Album · The Fall
This Nation’s Saving Grace by The Fall
This Nation’s Saving Grace is an album by The Fall, released in 1985. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Spoilt Victorian Child”, on 1 list with a best position of #23.
This Nation's Saving Grace, the Fall's eighth studio album, came out on Beggars Banquet in 1985, and it's the moment the Manchester awkward squad found out they could write hooks. John Leckie produced it in London that June and July, the second of the three Fall albums he'd helm, and his clean, open sound lets the band's grinding repetition breathe.
Mark E. Smith is as caustic as ever, sneering and ranting in his half-spoken bark, but Brix Smith's guitar lines and Steve Hanley's circular bass give the songs a real pop pull. "Spoilt Victorian Child", "L.A." and "Gut of the Quantifier" all showed up on countdowns, and "Couldn't Get Ahead" and "Cruiser's Creek" were the singles. Brix and Hanley rank it among the band's best, critics mostly agree, and Pitchfork later named it the 13th best album of the 1980s.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from This Nation’s Saving Grace on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spoilt Victorian Child | 1 | #23 | – | 1985 | |
| 2 | Gut Of The Quantifier | 1 | #33 | – | 1985 | |
| 3 | L.A. | 1 | #42 | – | 1985 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.