll ever have listening to a CD. Absolutely essential"