Slates (EP)

Slates
EP by The Fall
Released	27 April 1981
Recorded	February 1981
Genre	Post punk
Length	23:45
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	The Fall, Adrian Sherwood, Geoff Travis, Grant Showbiz, Mark E. Smith
The Fall chronology
Grotesque (1980) Slates (1981) Live in London 1980 (1982)

Slates is an EP by The Fall, first released on the 27th April 1981 on Rough Trade Records. Containing 6 tracks and pressed onto 10" vinyl, it was eligible for neither the single nor album charts, being too long for the former and too short for the latter. However, it was included in the UK Independent Album chart, where it reached #3. The track 'Middle Mass' was in part a play on George Eliot's 1871 novel Middlemarch.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Uncut

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars stating "Not a bad taster if you're new and want some post-punk, pre-pop Fall -- and 90 percent of this is prime material".^[1]

Track listing

Side one

1. "Middle Mass" (Steve Hanley, Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Mark E. Smith) – 3:32 ( sample (help·info))
2. "An Older Lover Etc." (Paul Hanley, S. Hanley, Riley, Scanlon, Smith) – 4:36
3. "Prole Art Threat" (Riley, Smith) – 1:57

Side two

1. "Fit and Working Again" (Riley, P. Hanley, S. Hanley, Smith) – 2:59
2. "Slates, Slags, Etc." (The Fall) – 6:34
3. "Leave the Capitol" (Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley, Smith) – 4:07 ( sample (help·info))

Reissues

Slates made its first appearance on CD in 1992 on the Dojo label, where it was coupled with live album A Part of America Therein, 1981. This pairing was re-pressed with amended artwork in 1998 by Castle Music. Slates was finally given a proper remastered CD edition from the original master tapes in 2004 with 7 additional tracks being added to bolster the brief running time.

• 2004 CD edition

1. "Middle Mass"
2. "An Older Lover etc."
3. "Prole Art Threat"
4. "Fit and Working Again"
5. "Slates, Slags, etc."
6. "Leave the Capitol"
7. "Middle Mass"
8. "Lie Dream Of a Casino Soul"
9. "Hip Priest"
10. "C'n'C - Hassle Schmuck"
11. "Lie Dream Of a Casino Soul"
12. "Fantastic Life"
13. "Medical Acceptance Gate"

Tracks 7-10 formed the group's fourth session for John Peel, tracks 11 and 12 were issued as a single in December 1981, track 13 was an outtake from 1981 previously featured on a budget compilation titled The Collection (Castle, 1993).

Personnel

• The Fall:
  • Mark E. Smith - vocals, piano, harmonica
  • Marc Riley - electric guitar, electric piano, vocals
  • Craig Scanlon - electric and acoustic guitars, piano
  • Steve Hanley - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul Hanley - drums, percussion
• Kay Carroll - vocals, kazoo
• Dave Tucker - vocals, clarinet

References