The Light User Syndrome
Encyclopedia
The Light User Syndrome is an album by The Fall, released in 1996 on Jet Records
. It was preceded by 8 minute, 3-part single "The Chiselers" and was the group's first album to feature keyboard player and guitarist Julia Nagle, It was the last to feature Brix Smith
and the group were without Craig Scanlon for the first time since their debut, Live At The Witch Trials
. The album features a rare lead vocal from drummer and guitarist Karl Burns
on a cover version of Johnny Paycheck's "Stay Away (Ol' White Train)."
Brix Smith
told Simon Ford that the album was recorded very quickly, with Mark E. Smith
absent for much of the recording, delivering nearly all his vocals on the final day. Despite this, alternate versions of many of the album's tracks featured heavily across the series of compilation albums issued by the Receiver label in the late 90's (see Compilation albums by The Fall
for further details). The tour supporting the album was disastrous, with Brix walking out of the group after the soundcheck at Motherwell Concert Hall and a gig in Worthing being declared by long-serving bassist Steve Hanley to be the worst Fall gig ever. By the end of the year, they were playing without Brix, Julia Nagle and Karl Burns
, although both Nagle and Burns would return during 1997 for follow-up album Levitate.
Jet Records
Jet Records was a small British record label set up by Don Arden with artists like Electric Light Orchestra , Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Riot and Magnum. The first release on the "Jet Records" label was "No Honestly", a UK top 10 for its singer and writer Lynsey De Paul in November 1974...
. It was preceded by 8 minute, 3-part single "The Chiselers" and was the group's first album to feature keyboard player and guitarist Julia Nagle, It was the last to feature Brix Smith
Brix Smith
Brix Smith-Start is an American singer, guitarist and television presenter, best known for being a member of post-punk band The Fall, and as lead singer and songwriter with The Adult Net.-Biography:Brix grew up in Los Angeles and Chicago...
and the group were without Craig Scanlon for the first time since their debut, Live At The Witch Trials
Live at the Witch Trials
Live at the Witch Trials is the debut album by The Fall, first released on 16 March 1979. It is not, despite its title, a live album, but was recorded in the studio in one day and mixed by producer Bob Sargeant the next. In 2004, bassist Marc Riley told the BBC that the group had been booked into...
. The album features a rare lead vocal from drummer and guitarist Karl Burns
Karl Burns
Karl Burns is a British musician best known as drummer for The Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998....
on a cover version of Johnny Paycheck's "Stay Away (Ol' White Train)."
Brix Smith
Brix Smith
Brix Smith-Start is an American singer, guitarist and television presenter, best known for being a member of post-punk band The Fall, and as lead singer and songwriter with The Adult Net.-Biography:Brix grew up in Los Angeles and Chicago...
told Simon Ford that the album was recorded very quickly, with Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
absent for much of the recording, delivering nearly all his vocals on the final day. Despite this, alternate versions of many of the album's tracks featured heavily across the series of compilation albums issued by the Receiver label in the late 90's (see Compilation albums by The Fall
Compilation albums by The Fall
British rock group The Fall have had a large number of compilation albums issued since the band's first releases in 1976.-Early years 1977–1983:...
for further details). The tour supporting the album was disastrous, with Brix walking out of the group after the soundcheck at Motherwell Concert Hall and a gig in Worthing being declared by long-serving bassist Steve Hanley to be the worst Fall gig ever. By the end of the year, they were playing without Brix, Julia Nagle and Karl Burns
Karl Burns
Karl Burns is a British musician best known as drummer for The Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998....
, although both Nagle and Burns would return during 1997 for follow-up album Levitate.
Track listing
- "D.I.Y Meat" (Smith/Smith)
- "Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain" (Smith/Hanley)
- "He Pep!" (Smith/Wolstencroft)
- "Hostile" (Smith/Smith)
- "Stay Away (Ol' White Train)" (Johnny PaycheckJohnny PaycheckJohnny Paycheck was the legal name of Donald Eugene Lytle , a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It"...
) - "Spinetrak" (Smith/Smith)
- "Interlude"/"Chilinism" (Smith/Burns/Hanley/Wolstencroft/Nagle/Bennett)
- "Powder Keg" (Smith/Burns)
- "Oleano" (Smith)
- "Cheetham Hill" (Smith/Wolstencroft/Bennett)
- "The Coliseum" (Smith/Spencer)
- "Last Chance To Turn Around" (Milrose/Bruno/Elgin)
- "The Ballard Of J. Drummer" (Smith) (this is the correct title, it was misprinted on early copies as "The Ballad Of J. Drummer")
- "Oxymoron" (Smith/Nagle)
- "Secession Man" (Smith/Burns/Bennett)
Reissues
The album has been reissued twice, firstly by Receiver in 1999 and then by Castle Music in 2002. Both of these editions added the other two tracks from The Chiselers single; "The Chiselers" and "Chilinist".Personnel
- 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:...
- vocals, tapes - Brix SmithBrix SmithBrix Smith-Start is an American singer, guitarist and television presenter, best known for being a member of post-punk band The Fall, and as lead singer and songwriter with The Adult Net.-Biography:Brix grew up in Los Angeles and Chicago...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - 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.... - Simon WolstencroftSimon WolstencroftSimon Wolstencroft is a musician from Manchester, England, best known for playing drums with The Fall between June 1986 and August 1997.Wolstencroft was a member of an early incarnation of The Stone Roses; having previously been a member of The Weeds and The Colourfield. He was also drummer for...
- 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 ....
, programming - Julia Nagle - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(listed as "Julie" on some editions) - Karl BurnsKarl BurnsKarl Burns is a British musician best known as drummer for The Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998....
- drums, vocals, guitar - Lucy Rimmer - vocals
- Mike Bennett - vocals