Cerebral Caustic
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| Cerebral Caustic | ||
 |
||
| Studio album by The Fall | ||
| Released | 27 February 1995 | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 42:15 | |
| Label | Permanent | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Bennett, Mark E. Smith | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Fall chronology | ||
| Middle Class Revolt (1994) |
Cerebral Caustic (1995) |
The Light User Syndrome (1996) |
Cerebral Caustic is an album by The Fall, released in 1995 on Permanent Records. It spent one week on the UK charts are number 67, 19 places lower than its predecessor Middle Class Revolt, all but confirming that the group's period as a commercial force was over.
The album was most notable for the return of Brix Smith to the line-up, the guitarist having rejoined the group for live shows in 1994. Her impact was immediate and she co-wrote 5 of this album's 12 tracks. Nevertheless, sales were unimpressive and the group, always a formidable live act, performed just 16 gigs throughout the year[1]. Cerebral Caustic bears the unusual honour of being considered the beginning of a period of exceptional turbulence for the group; having not dismissed anyone since 1990, Mark E. Smith sacked Dave Bush by letter shortly after the album's release and guitarist Craig Scanlon, with 16 years service to his name, would be sacked during the sessions for epic single "The Chiselers" at the end of the year. MES admitted to Mojo magazine in 2006 that he had developed a drink problem during this period and accepted that this had impacted upon the group.
There were long-standing rumours that an alternative, superior mix of this album existed, partly fuelled by Mark E. Smith's statement in an interview released to the press on a promotional cassette that he and Karl Burns had re-recorded the guitars after the rest of the group had been ejected from the studio and also by comments from Dave Bush in Simon Ford's Hip Priest that he had been virtually erased from the album during the mixing process. The original "rough" mixes were included on the 2006 2CD reissue on Castle Music and showed no major differences to the released version; the sound is harsher and less clean but Bush is no more predominant (the promotional interview was also included on this edition of the album).
[edit] Track listing
- The Joke (Mark E. Smith/Brix E. Smith) - 2:49
- Don't Call Me Darling (M. Smith/Craig Scanlon) - 3:35
- Rainmaster (M. Smith/B. Smith) - 3:27
- Feeling Numb (M. Smith/B. Smith) - 2:45
- Pearl City (M. Smith/Karl Burns/Mike Bennett) - 2:46
- Life Just Bounces (M. Smith/Steve Hanley/Scanlon) - 4:47
- I'm Not Satisfied (Frank Zappa) - 2:56
- The Aphid (M. Smith/Hanley/Scanlon/Simon Wolstencroft/B. Smith) - 2:46
- Bonkers In Phoenix (M. Smith/B. Smith) - 6:02
- One Day (M. Smith/Dave Bush) - 3:31
- North West Fashion Show (M. Smith/Burns) - 3:30
- Pine Leaves (M. Smith/Burns/Hanley/Scanlon) - 3:40
[edit] Personnel
- Mark E. Smith - vocals
- Brix E. Smith - guitar, vocals
- Craig Scanlon - guitar
- Steve Hanley - bass guitar
- Simon Wolstencroft - drums, programming
- Karl Burns - drums, guitar, vocals
- Dave Bush - keyboards, programming
- Lucy Rimmer - vocals on "Pearl City"
