This Nation S Saving Grace Music Cd

Fall - This Nation S Saving Grace

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This Nation's Saving Grace      Artist : The Fall      List Price : $11.98 USD        Your Price : $11.98 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 1997-08-12      Studio : Beggars UK - Ada      Label : Beggars UK - Ada      Avg. Customer Rating : (21 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for This Nation S Saving Grace      Essential bombastic wrath      Rating:      The famous lyrical rant of "Feel the wrath of my bombast" appears a couple of minutes into This Nation's Saving Grace and sums up the aesthetic and drive of this band. Frontman Mark E. Smith is quite the little ball of bile-spewing fury, and he spits out his disgust over the course of eleven grimy little numbers. The Fall was unlike a lot of their peers, though, and took the time to expand the UK punk sound in different ways than before. Other than the quick workouts of the early "Mansion" and "Bombast," these songs are almost all four, five (even six) minutes long. Most sneering snots today can't find the proclivity for extended rants anymore (its all close-fisted hate and short blitzkriegs), but Smith makes it all seem almost artistic. The art notion is boosted further by the synth-driven "L.A." and the layered pastiche of recordings on "Paint Work." Other strong moments include the raucous pogo punk of "Barmy," the somewhat gentler, Lust For Life-era Iggy Pop exercise in "My New House," and the aforementioned stomper, "Mansion." Some debate rages over whether this is the most essential Fall album, but it's almost certainly one of the best places to start getting into them. Best cuts: "Barmy," "What You Need," "L.A." "My New House," "Bombast," "I Am Damo Suzuki," "Gut of the Quantifier"     Customer Reviews for This Nation S Saving Grace Cd      I Am Mark E. Smith      Rating:      Though to some extent the Fall are a "single's band" they still have put out a lot of solid albums. Owning all of them might bankrupt you so besides any of their greatest hits albums (as long as they focus on older material) this is the place to start. This Nation's Saving Grace sounds like a monologue on everything from Margaret Thatcher era England (Spoilt Victorian Child)to the leader of one of the group's greatest influences, Can (I am Damo Suzuki) over angular post punk/funk rhythms. I prefer it over Gang of Four as This Nation's Saving Grace is not guilty of being didactic but instead is a chunk of bile and vitriol that must have been on Steve Albini's turntable more than once. I don't know whether the current bunch of post punkers from Williamsburg that slavishly imitate this sound are a good or bad thing. However, the Fall, despite line up changes are still a solid band and This Nation's Saving Grace is their most focused musical statement.