Fall in a Hole

1983 live album by The Fall

Fall in a Hole

Live album by

The Fall

Released| December 1983
Recorded| Mainstreet Cabaret, Auckland, 21 August 1982
Genre| Post-punk
Length| 88:15
Label| Flying Nun Records
Producer| Chris Knox
The Fall chronology
| Room to Live
(1982)  | Fall in a Hole
(1983)  | Perverted by Language
(1983)

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Fall in a Hole is a live album by the Fall, recorded in Auckland in August 1982 and released in December 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.

## Recording and release

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The album was recorded at the last show of the group's 1982 tour of Australia and New Zealand, at Mainstreet Cabaret in Auckland on 21 August 1982, after Chris Knox got the band's agreement to record it, and the first disc of the album is taken from Knox's four-track tape recording through the mixing desk.[1] Knox ran out of tape, so the later songs were taken from cassette recordings by others.[1][2] There is a detectable difference in the sound quality between the two discs due to the differing sources.

Consisting of one 33 rpm record and one 45 rpm record, Fall in a Hole captures the group fresh from the relative commercial success of Hex Enduction Hour and debuting songs from its followup, Room to Live.

The sleeve (designed by Knox) features a clipping from the front page of Christchurch Press showing a photo of Marc Riley with a caption of "Happy Fall guitarist", although Riley had left the band by the time of the album's release.[1][3]

The album was originally only released in New Zealand in December 1983.[1] However, a small number were exported to the UK early in 1984 and, in the sleeve notes for the 2002 UK CD edition, Chris Knox, who had recorded the show, stated that Mark E. Smith had been very unhappy at copies appearing in the UK and that exports ceased at his request.[2] The album immediately became a highly valued collector's item. Smith demanded all of the profits from the album, putting Flying Nun in a precarious financial position and delaying several of the label's other releases.[1][2][4]

### Reissues

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Often referred to as simply In a Hole, the album has been reissued on CD three times, the first attempt (Cog Sinister 1997) being mastered from a scratched bootleg copy, complete with uncorrected vinyl skips.[1] A 2002 reissue (titled Fall in a Hole + and issued through Voiceprint) was remastered from a superior vinyl copy and also added additional tracks from other dates on the tour. The most recent incarnation (Castle Music, 2006) duplicated the musical content of the 2002 edition exactly but restored the original title, omitting the "+".[5]

## Critical reception

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [6]

AllMusic's Ted Mills gave it three and a half stars, saying "the band is mostly tight, though the drumming gets a bit ropey in places, but perfection was never the Fall's reason for being".[6] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide describes it as an "excellent live album".[7] In the view of writers for Trouser Press, "recording quality, execution and song selection are superb".[8]

## Track listing

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### Disc One

[edit]

1. "Impression of J. Temperance" (Smith, Riley, Scanlon) - 4:34
2. "The Man Whose Head Expanded" (Smith, Hanley, Scanlon) - 4:50
3. "Room To Live" (Smith, Scanlon) - 4:11
4. "Hip Priest" (Riley, Hanley, Scanlon, Hanley, Smith) - 7:15
5. "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul" (Smith, Riley) - 4:13
6. "Prole Art Threat" (Riley, Smith) - 3:39
7. "Hard Life in Country" (Smith, Cadman - as listed, actually Arthur Kadmon) - 7:29
8. "The Classical (minus intro.)" (Smith, The Fall) - 5:02
9. "Mere Pseud Mag Ed" (Smith, Riley) - 3:25
10. "Marquis Cha-Cha" (Smith, Burns) - 5:50
11. "Backdrop" (Smith, Scanlon, Riley, Hanley) - 10:19

### Disc Two

[edit]

1. "Fantastic Life" (Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Hanley, Hanley) - 7:56
2. "English Scheme" (Riley, Scanlon, Smith) - 2:20
3. "Joker Hysterical Face" (Smith, Riley, Hanley) - 4:18
4. "No Xmas for John Quays" (Smith) - 6:43
5. "Solicitor in Studio" (Smith, Burns, Scanlon) - 6:02

### Additional tracks on 2002/2006 CD editions

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1. "The Container Drivers" (Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Hanley) - 3:32
2. "C'n'C"/"Black Night" (Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Hanley/Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice) - this is a version of "Cash 'n' Carry" that segues into a cover of the Deep Purple song. \- 5:28
3. "Look, Know" (Smith, Riley, Burns, Hanley, Carroll) - 5:12
4. "Who Makes The Nazis?" (Smith) - 8:36
5. "Gramme Friday" (Smith, Riley, Scanlon) - 3:46
6. "Slates, Slags, etc" (Riley, Hanley, Smith, Scanlon, Hanley) - 8:06

All writing credits are as per the 2006 edition.

## Personnel

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* Mark E. Smith \- vocals, kazoo, keyboards, guitar
* Marc Riley \- guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
* Craig Scanlon \- guitar, backing vocals
* Steve Hanley \- bass guitar
* Karl Burns \- drums, bass guitar, guitar
* Paul Hanley - drums

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f Reid, Graham (2016) "We Need to Talk About...the Fall in a Hole Album: Almost stopping the Nun taking flight", elsewhere.co.nz, 1 December 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2018
2. ^ a b c Shepherd, Roger (2018) "Roger Shepherd on The Fall’s 1982 tour of NZ – and the live album that resulted", thespinoff.co.nz, 25 January 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018
3. ^ Gates, Charlie (2016) "When the mighty Fall came to New Zealand", Christchurch Press, 18 August 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2018
4. ^ Bannister, Matthew "Flying Nun History 1980-1995", undertheradar.co.nz. Retrieved 11 March 2018
5. ^ Draper, Jason (2012) "Fall Fathom Five", Record Collector, December 2012, p. 142
6. ^ a b Mills, Ted Fall in a Hole at AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2018
7. ^ Brackett, Nathan & Hoard, Christian (2004) The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, Simon & Schuster Ltd, ISBN 978-0743201698, p. 294
8. ^ Azerrad, Michael; Wolk, Douglas; Pattyn, Jay "Fall", Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 March 2018

* v
* t
* e

The Fall

* Mark E. Smith

* Steve Hanley
* Paul Hanley
* Craig Scanlon
* Brix Smith
* Marc Riley
* Karl Burns
* Tony Friel
* Martin Bramah
* Una Baines
* Simon Rogers
* Simon Wolstencroft
* Julia Nagle

Studio albums|

* Live at the Witch Trials
* Dragnet
* Grotesque (After the Gramme)
* Hex Enduction Hour
* Room to Live
* Perverted by Language
* The Wonderful and Frightening World Of...
* This Nation's Saving Grace
* Bend Sinister
* The Frenz Experiment
* I Am Kurious Oranj
* Extricate
* Shift-Work
* Code: Selfish
* The Infotainment Scan
* Middle Class Revolt
* Cerebral Caustic
* The Light User Syndrome
* Levitate
* The Marshall Suite
* The Unutterable
* Are You Are Missing Winner
* The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)
* Fall Heads Roll
* Reformation Post TLC
* Imperial Wax Solvent
* Your Future Our Clutter
* Ersatz GB
* Re-Mit
* Sub-Lingual Tablet
* New Facts Emerge

EPs|

* Bingo-Master's Break-Out!
* Slates
* The Remainderer
* Wise Ol' Man

Live albums|

* Live 1977
* Liverpool 78
* Totale's Turns
* Live in London 1980
* A Part of America Therein, 1981
* Fall in a Hole
* Seminal Live
* The Twenty-Seven Points
* Touch Sensitive... Bootleg Box Set
* 2G+2
* Last Night at The Palais

Compilation albums|

* Hip Priest and Kamerads
* 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong
* The Complete Peel Sessions 1978–2004

Singles|

* "Rowche Rumble" (1979)
* "Fiery Jack" (1980)
* "Totally Wired" (1980)
* "Cruiser's Creek" (1985)
* "Hey! Luciani" (1986)
* "There's a Ghost in My House" (1987)
* "Hit the North" (1987)
* "Victoria" (1988)
* "Telephone Thing" (1990)
* "Free Range" (1992)
* "Why Are People Grudgeful?" (1992)
* "Theme from Sparta F.C. #2" (2004)

Album tracks|

* "Paint Work" (1985)
* "I Am Damo Suzuki" (1985)

Associated bands|

* The Adult Net
* Blue Orchids
* Brix & the Extricated
* The Creepers
* Darker My Love
* Imperial Wax
* The Passage
* The Teardrops
* Tom Hingley and the Lovers
* Von Südenfed

Related articles|

* Discography
* Band members
* Hey! Luciani: The Life and Codex of John Paul I

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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