All Fall Down (The Sound album)

All Fall Down
Studio album by The Sound
Released	23 October 1982
Recorded	March 1982; August 1982
Studio	The Manor Studios, Oxfordshire Trident Studios, London, England
Genre	Post-punk
Label	WEA
Producer	The Sound Nick Robbins
The Sound chronology
From the Lions Mouth (1981)From the Lions Mouth1981 All Fall Down (1982) Shock of Daylight (1984)Shock of Daylight1984

All Fall Down is the third studio album by English post-punk^[1] band the Sound, recorded from March to August 1982 and released in November 1982 on record label WEA. After being pressured by their record label to release a more commercially successful album, since their previous records failed to attract the attention of the public, the Sound rebelled and recorded All Fall Down, which has been called "distinctly uncommercial".^[2]

The album was poorly received by critics and led to the termination of the Sound's contract with WEA. No singles were released from the album.

Background

On the album, Andy Kellman of AllMusic opined, "there was no attempt at making a hit. [...] the Sound responded to label demands and simmering internal pressures with a record that challenged devout fans as well."^[1] Drummer Mike Dudley said of the album:

We thought [the label wasn't] giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth they hadn't really done [...] So when they turned around and said, 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs', we thought, 'Fuck you', and went ahead and produced All Fall Down.^[3]

Release

All Fall Down was released in 23 October 1982. No singles were released from the album. It failed to chart in the UK and received a negative response from critics. WEA were displeased with the album and decided not to promote it, and the Sound's contract with them was terminated.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Smash Hits	4/10[5]
Sounds	[6]
Stylus	favourable[7]
Trouser Press	favourable[8]

All Fall Down received a negative critical reception upon its release. Johnny Waller of Sounds panned the album, writing, "This is the album the Sound should never have made, didn't need to make, could have made in their sleep [...] [it] adds virtually nothing to the minimalist passion of Jeopardy and the following, more impressively structured From the Lions Mouth and, as such, is virtually worthless", concluding the review with "Look in the mirror, Adrian, before you all fall down".^[6]

A favourable review came from Trouser Press, which said, "The black, clashing music makes the challenging LP an acquired taste, an ambitious, admirable exploration of the downside".^[8] In his retrospective review of the album, Peter Parrish of Stylus was very positive, opining that "All Fall Down can make a realistic claim to being their best [album]".^[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by The Sound (Adrian Borland, Graham Green, Max Mayers and Mike Dudley), except where noted.

Personnel

The Sound

• Adrian Borland – vocals, guitar, production
• Graham Green – bass guitar, sound effects, drum machine programming, percussion, production
• Max Mayers – keyboards, production
• Mike Dudley – drums, percussion, production

Additional personnel

• Manor Choir – backing vocals on "All Fall Down"
• Craig Milliner – engineering
• Flood – engineering
• Steve Prestage – engineering
• Bill Smith – sleeve artwork design
• Andrew Douglas – sleeve photography
• Nick Robbins – production

References

External links

• All Fall Down at Discogs (list of releases)