The Real New Fall LP
(Formerly Country on the Click)
Studio album by
The Fall
Released27 October 2003 (UK)
15 June 2004 (US)
RecordedDecember 2002 – January 2003
StudioGracieland Studios, Rochdale
GenrePost-punk
Length44:31 (UK)
52:25 (US)
LabelAction Records (UK)
Narnack (US)
Producer
The Fall chronology
2G+2
(2002)		 The Real New Fall LP
(Formerly Country on the Click)
(2003)		 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong
(2004)
Alternative cover
Cover of the US version

The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click) is the 23rd studio album by the Fall, released on Action Records in the United Kingdom in 2003, and then on Narnack Records in the United States, with a slightly altered track listing, in 2004.

Background, recording, and release

The album was recorded at Lisa Stansfield's Gracieland Studios in Rochdale between December 2002 and January 2003 with producer Grant Showbiz.[1]

The subtitle is explained by the fact that the tracks were originally scheduled for release in April 2003 under the title Country on the Click.[2] Promotional copies were sent out and three of the new songs were previewed in the band's 23rd Peel Session, recorded on 19 February and broadcast on 13 March 2003. Smith was unhappy with the mix and decided it needed further work, stating in November 2003:

"The frustration is when people embellish what you're doing. I thought this LP was perfect round about March. But then you trust people—them who shall remain nameless—to go away and mix it and it comes back sounding like Dr. Who meets Posh Spice. You have to go back in and strip it down to what it basically was."[2]

The early mix appeared on the internet, prompting the change of name when it was finally released, to differentiate it from the mix he was unhappy with. However, the original title still appears on the CD spine.

The album features the song "Theme from Sparta F.C.", which, from 2005, was used for several years as the theme music to the Final Score section of BBC television's Saturday afternoon sports coverage. In 2006, Smith was also invited to read out the classified football results on the BBCi interactive service "Score"; this performance was in turn released by the Sonic Arts Network on their Stewart Lee-compiled album The Topography of Chance. A version of the track was released as a single in the UK on 10 July 2004, charting at 66 in the UK Singles Chart;[3] This version ("Theme from Sparta F.C. #2") also appears on the US versions of the album. Yet another version appeared on Interim.

A cover version of Lee Hazlewood's "Houston" is included on the album (as "Loop 41 'Houston").[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Alternative Press4/5[7]
Blender[8]
The Guardian[9]
Mojo[10]
Pitchfork7.9/10[11]
Q[12]
SpinA−[13]
The Sunday Times3/3[14]
Uncut[4]

The Real New Fall LP was positively received, receiving an 85/100 score at Metacritic.com.[5]

Alex Linhardt of Pitchfork called it "as valuable an album as anything The Fall ever released in the 1990s" and stated that "Smith's lyrics are at a near career-best of insolence and nonsense."[11] AllMusic's David Jeffries wrote that the album "gives the faithful another reason to believe".[6] Helen Pidd, reviewing the album for The Guardian, viewed Smith as being "on magnificently mad form".[9] Andres Lokko, for Expressen, was also positive about the album, writing that Smith "grinds and spits on everything that moves. Sometimes it's completely incomprehensible, sometimes insanely entertaining".[15] Uncut called it "Great by Smith’s standards. Practically genius by everybody else’s."[4] Spin praised it as "an atavistic orgy of recycled riffs and lifelong obsessions".[13] Mojo viewed it as "as good as anything in this group's monstrous catalogue".[10] PopMatters called it "their best record in a decade".[16]

Track listing

UK version

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Green Eyed Loco-Man"Mark E. Smith, Jim Watts3:47
2."Mountain Energei"Smith, Dave Milner3:22
3."Theme from Sparta F.C."Smith, Watts, Ben Pritchard3:43
4."Contraflow"Smith, Watts4:06
5."Last Commands of Xyralothep Via M.E.S."Smith, Milner3:30
6."Open the Boxoctosis #2"Smith, Watts3:46
7."Janet, Johnny + James"Smith, Pritchard4:15
8."The Past #2"Smith, Watts2:20
9."Loop41 'Houston"Lee Hazlewood3:28
10."Mike's Love Xexagon"Smith, Watts4:59
11."Proteinprotection"Smith, Watts, Milner, Pritchard3:19
12."Recovery Kit"Smith, Pritchard3:58
Total length:44:31

US version

The American release is remastered, features an alternate cover and abbreviates the titles of several tracks, although most are identical to their UK counterparts. "Sparta 2#" and "Recovery Kit 2#" are alternate recordings, while "Mod Mock Goth" and "Portugal" were not included on the UK version of the LP but did feature on UK singles.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Green Eyed"Smith, Watts3:46
2."Mountain"Smith, Milner3:22
3."Sparta 2#"Smith, Watts, Pritchard3:49
4."Contraflow"Smith, Watts4:05
5."Xralothep"Smith, Milner3:20
6."Janet vs. Johnny"Smith, Pritchard4:15
7."Boxoctosis"Smith, Watts3:45
8."The Past"Smith, Watts2:19
9."Mod Mock Goth"Smith, Elena Poulou4:12
10."Protein Protection"Smith, Watts, Milner, Pritchard3:17
11."Mike's Love Hexagon"Smith, Watts4:59
12."41.Loop / Houston"Hazlewood3:28
13."Portugal"Smith3:37
14."Recovery Kit 2#"Smith, Pritchard [n 1]4:03
Total length:52:25

Country on the Click (unreleased original version)

"Susan vs. Youthclub" was the lead track from the December 2002 "The Fall Vs 2003" single, and was supposed to be the lead-off single to the Country on the Click album.[17]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Theme from Sparta F.C."Smith, Watts, Pritchard3:51
2."Proteinprotection"Smith, Watts, Milner, Pritchard3:21
3."Mountain Energei"Smith, Milner3:31
4."Contraflow"Smith, Watts4:43
5."Green Eyed Loco-Man"Smith, Watts4:00
6."Last Commands of Xyralothep Via M.E.S."Smith, Milner3:23
7."Boxoctosis"Smith, Watts3:42
8."Ho(e)uston"Hazlewood3:10
9."The Past"Smith, Watts3:22
10."Recovery Kit"Smith, Pritchard4:03
11."Mike's Love Xexagon"Smith, Watts5:17
12."Susan vs. Youthclub"Smith, Milner3:37

Personnel

The Fall
  • Mark E. Smith – lead vocals
  • Ben Pritchard – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Jim Watts – bass guitar, guitar, computer, backing vocals
  • Dave Milner – drums, keyboards, backing vocals; lead vocals on "Portugal"
  • Elena Poulou – keyboards, backing vocals
Additional musicians
  • Simon "Ding" Archer – bass guitar on "Green Eyed Loco Man", "Sparta 2#", "Mad Mock Goth" and "Portugal"; backing vocals on "Portugal"
  • S. Beswick – keyboards on "Recovery Kit"
  • Ed Blaney – backing vocals
Technical
  • Grant Showbiz – production, engineering
  • Mark E. Smith – production
  • Tim Gracielands – engineering
  • Simon "Ding" Archer – engineering
  • Jim Watts – engineering
  • Mike Boody – engineering
  • Marcus Parnell – cover artwork (UK version)
  • Adie Russell – cover artwork, drawings (US version)
  • Sarah Crespo – cover artwork (US version)
  • Shahin Ewalt – cover artwork (US version)
  • John "Animal" Dwyer – drawings (US version)

Notes

  1. ↑ Credited on the "(We Wish You) A Protein Christmas" single to Mark E. Smith, Ben Pritchard, Rob Lally.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Mark E. & Middles, Mick (2010) The Fall, Omnibus Press, ISBN 978-1847724168
  2. 1 2 Hutchins, Al (2003) "The Thinking Person's Dour Rock Iconoclast; Mark E. Smith Has Been Frustrated at How Long It Has Taken to Produce the Fall's New Album, but, as He Tells Al Hutchins, It's Been Worth the Wait", Birmingham Post, 27 November 2003.
  3. ↑ "THEME FROM SPARTA FC". Official Charts. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Fall – The Real New Fall LP (Formerly 'Country On The Click')". Uncut (81): 74. February 2004. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Reviews for The Real New Fall L.P. (Formerly Country On The Click) by The Fall". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  6. 1 2 Jeffries, David. "The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click) – The Fall". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)". Alternative Press (193): 116. August 2004.
  8. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (October 2004). "The Fall: The Real New Fall Album, Formerly "Country on the Click"". Blender (30): 120. Archived from the original on 3 November 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  9. 1 2 Pidd, Helen (23 October 2003). "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  10. 1 2 "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)". Mojo (121): 120. December 2003.
  11. 1 2 Linhardt, Alex (21 January 2004). "The Fall: The Real New Fall L.P. (Formerly 'Country on the Click')". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)". Q (210): 114. January 2004.
  13. 1 2 "Breakdown". Spin. 20 (9): 120. September 2004. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  14. ↑ Lee, Stewart (9 November 2003). "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)". The Sunday Times.
  15. ↑ Lokko, Andres (2003) "The Fall: "The Real New Fall LP / formerly Country on the Click"", Expressen, 24 November 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2018
  16. ↑ Williams, Richard T. (2 May 2004). "The Fall: The Real New Fall LP". PopMatters. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Susan vs. Youthclub". Reformation!. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
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