It's been 26 years since The Fall debuted with 'Live at Witch Trials', so really you shouldn't expect too much from a band that's been around as long they have. Heck, look how lenient we've all been with The Stones and their march of duds since the early 80's. But with the quality of work from long in the tooth acts like U2 and Depeche Mode these days, you gotta say why not The Fall ?
Fall Heads Roll does a pretty good job at making them a viable act for today. The only problem is with every solid release, there's a dud to follow it up, so there goes talk about band of tomorrow....day after tomorrow would be more suitable. The opening reggae laced track 'Ride Away' is not bad, but that's only after a half dozen listens. First impressions should not be taken too seriously on this one to avoid a quick trip to the cd archives. 'Pacifying Joint' does a splendid job of rewarding you for the 5:01 minutes endured through the monotonous opening track. With the old school synths in the forefront and Mark E. Smiths banter about who knows what, it's the perfect pick me up to garner interest for the rest of the album. But again it's an album that needs patience. 'What about Us' really isn't that far off of 'Pacifying Joint', infact it sounds like a continuation of it which really isn't a bad thing. After all, 26 years is a long time to keep up with the creative process, so whatever works I guess. But again, this is an album that demands you to gain it's trust by giving it time to open up to you. Case in point is 'Blindness' and it's continuous 3 note baseline that you just do not want to go away, which by the way it does not for the entire 7:24 minutes. This is a fantastic tune that should be noted as one of The Falls finest work. It reminds me of some of the work done on The Jesus and Mary Chain's overlooked 'Munki' release from a few years back which was outstanding in it's own right.
If you've got time and patience, Fall Heads Roll will become your friend if you want it to.
3.5/5
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