These 6 tracks represent Smith extending his vocal range, his angle of attack on the pretension and unease at the heart of the then English societal classes (MIDDLE MASS may even be another oblique reference to George Eliot's Middlemarch or am i just nuts?).

Whatever, with the usual prescience (PINK PROLE THEAT is a rollercoaster little number about a spy "new prole art threat the subject/safehouse, safehouse tone...". The music by now was developing at a truly staggering rate, with tracks like the fantastic LEAVE THE CAPITOL and the 6min+ title track epic ("This is the definitive rant! Slates drive me bats, therefore I say hey Slates give us a break!") featuring M.E.S. memorably declaiming his own unique manifesto and taking on all-comers as usual. As my only fellow reviewer so far has so accurately noted, this collection is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL and you must have it in your collection...now!

The wonderful and frightening world of THE FALL was beginning to take shape, with HEX ENDUCTION HOUR, the collective's first undisputed masterpiece. just over the horizon. These excellent Castle CD re-issues, with extra Peel Session versions of contemporaneous material, here include the classic AA single LIE DREAM OF A CASINO SOUL/FANTASTIC LIFE (an early contender for the BILL IS DEAD throne of self-deprecatory autobiography) are allowing a new generation of FALL fans to emerge and prompting older followers to dig out M.E.S.' inpenetrable sleeves and lyrics and ponder once again as to their fanatstic meaning...


Absolutely essential   November 17, 2004
 13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Originally released in 1981 on 10-inch vinyl and then notoriously unavailable for over ten years until a somewhat sloppy re-release in 1992, this mini album has continuously been the victim of its format and the greatness of its successor 'Hex Enduction Hour'. This is, however, grave injustice to what is one of the very best Fall albums that they ever received. Surpassed in complexity and craftmanship only by 'Hex' and unsurpassed in sheer energy and gall by no other Fall album, this is not just one of their very best, but it stands out among the quintessential albums of the early 1980s.

For a mere 6-track mini album, the songs are remarkably varied, from the slow 'Older Lover' to the killer attack of 'Prole Art Threat' to the hypnotic, driving riff of 'Slates, Slags Etc', all delivered with an intensity the band has rarely ever achieved since (except perhaps in recent live performances).

This newly remastered 2004 re-release presents the album for the first time in an appropriate context: in addition to the six original tracks there are seven bonus tracks - their 1981 Peel Session, the 'Lie Dream/Fantastic Life' single and a studio outtake - bringing this to a 50-minute document of the band driving towards their zenith.

This is absolutely essential and should be in everybody's record collection, regardless of whether you are a Fall fan or not.