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Music : Hex Enduction Hour
1 2
Rating: 
- A Fantastic Racket
The Fall's refusal to stay in one musical place for long has led to many good but few great records. Sometimes production lets them down, sometimes song choice and sometimes it's the performances. The Fall's more recent releases, for example, have included some fine music but occasionaly suffer (sorry Fall die-hards)at the hands of Mark E Smith. He may be the main driving force behind every Fall record but there's no getting away from the fact that sometimes his vocals sound like a Friday night drunk, reading his order off the menu at a Chinese takeaway. Then again, that may be the appeal to some listeners. And to be honest, like or loathe what they do you wouldn't change them and on most records they do manage one or two superb songs.
On "Hex...", however, they manage more than that. There's nothing here that doesn't work. From the production, to the songs, to the performances it's the Fall's most exciting moment. Although on first play you may think "total racket" , a couple of plays later and you'll be thinking "...what a fantastic racket". It's as abrasive as sandpaper, as loud as screams and you wouldn't change a note or fiddle with a single dial.
Rating: - a hidden classic
This was my first Fall album and it's just superb. Melodic bass drives most of these tracks and, along with Mark E. Smith on vocals, an addictive musical concoction is created. The lyrics are both humourous and thought provoking, and are delivered in Smith's own inimitible style. Tracks that really stick in my mind are Classical, and Hip Priest, phrases from each will stick in your mind and make you spin the CD once more to get another fix.
The bonus CD with live tracks is fantastic as well, I can only recommend this album. If you havent heard The Fall before then this is a good starter album, if you already know The Fall then you'll be aware that this is considered to be one of their best (they have released about 25 studio albums since 1979!). Just buy it!
Rating: - No review
There is little that can be said about this. If you like the Fall the chances are that you already know this work. If you do not like the Fall, this is not going to change your mind. It is the perfect piece of Fallness from their early mid period, its breadth and majesty dwarfing their peers.
Rating: - the ONE that gave M.E.S. confirmed 'GODLIKE GENIUS' status..
...for all of us FALL afficianados. Now re-issued in a sparkling 2-disc edition which strikes the perfect balance; it doesn't lose the raw immediacy of THE FALL's stunning 2nd masterpiece on vinyl (in my humble opinion the first was SLATES, by the way, also re-issued recently and equally essential to any true FALL fan's collection and er...basically anyone else with good taste in music); it also features slippery licks, thunderous rock riffing, the greatest beatnik rap ever (HIP PRIEST) and excellent live I'M INTO CB. Simply breathtaking arch agit-pop at its awesome best. Frontman Mark E. Smith's brilliant MERE PSEUD MAG ED (rubbish glossies take note) is both prescient and wonderfully funny as a comment on current cultural wastelands from LA (another FALL song but that's a later chapter in the FALL canon) to London. From the Holy Trinity of the opening 3 tracks - The Classical, Jawbone And The Air Rifle and (remember SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, fans?) Hip Priest, M.E.S. and the boys (and girl, lest we forget Kay Carroll) continue at a frenetic but always tightly controlled canter through some of the finest English rock songs ever recorded. OH YES all of you uninitiated but younger FALL fans (well, I'm still only 38 actually but this album is THAT GOOD IT REALLY IS. If you have ever wondered what the missing link between CAPTAIN BEEFHEART's legendary LP Trout Mask Replica and THE FALL's late, mature masterpiece EXTRICATE is (sadly, not part of the current welcome set of re-releases but really worth seeking out if you can find it) this IS IT. I know I have been extending the religious metaphor of the title of this review but what's wrong with that folks?! This album really deserves its cult status; M.E.S., if you ever read this, mate, why didn't you re-title the re-issue HEX ENDUCTION AND AN HOUR AND A HALF - we would have all rushed out to buy it even quicker i.e. with the extra tracks added this is the complete record of early-mid period FALL and why would newcomers need anything else? Enjoy everyone because M.E.S. really is the HIP PRIEST although (thankfully) he's never been as "clean as a packet of chocolate treats"... JOHN PEEL R.I.P...
Rating: - Hip, Hip, Hip � Hooray!
Although The Fall had made their mark with albums such as "Dragnet" and "Grotesque", it was with "Hex Enduction Hour" that they really produced their first monumental classic album. This was the start of a highly creative period for Mark E. Smith and cohorts which would peak with "This Nations Saving Grace".
"Hex Enduction Hour" has some truly classic Fall moments and shows a definite maturity in the writing. The album starts off with the storming "The Classical", the clattering of the dual drums of Paul Hanley and Karl Burns rattling along at a phenomenal pace. This is quintessential Fall with Smith ranting in his own highly inimitable style. The basswork by Steve Hanley is solid and propulsive with a brilliant intuitive solo at the end of the piece. "Hip Priest" is another classic track, a tight tension in its slow, methodical build up. This piece was unforgettably used to stunning effect at the climax of "The Silence of the Lambs". The huge workouts on tracks such as "Iceland" clearly demonstrate the influence of Can with the use of repetition to produce an ever evolving, hypnotic beat.
The thing about The Fall is that on the surface they sound almost amateurish in the way they play. But actually they are very sophisticated in what they do, in the way they use their instruments, tape samples, lyrical ideas right through to the sleeve art. They are always experimenting with new sounds and ideas. No one could sound like The Fall and no one does. As John Peel so accurately put it, "they're always different, but always the same". On "Hex Enduction Hour" the use of different types of percussion for instance is quite unusual and just adds the right kind of embellishments needed. Smith always surrounded himself with the "right" musicians, especially so here. There was a brilliant empathy going on which was almost telepathic in the way they would feed off each other musically. I have only heard this type of symbiosis in a few bands such as the aforementioned Can, who Mark E. Smith is a big fan of.
"Hex Enduction Hour" still sounds fresh, invigorating and inventive even today. The Fall could make a right royal racket and here is one of the best examples.
- A Fantastic RacketThe Fall's refusal to stay in one musical place for long has led to many good but few great records. Sometimes production lets them down, sometimes song choice and sometimes it's the performances. The Fall's more recent releases, for example, have included some fine music but occasionaly suffer (sorry Fall die-hards)at the hands of Mark E Smith. He may be the main driving force behind every Fall record but there's no getting away from the fact that sometimes his vocals sound like a Friday night drunk, reading his order off the menu at a Chinese takeaway. Then again, that may be the appeal to some listeners. And to be honest, like or loathe what they do you wouldn't change them and on most records they do manage one or two superb songs.
On "Hex...", however, they manage more than that. There's nothing here that doesn't work. From the production, to the songs, to the performances it's the Fall's most exciting moment. Although on first play you may think "total racket" , a couple of plays later and you'll be thinking "...what a fantastic racket". It's as abrasive as sandpaper, as loud as screams and you wouldn't change a note or fiddle with a single dial.
Rating:
- a hidden classicThis was my first Fall album and it's just superb. Melodic bass drives most of these tracks and, along with Mark E. Smith on vocals, an addictive musical concoction is created. The lyrics are both humourous and thought provoking, and are delivered in Smith's own inimitible style. Tracks that really stick in my mind are Classical, and Hip Priest, phrases from each will stick in your mind and make you spin the CD once more to get another fix.
The bonus CD with live tracks is fantastic as well, I can only recommend this album. If you havent heard The Fall before then this is a good starter album, if you already know The Fall then you'll be aware that this is considered to be one of their best (they have released about 25 studio albums since 1979!). Just buy it!
Rating:
- No reviewThere is little that can be said about this. If you like the Fall the chances are that you already know this work. If you do not like the Fall, this is not going to change your mind. It is the perfect piece of Fallness from their early mid period, its breadth and majesty dwarfing their peers.
Rating:
- the ONE that gave M.E.S. confirmed 'GODLIKE GENIUS' status.....for all of us FALL afficianados. Now re-issued in a sparkling 2-disc edition which strikes the perfect balance; it doesn't lose the raw immediacy of THE FALL's stunning 2nd masterpiece on vinyl (in my humble opinion the first was SLATES, by the way, also re-issued recently and equally essential to any true FALL fan's collection and er...basically anyone else with good taste in music); it also features slippery licks, thunderous rock riffing, the greatest beatnik rap ever (HIP PRIEST) and excellent live I'M INTO CB. Simply breathtaking arch agit-pop at its awesome best. Frontman Mark E. Smith's brilliant MERE PSEUD MAG ED (rubbish glossies take note) is both prescient and wonderfully funny as a comment on current cultural wastelands from LA (another FALL song but that's a later chapter in the FALL canon) to London. From the Holy Trinity of the opening 3 tracks - The Classical, Jawbone And The Air Rifle and (remember SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, fans?) Hip Priest, M.E.S. and the boys (and girl, lest we forget Kay Carroll) continue at a frenetic but always tightly controlled canter through some of the finest English rock songs ever recorded. OH YES all of you uninitiated but younger FALL fans (well, I'm still only 38 actually but this album is THAT GOOD IT REALLY IS. If you have ever wondered what the missing link between CAPTAIN BEEFHEART's legendary LP Trout Mask Replica and THE FALL's late, mature masterpiece EXTRICATE is (sadly, not part of the current welcome set of re-releases but really worth seeking out if you can find it) this IS IT. I know I have been extending the religious metaphor of the title of this review but what's wrong with that folks?! This album really deserves its cult status; M.E.S., if you ever read this, mate, why didn't you re-title the re-issue HEX ENDUCTION AND AN HOUR AND A HALF - we would have all rushed out to buy it even quicker i.e. with the extra tracks added this is the complete record of early-mid period FALL and why would newcomers need anything else? Enjoy everyone because M.E.S. really is the HIP PRIEST although (thankfully) he's never been as "clean as a packet of chocolate treats"... JOHN PEEL R.I.P...
Rating:
- Hip, Hip, Hip � Hooray!Although The Fall had made their mark with albums such as "Dragnet" and "Grotesque", it was with "Hex Enduction Hour" that they really produced their first monumental classic album. This was the start of a highly creative period for Mark E. Smith and cohorts which would peak with "This Nations Saving Grace".
"Hex Enduction Hour" has some truly classic Fall moments and shows a definite maturity in the writing. The album starts off with the storming "The Classical", the clattering of the dual drums of Paul Hanley and Karl Burns rattling along at a phenomenal pace. This is quintessential Fall with Smith ranting in his own highly inimitable style. The basswork by Steve Hanley is solid and propulsive with a brilliant intuitive solo at the end of the piece. "Hip Priest" is another classic track, a tight tension in its slow, methodical build up. This piece was unforgettably used to stunning effect at the climax of "The Silence of the Lambs". The huge workouts on tracks such as "Iceland" clearly demonstrate the influence of Can with the use of repetition to produce an ever evolving, hypnotic beat.
The thing about The Fall is that on the surface they sound almost amateurish in the way they play. But actually they are very sophisticated in what they do, in the way they use their instruments, tape samples, lyrical ideas right through to the sleeve art. They are always experimenting with new sounds and ideas. No one could sound like The Fall and no one does. As John Peel so accurately put it, "they're always different, but always the same". On "Hex Enduction Hour" the use of different types of percussion for instance is quite unusual and just adds the right kind of embellishments needed. Smith always surrounded himself with the "right" musicians, especially so here. There was a brilliant empathy going on which was almost telepathic in the way they would feed off each other musically. I have only heard this type of symbiosis in a few bands such as the aforementioned Can, who Mark E. Smith is a big fan of.
"Hex Enduction Hour" still sounds fresh, invigorating and inventive even today. The Fall could make a right royal racket and here is one of the best examples.