Fall Heads Roll

Infobox Album |
Name = Fall Heads Roll
Type = Album
Artist = The Fall


Released = 3 October 2005 (UK)
4 October 2005 (US)
Recorded = 2005
Genre = Rock
Length = 55:54
Label = Slogan (UK)
Narnack Records (US)
Producer = Mark E. Smith, Simon Archer, Tim Gracielands
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:x8m8b5t4xsqe link]
*"Blender" Rating|4|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3656]
*"Pitchforkmedia" (7.8/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17647/The_Fall_Fall_Heads_Roll 10 Oct. 2005]
Last album = "The Complete Peel Sessions 1978–2004"
(2005)
This album = "Fall Heads Roll"
(2005)
Next album = "Reformation! Post-TLC"
(2007)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternative cover
Type = studio


Lower caption = Front cover of US issue

"Fall Heads Roll" is an album by The Fall, released in 2005. It was recorded at Gracielands Studios in Rochdale, UK and Gigantic Studios in New York, NY. The US vinyl edition of the record is pressed on two discs and contains an alternate version of the track "Blindness". (One version of this tune is heard in the 2007 U.S. television ad campaign for the Mitsubishi Outlander. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/39675-the-fall-ready-ireformationi-contribute-song-to-car-ad] )

It is the first Fall album to feature an unadulterated 'rock' sound. Previously, a large aspect of the Fall aesthetic was to create a skewed take on rock music, wherein some combination of lo-fi production, sabotaged arrangements, or undistorted guitars would serve to undermine the masculine bluster of traditional rock forms ('Pearl City' is an example of this, wherein its straightforward riff is dismantled into separate, tinny parts on acoustic and electric guitar). On "Heads Roll" the rock riffs (particularly on the song 'Assume') are unrestrained, and are actually bolstered by heavy, muscular production. There is also a parallel development in the sense that the album's gentler moments are some of the 'straightest' quiet songs the group has ever done. The album met with a mixed reaction however, as while some reviewers appreciated the impact & focus of the professional sound, others found it too polished and therefore lacking in character.

Although the group had reissued several earlier albums and their Peel Sessions box set through the Sanctuary group (on their Castle imprint), this was the first album of new material to be released by them, on this occasion appearing on their Slogan label. In the US, the album was their second with Narnack Records.

Track listing

# Ride Away (Poulou/Smith) – 5:01
# Pacifying Joint (Smith) – 3:46
# What About Us? (Smith/Poulou) – 5:51
# Midnight Aspen (Smith/Trafford) – 3:13
# Assume (Smith) – 4:07
# Aspen Reprise (Smith/Trafford) – 1:52
# Blindness (Smith/Birtwistle) – 7:23 (7:11 on US 2LP)
# I Can Hear the Grass Grow (Wood) – 2:49
# Bo Demmick (Smith/Trafford/Birtwistle/Pritchard) – 4:15
# Youwanner (Smith/Archer/Pritchard) – 5:02
# Clasp Hands (Smith/Trafford) – 2:45
# Early Days of Channel Führer (Smith/Pritchard) – 3:48
# Breaking the Rules (Walker) – 2:26
# Trust in Me (Smith/Trafford) – 3:34

Miscellanea

In a March 2005 interview with "Kitchen Sink" magazine, Mark E. Smith cited "Heads Are Rolling" and "If You Assume" as two possible titles for the then-unfinished album.

The late DJ John Peel, their most famous fan, was once asked if he would be happy with his life should he "drop dead tomorrow". He replied "Well, yes - but there's a new Fall album out next year so I don't want to drop dead just yet". This was the first album by the band that he never got to hear, as he died around a year before release, although the songs "Blindness", "Clasp Hands", "What About Us" and "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" were performed at the band's final Peel Session on August 4, 2004.

Personnel

*The Fall:
**Mark E. Smith – vocals
**Ben Pritchard – guitar
**Steve Trafford – bass guitar also vocals and guitars on "Youwanner", "Midnight In Aspen", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", "Clasp Hands", "Early Days Of Channel Führer" and "Trust In Me"
**Spencer Birtwistle – drums
**Elena Poulou – keyboards, vocals
*Simon "Dingo" Archer – bass guitar on "Youwanner" and "Trust In Me", banjo on "Clasp Hands", vocals on "Trust in Me"
*Billy Pavone – vocals on "Trust in Me", guitar on "Blindness" (Alternate Version)
*Kenny Cummings – vocals on "Trust in Me"
*Phil Schuster – vocals on "Trust in Me"