Album · The Fall
Bend Sinister by The Fall
Bend Sinister is an album by The Fall, released in 1986. 5 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 7 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Mr. Pharmacist”, on 3 lists with a best position of #3.
Bend Sinister, the Fall's ninth studio album, came out on Beggars Banquet in September 1986, and the sessions were a scrap from the start. Drummer Karl Burns had been fired just before recording began, so ex-member Paul Hanley filled in until Simon Wolstencroft took the job for good. Then Mark E. Smith fell out with John Leckie, producing his third and final Fall record, grumbling that Leckie smothered everything in psychedelic effects, and pushing to have tracks mastered from a cassette he'd been carrying around on his Walkman.
That murk suits it. Craig Scanlon and Brix Smith's guitars grind and repeat, Steve Hanley's bass circles like a vulture, and Smith sneers and half-speaks his caustic tirades over the top. "Mr. Pharmacist" is the raw, rattling rave-up that snags on first listen, and "US 80s 90s", "Living Too Late", "Bournemouth Runner" and "Dktr. Faustus" show how much ground the band covered without sounding like anyone else.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Bend Sinister on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. Pharmacist | 3 | #3 | – | 1986–2003 | |
| 2 | US 80s 90s | 1 | #10 | – | 1986 | |
| 3 | Living Too Late | 1 | #15 | – | 1986 | |
| 4 | Bournemouth Runner | 1 | #20 | – | 1986 | |
| 5 | Dktr. Faustus | 1 | #48 | – | 1986 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.