Fall in a Hole

Fall In A Hole is a live album by The Fall, released in 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.

The album was recorded at the last show of the group's 1982 tour of Australia and New Zealand and was originally only released in those countries. However, a small number were exported to the UK and, in the sleevenotes to 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. The album immediately became a highly valued collectors item.

Consisting of one 33rpm 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 follow-up Room to Live. There is a detectable difference in the sound quality between the 2 discs; in the aforementioned sleevenote, Chris Knox states that this is due to the initial set being committed to multitrack tape through the sound desk but the encores being captured on normal audio cassette. Often referred to as simply In A Hole, the album has been reissued on CD 3 times, the first attempt (Cog Sinister 1997) being mastered from a scratched bootleg copy, complete with uncorrected vinyl skips. A 2002 reissue (titled Fall In A Hole + and issued through Voiceprint) was remastered to 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 "+".

Track listing

Disc One

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

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

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" which 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

• The Fall:
  • Mark E. Smith - vocals
  • Marc Riley - guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
  • Craig Scanlon - guitar, backing vocals
  • Steve Hanley - bass guitar
  • Karl Burns - drums, guitar
  • Paul Hanley - drums