The Frenz Experiment

Infobox Album |
Name = The Frenz Experiment
Type = Album
Artist = The Fall


Released = 29 February 1988
Recorded = St John's Wood, Brixton and Manchester
Genre = Rock
Length = 42:20 (LP)
64:53 (CD)
Label = Beggars Banquet
Producer = Simon Rogers,
Grant Showbiz,,
Dian Barton (CD & cassette only)
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:otkpu3l5an4k link]
*"NME" (6⅓/10) [http://www.visi.com/fall/gigography/88mar05.html 1988-03-05]

|
Last album = "Bend Sinister"
(1986)
This album = "The Frenz Experiment"
(1988)
Next album = "I Am Kurious, Oranj"
(1988)

"The Frenz Experiment" is a 1988 album by The Fall. It was released on Beggars Banquet Records, and like the group's other albums with the label, it has a different track listing across the various formats on which it was released: LP, CD and cassette. A number of the tracks are credited exclusively to the group's leader, Mark E. Smith, but the album also incorporates two cover versions (or one, depending on the format). "Victoria" was written by Ray Davies and originally performed by The Kinks, who released it as a single and on their album "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)" (1969). The Fall issued their version as a single and it made number 35 in the British charts. "There's a Ghost in My House", meanwhile, was a somewhat forgotten Northern soul track, first recorded by R. Dean Taylor in 1965, and written by Taylor with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team. The latter only appears on the CD version, having been issued as a single the preceding summer, whereupon it reached number 30. This was the group's highest singles chart position to date, and remains so as of 2007. Several sources note a strong similarity between "Athlete Cured" and Spinal Tap's "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight". [http://www.believermag.com/issues/200506/?read=article_wolk] [http://www.dailyreckless.co.uk/fall/archive/87.htm]

Despite a comparatively cool critical reception, "The Frenz Experiment" reached number 19 in the UK album chart, making it their first Top 20 album. The group promoted the release with a live appearance in HMV's Oxford Street store in London. Typically, they opened their short set with "Cab It Up!", a brand new song which would appear on their next album, "I Am Kurious Oranj".

Track listing

Vinyl record

ide one

# "Frenz" (Mark E. Smith) – 3:28
# "Carry Bag Man" (M. Smith) – 4:26
# "Get a Hotel" (Steve Hanley, Craig Scanlon, M. Smith) – 4:38
# "Victoria" (Ray Davies) – 2:45
# "Athlete Cured" (M. Smith) – 5:51

ide two

# "In These Times" (M. Smith) – 3:25
# "The Steak Place" (M. Smith, Brix Smith) – 3:56
# "Bremen Nacht" (M. Smith) – 7:00
# "Guest Informant" "excerpt" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 0:39
# "Oswald Defence Lawyer" (Hanley, M. Smith) – 5:59

Limited copies of the LP also came with a 7" single, featuring:
# "Bremen Nacht Run Out" (M. Smith) – 4:44
# "Mark'll Sink Us" (M. Smith, Hanley, Scanlon) – a live version of a track from the "There's A Ghost In My House" single – 4:21

CD version

# "Frenz" (M. Smith) – 3:28
# "Carry Bag Man" (M. Smith) – 4:26
# "Get a Hotel" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 4:38
# "Victoria" (Davies) – 2:45
# "Athlete Cured" (M. Smith) – 5:51
# "In These Times" (M. Smith) – 3:25
# "The Steak Place" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 3:56
# "Bremen Nacht Alternative" (M. Smith) – 9:19 – a longer version than the (now unavailable) vinyl one
# "Guest Informant" "excerpt" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 0:39
# "Oswald Defence Lawyer" (Hanley, M. Smith) – 5:59
# "Tuff Life Booogie" (Hanley, M. Smith, B. Smith) – 2:44
#* "Originally released on the "Victoria" single, January 1988"
# "Guest Informant" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 5:47
#* "Originally released on the "Victoria" single"
# "Twister" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 5:07
#* "Originally released on the "Victoria" single"
# "There's a Ghost in My House" (Holland-Dozier-Holland, R. Dean Taylor) – 2:37
#* "Originally released on the "There's a Ghost in My House" single, 27 April 1987"
# "Hit the North" (Simon Rogers, M. Smith, B. Smith) – 4:00
#* "Originally released on the "Hit The North" single, 19 October 1987"

Cassette version

# "Frenz" (M. Smith) – 3:28
# "Carry Bag Man" (M. Smith) – 4:26
# "Get a Hotel" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 4:38
# "Victoria" (Davies) – 2:45
# "Athlete Cured" (M. Smith) – 5:51
# "In These Times" (M. Smith) – 3:25
# "The Steak Place" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 3:56
# "Bremen Nacht Alternative" (M. Smith) – [note: this is a different mix to the vinyl version]
# "Guest Informant" "excerpt" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 0:39
# "Oswald Defence Lawyer" (Hanley, M. Smith) – 5:59
# "Guest Informant" (Hanley, Scanlon, M. Smith) – 5:47
# "Tuff Life Booogie" (Hanley, M. Smith, B. Smith) – 2:44
# "Twister" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 5:07
# "Bremen Nacht Run Out" (M. Smith) – 4:44

*Note that "Guest Informant "excerpt" is taken from a different recording of the track from that which features on the cassette and CD editions of the album and the "Victoria" single.

Miscellanea

Smith originally intended to call the album "Gene Crime Experience" until he realized that it spelled "GCE".

Personnel

*The Fall:
**Mark E. Smith – vocals, electric piano
**Brix Smith – lead guitar, backing vocals
**Craig Scanlon – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
**Steve Hanley – bass guitar, backing vocals
**Simon Wolstencroft – drums, backing vocals
**Marcia Schofield – keyboards, backing vocals
*Simon Rogers – Semi-acoustic guitar, saxophone, keyboards

External links

* [http://www.freehosting.hostrave.com/p/fall/lyrics.html?http%3A//www.freehosting.hostrave.com/p/fall/fe.html Lyrics]