And with these I leave the Bible behind. Are You Are Missing Winner: Great title, terrible cover. The Fall really need a kick up the arse cover wise in this period, they veer from nonsense to stuff so bad it looks like a child drew it. The albums okay though, Mark sounds good throughout and sounds a bit more considered than on past albums. Bourgeois Town is a good cover, My Ex-Classmate's Kids revisits Touch Sensitive territory with aplomb. Ibis Afro-Man is the "Paintwork" of the album, the sore thumb. On a refreshed listen, this is actually the best they've been in some time. Really good record.
2G+2 captures some of the Fall as they toured. For some unknown reason this period is scrutinised, so it's pretty much more of the same, but perhaps with better sound quality. They include the I Wake Up In The City which is almost the same as My Ex-Classmate's Kids but it's not loss, as it's a great tune. Proper Fall.
Then more of the US tour. The problem with this tour is that the band played almost the same setlist each time. So I'm just exhausted by hearing the same sets. The Joke / Cyber Insekt / Two Librans / And Therein/ Paintwork and so on and on and on.
The reissues from Hip Priest, which I guess is some Fall fan somewhere are as good as the others, i.e. terribly recorded, audience tape recordings of the band. Given that every gig is 10 million decibels, why is it that the audience sounds way louder than the band in these things? These things all blend into each other. It's nice to hear Mr. Pharmacist but not when Mark's hammered and is barely coherent.
They seem to end with Way Round which is a really good ender for them - quite mental and urgent. There's an interview tacked on to the SF gig. "Interview" mind, just a cut up of Mark Talking really. It's good to hear him not drunk and talking. He still talks about Manchester like it's the 1980s.
And then two more from Touch Sensitive. Again the same track listing. Over and over, 5 hours. Very tiring actually. They end with Damo Suzuki - it's good and I'm sure it's a fun one to play. What has he got in that paper bag. Probably a dose of vitamin C.
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