Grotesque

Grotesque (After the Gramme)
Studio album by The Fall
Released	17th November 1980
Recorded	Cargo Studios, Rochdale and Street Level Studios, London, August, 1980
Genre	Post-punk
Length	41:21
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	The Fall Grant Showbiz Geoff Travis Mayo Thompson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
The Fall chronology
Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never) (1980) Grotesque (After the Gramme) (1980) Slates (1981)

Grotesque (After the Gramme) is a 1980 album by The Fall. It was critically received as a marked improvement over its predecessors both sonically and musically, and is cited^{[citation needed]} as the band's first great album. The music is a departure from that of the previous albums, 1979's Live at the Witch Trials and Dragnet, introducing more drones and Velvet Underground-inspired riffing. Marc Riley played organ on several tracks on the album, adding to the Velvets-like feel. This was Paul Hanley's first album with the band, having joined earlier in the year aged just 16. The album was preceded by the singles, "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'" and "Totally Wired", which were subsequently included on CD reissues of the album. The eye-catching full colour sleeve (the group's first) was drawn by Mark E. Smith's sister, Suzanne.

The album was much more outward-looking than its predecessor, Dragnet, and Smith's lyrical maturity was striking, reading as a state-of-the-nation address on "English Scheme" and "C 'n' C-S Mithering". The album also included the gothic horror of "Impression of J Temperance" and the conspiracy theory-fuelled "New Face in Hell". In fact, a number of the tracks have particularly idiosyncratic titles: "The NWRA", representing the track's lyric, "The North will rise again" (not, as some supposed, "The North West Republican Army" — see Paintwork - Brian Edge, Omnibus Press 1989); "C 'n' C-S Mithering", a reference to cash and carries, specifically two warehouses near Manchester, and "WMC-Blob 59", WMC being a common abbreviation for Working Men's Club.

According to the Slates & Dates press release this album was, at one point, to be titled After The Gramme - The Grotesque Peasants.

The Canadian band The Creeping Nobodies took their name from the orange cassette tape depicted on the album cover.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Pay Your Rates" (Mark E. Smith) – 2:58
2. "English Scheme" (Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Smith) – 2:06
3. "New Face in Hell" (Riley, Scanlon, Smith) – 5:40
4. "C 'n' C-S Mithering" (Smith, Steve Hanley, Riley, Scanlon) – 7:36
5. "The Container Drivers" (Riley, Scanlon, Hanley, Smith) – 3:08

Side two

1. "Impression of J Temperance" (Riley, Scanlon, Smith) – 4:20
2. "In the Park" (Smith) – 1:43
3. "WMC-Blob 59" (Smith) – 1:19
4. "Gramme Friday" (Scanlon, Riley, Smith) – 3:19
5. "The NWRA" (Scanlon, Hanley, Smith) – 9:08

Reissues

The album has had a long afterlife with 4 CD editions and 2 vinyl reissues. The first CD was through Castle Music in 1993. In 1998 Cog Sinister, Mark E. Smith's own imprint released a poorly mastered edition with significant vinyl noise, however an improved edition followed almost immediately, again through Castle, adding 4 bonus tracks; "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'", "City Hobgoblins", "Totally Wired" and "Putta Block", the last of these being slightly edited from the original "Totally Wired" single. The final and current edition is again on Castle, was properly remastered, adding the previous 4 bonus tracks ("Putta Block" still being slightly cut) and a "self-interview" by Mark E. Smith which had been used for promotional purposes upon the album's original release.

The original 10 track album was reissued on vinyl by the Turning Point label in 2002 with a 2LP edition being issued by Earmark in 2005. The latter edition replicated the definitive tracklisting of the 2004 CD.

Personnel

• Mark E. Smith – vocals, tapes, kazoo, guitars
• Marc Riley – guitars, keyboards
• Craig Scanlon – guitars
• Steve Hanley – bass guitar
• Paul Hanley – drums
• Kay Carroll - "extra vocals"

External links

• Lyrics