Slates (album)
Encyclopedia
Slates is the fourth album
by The Fall, first released on the 27th April 1981 on Rough Trade Records
. Containing 6 tracks and pressed onto 10" vinyl, it was eligible for neither the single nor album charts, being too long for the former and too short for the latter. However, it was included in the UK Independent Album chart, where it reached #3. The track 'Middle Mass' was in part a play on George Eliot's 1871 novel Middlemarch
.
. This pairing was re-pressed with amended artwork in 1998 by Castle Music. Slates was finally given a proper remastered CD edition from the original master tapes in 2004 with 7 additional tracks being added to bolster the brief running time.
Tracks 7-10 formed the group's fourth session for John Peel
, tracks 11 and 12 were issued as a single in December 1981, track 13 was an outtake from 1981 previously featured on a budget compilation titled The Collection (Castle, 1993).
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by The Fall, first released on the 27th April 1981 on Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
. Containing 6 tracks and pressed onto 10" vinyl, it was eligible for neither the single nor album charts, being too long for the former and too short for the latter. However, it was included in the UK Independent Album chart, where it reached #3. The track 'Middle Mass' was in part a play on George Eliot's 1871 novel Middlemarch
Middlemarch
Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Anne Evans, later Marian Evans. It is her seventh novel, begun in 1869 and then put aside during the final illness of Thornton Lewes, the son of her companion George Henry Lewes...
.
Side one
- "Middle Mass" (Steve HanleySteve Hanley (musician)Steve Hanley is an Irish-born English musician, based in Manchester. He is best known for playing bass guitar in The Fall from 1979 to 1998, and afterwards in The Lovers....
, Marc RileyMarc RileyMarc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
, Craig ScanlonCraig ScanlonCraig Scanlon is a British guitarist, best known as a member of The Fall between 1979 and 1995. During this period he co-wrote over 120 of the group's songs; Mark E. Smith excepted, this tally is unmatched by any other musician to have passed through the group.-Career:Scanlon joined the band...
, Mark E. SmithMark E. SmithMark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
) – 3:32 - "An Older Lover Etc." (Paul HanleyPaul Hanley (musician)Paul Hanley is an English musician, based in Manchester. He is best known for playing drums in The Fall and The Lovers.-Career:...
, S. Hanley, Riley, Scanlon, Smith) – 4:36 - "Prole Art Threat" (Riley, Smith) – 1:57
Side two
- "Fit and Working Again" (Riley, P. Hanley, S. Hanley, Smith) – 2:59
- "Slates, Slags, Etc." (The Fall) – 6:34
- "Leave the Capitol" (Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley, Smith) – 4:07
Reissues
Slates made its first appearance on CD in 1992 on the Dojo label, where it was coupled with live album A Part of America Therein, 1981A Part of America Therein, 1981
A Part Of America Therein, 1981 is a live album by The Fall, recorded on their US tour in 1981 and originally released only in the US in 1982....
. This pairing was re-pressed with amended artwork in 1998 by Castle Music. Slates was finally given a proper remastered CD edition from the original master tapes in 2004 with 7 additional tracks being added to bolster the brief running time.
- 2004 CD edition
- "Middle Mass"
- "An Older Lover etc."
- "Prole Art Threat"
- "Fit and Working Again"
- "Slates, Slags, etc."
- "Leave the Capitol"
- "Middle Mass"
- "Lie Dream Of a Casino Soul"
- "Hip Priest"
- "C'n'C - Hassle Schmuck"
- "Lie Dream Of a Casino Soul"
- "Fantastic Life"
- "Medical Acceptance Gate"
Tracks 7-10 formed the group's fourth session for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, tracks 11 and 12 were issued as a single in December 1981, track 13 was an outtake from 1981 previously featured on a budget compilation titled The Collection (Castle, 1993).
Personnel
- The Fall:
- Mark E. SmithMark E. SmithMark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Marc RileyMarc RileyMarc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
- electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, vocals - Craig ScanlonCraig ScanlonCraig Scanlon is a British guitarist, best known as a member of The Fall between 1979 and 1995. During this period he co-wrote over 120 of the group's songs; Mark E. Smith excepted, this tally is unmatched by any other musician to have passed through the group.-Career:Scanlon joined the band...
- electric and acousticSteel-string acoustic guitarA steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
guitars, piano - Steve HanleySteve Hanley (musician)Steve Hanley is an Irish-born English musician, based in Manchester. He is best known for playing bass guitar in The Fall from 1979 to 1998, and afterwards in The Lovers....
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, acoustic guitar, vocals - Paul HanleyPaul Hanley (musician)Paul Hanley is an English musician, based in Manchester. He is best known for playing drums in The Fall and The Lovers.-Career:...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Mark E. Smith
- Kay Carroll - vocals, kazooKazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
- Dave Tucker - vocals, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...