Search - Fall :: This Nation's Saving Grace

Rock Music's Saving Grace.

Steve Luddington | Manchester, England. | 02/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a dyed in the wool Fall fan, I may be a tad biased but I'm personally of the opinion that this is one of the best records anyone has ever made. Ever.The first thing that struck me was how loud it was. The drums sound like they're played with mallets, the guitars screech and reverberate wildly yet are still totally in control, the bass burrows deep into your brain and for once Mark E. Smith, the world's least tuneful vocallist, is playing second fiddle to his cohorts. This is rare for him.If you like the Stooges, the Strokes, the White Stripes, The Pixies, the Velvet Underground and all the other bands you're supposed to like when you're at University and you DON'T own this, then may I ask WHY NOT? This album is well up your street, my child.Stand out tracks have to be Spoilt Victorian Child, Bombast and Gut of the Quantifier. I'd suggest if you've never heard the Fall before that you play those tracks first as they are very typical of their sound, without resorting to formula. Oh, and they're all belters as well.As as is the norm for the Fall the lyrics are very often laugh out loud funny, probably the best being "Sean and Petula Macabre, here are your wedding photos, they are black (ahahaha)" from the aforementioned Gut of the Quantifier. It sounds a lot funnier when he says it, though.So my advice is buy it, preferably as part of that special offer where you get the Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall thrown in as well. If you've any taste at all, you won't regret it."

To nkroachment: Yarbles!

Ben Elliss | Reading, UK | 05/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A raucous, rough and ready riot of garage rock from start to finish, 'This Nation' veers between the brash, unfinished amateurism of 'Bombast' and 'Spoilt Victorian child' to the highly produced and polished sound of 'LA' and 'Petty (thief) lout'. This is without doubt The Fall's finest sixty minutes, with Mark E Smith's vivid, twisted take on the everyday in overdrive (cf 'Couldn't get ahead's strange rant about queuing up for an aeroplane toilet; one of the few tracks with easily discernible lyrics). Every song here is up to scratch, with none of the sloppy filler tracks of later albums. This nation's saving grace? Well, with this album The Fall come damn close."

I Am Mark E. Smith

directions | Space Time Foam | 03/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."