The Wonderful and Frightening World Of...

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The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall is an album by The Fall, released in October 1984. It was the band's first album with the relatively large Beggars Banquet label, and was produced by John Leckie. Paul Hanley left the band immediately after the accompanying UK tour, ending the group's distinctive "twin drummers" period [1]. On its original release, the album was available in two formats – on vinyl, and as an extended cassette entitled Escape Route from the Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall which added all the material from the 3 singles the group issued in 1984.

3 older, previously abandoned songs were returned to during these sessions. "Oh! Brother" and "Copped It" dated back to the group's earliest incarnation (they can be heard on Live 1977 issued by Voiceprint in 2000) and "Draygo's Guilt" was being performed live in 1981 (it can be heard on the Live In Leeds section of the Perverted by Language Bis DVD, issued by Cherry Red in 2003).

The album will be released as a 4-CD "omnibus edition" by Beggars Banquet in October 2010, mastered from the original tapes for CD for the first time.

Track listing

Original LP

Side One ("Frightening" side)

1. "Lay of the Land"
2. "2 × 4"
3. "Copped It"
4. "Elves"

Side Two ("Wonderful" side)

1. "Slang King"
2. "Bug Day"
3. "Stephen Song"
4. "Craigness"
5. "Disney's Dream Debased"

Original cassette

1. "Lay of the Land" (Mark E. Smith, Brix Smith) – 5:45
2. "2 × 4" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 3:38
3. "Copped It" (M. Smith, Karl Burns) – 4:15
4. "Elves" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 4:47
5. "Oh! Brother" (M. Smith, Burns, Steve Hanley, Craig Scanlon) – 4:01
   • from the "Oh! Brother" single, June 1984
6. "Draygo's Guilt" (M. Smith, Scanlon) – 4:29
   • from the Call for Escape Route EP, 12 October 1984
7. "God Box" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 3:18
   • from the "Oh! Brother" single, June 1984
8. "Clear Off!" (M. Smith, Scanlon) – 4:40
   • from the Call for Escape Route EP, 12 October 1984
9. "C.R.E.E.P." (M. Smith, Paul Hanley, S. Hanley, Scanlon. B. Smith) – 4:42
   • from the 12" edition of the "c.r.e.e.p" single, 24 August 1984
10. "Pat-Trip Dispenser" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 4:00
    • from the "c.r.e.e.p" single, 24 August 1984
11. "Slang King" (M. Smith, P. Hanley, B. Smith) – 5:21
12. "Bug Day" (M. Smith, Burns, P. Hanley, S. Hanley, Scanlon, B. Smith) – 4:58
13. "Stephen Song" (M. Smith, P. Hanley, S. Hanley) – 3:05
14. "Craigness" (M. Smith, Scanlon) – 3:03
15. "Disney's Dream Debased" (M. Smith, S. Hanley, B. Smith) – 5:17
16. "No Bulbs" (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 7:51
    • from the Call for Escape Route EP, 12 October 1984

Omnibus edition (2010)

Disc 1 (Original album)

1. Lay Of The Land
2. 2 By 4
3. Copped It
4. Elves
5. Slang King
6. Bug Day
7. Stephen Song
8. Craigness
9. Disney’s Dream Debased

Disc 2 (Singles and rough mixes)

1. Oh! Brother
2. God-Box
3. O! Brother
4. c.r.e.e.p.
5. Pat – Trip Dispenser
6. C.R.E.E.P.
7. New Fiend (2 By 4)
8. No Bulbs 3 (Unedited Version)
9. Slang King 2
10. Draygo’s Guilt
11. Clear Off!
12. No Bulbs
13. Lay Of The Land (Rough Mix)
14. Pat – Trip Dispenser (Rough Mix)
15. New Fiend (Rough Mix)
16. Slang King (Edits Version 1)

Disc 3 (BBC sessions)

1. Creep (Peel session)
2. Pat – Trip Dispenser (Peel session)
3. 2 By 4 (Peel session)
4. Words Of Expectation (Peel session)
5. God Box (Jensen session)
6. Lay Of The Land (Jensen session)
7. Oh Brother (Jensen session)
8. Creep (Jensen session)
9. No Bulbs (Long session)
10. Draygo’s Guilt (Long session)
11. Stephen Song (Long session)
12. Slang King (Long session)
13. Copped It (Saturday Live)
14. Elves (Saturday Live)
15. Fortress / Marquis Cha Cha (Saturday Live)

Disc 4 (Live at Pandora’s Music Box Festival)

1. Lay Of The Land
2. Craigness
3. 2 By 4
4. Draygo’s Guilt
5. No Bulbs
6. Kicker Conspiracy
7. Stephen Song
8. Copped It
9. Pat – Trip Dispenser
10. Middle Mass

CD edition

The album was belatedly issued on CD in 1988. The track listing duplicated the content and running order of the cassette edition almost exactly, substituting the extended "C.R.E.E.P." for the 7" version, although it added a brief spoken introduction by Brix Smith unheard elsewhere. (The running time for this version of "C.R.E.E.P." is 3:08; all other running times listed above for the cassette apply to the CD version.) Despite being modelled on the cassette, the CD does not sport the extended title given to that now-unavailable format.

Personnel

• The Fall:
  • Mark E. Smith – vocals
  • Brix Smith – guitar, vocals
  • Craig Scanlon – guitar
  • Steve Hanley – bass guitar
  • Paul Hanley– drums, keyboards
  • Karl Burns – drums, percussion, bass guitar
• Gavin Friday – vocals on "Copped It", "Clear Off!" and "Stephen Song". Friday is credited as a "friendly visitor".