Album · The Fall
The Wonderful and Frightening World of… The Fall by The Fall
The Wonderful and Frightening World of… The Fall is an album by The Fall, released in 1984. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Lay Of The Land”, on 1 list with a best position of #9.
The Wonderful and Frightening World Of..., the Fall's seventh album, came out in October 1984 as their first for Beggars Banquet, with John Leckie producing. The big news was Brix Smith: the newcomer co-wrote three of the tracks and let a crack of daylight into Mark E. Smith's grimy Manchester din, nudging the band toward something almost like pop.
Almost. Smith still sneers and harangues over the top, Craig Scanlon's guitar keeps needling away, Steve Hanley's bass circles like a vulture, and Paul Hanley and Karl Burns double up on drums for one last go. "C.R.E.E.P." bounces along nearly jauntily, "Lay of the Land" churns with menace, and the whole thing proves you can polish the Fall without sanding off the teeth. Paul Hanley left straight after the UK tour that followed, and the twin-drummer era went with him.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from The Wonderful and Frightening World of… The Fall on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lay Of The Land | 1 | #9 | – | 1984 | |
| 2 | C.R.E.E.P. | 1 | #18 | – | 1984 | |
| 3 | No Bulbs | 1 | #44 | – | 1984 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.