Track Listing

1. ROD
2. Dr Faustus
3. Shoulder Pads
4. Mr Pharmacist
5. Gross Chapel
6. US 80's 60's
7. Terry Waite Sez
8. Bournemouth Runner
9. Riddler
10. Shoulder Pads 2

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9934 in Music
• Released on: 1993-12-31
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Arguably the peak of "Brix Smith-era" Fall--rousing, almost commercial, loaded with killer riffs--Bend Sinister is still one of the band's most rounded and satisfying records. As the group alternate edgy bubblegum pop and crepuscular experimentalism, Mark E Smith flits between playful ("Terry Waite Sez", "Riddler") and disgruntled ("Gross Chapel", "Shoulder Pads" and the fuming hymn of hate to the nanny state that is "US 80s and 90s"). It even boasts one of The Fall's mid-1980s hits and still maybe the group's best-known recording, their evergreen take on The Other Half's 1960s amphetamine anthem "Mr Pharmacist". One of the most advisable points of entry for Fall novices and a favourite of long-time devotees, Bend Sinister is probably the best example of The Fall as a great rock group: rumbling, potent and direct. --Taylor Parkes

CD Description
Originally released in 1986, The Fall's BEND SINISTER was named after a Vladimir Nabokov novel and is credited for starting the career of Stockton, California indie rock stars, Pavement. (A release with a number of the same songs on BEND SINISTER was sold in the United States under the name DOMESDAY PAY-OFF.)
The re-release of BEND SINISTER reminds listeners not only of leader Mark E. Smith's seemingly endless stream of vitriol--which has lasted more than 20 years--but also of his influence on the sonic structure of modern Britishrock & roll. BEND SINISTER runs the gamut of The Fall's wide-ranging sounds--the dry, driving guitar dirge of "R.O.D".,the surprisingly upbeat, keyboard-happy "Shoulder Pads 1#" and "Shoulder Pads #2", and the murky, downtrodden timbre of"Riddler!"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant album...
I came across this album having heard of the Fall but never having listened to them. I took a chance and this album converted me. Ranting, intelligent, funny, indecipherable lyrics, muttered or spat outover a tight band playing funky and catchy drum-rhythms, basslines and guitar-riffs. I've listened to it many times, with increasing enjoyment.

It's not of course for people who like pretty music, or songs that have singable melodies, but this album might please other people who like such things as the Pixies' abrasive "Surfer Rosa" or the Stooges demented "Raw Power" . It doesn't sound anything like either of those (much less "rock": "US 80s" is very early-80-s electro-rap sounding), but has a similar weirdness and a disdain for standard musical / lyrical choices. The lyrical scorn displayed on Bend Sinister sounds completely genuine -- making most pop/rock-stars' "rebellious" attitudes look stupid, imitative, unengaged and unthreatening. (What put-downs! "Couldn't tell Lou Reed from the Cure. / It was like being back at school!") And it also makes me want to do a mad dance.

Severely Bent
Named after Nabokov's startling novel of the same name, The Fall manage to drum up the same atmosphere of dark gruesomeness with just the hint that they are in fact laughing about it all over an early evening sherry. I first heard 'Realm of Dusk' on John Peel in 1986 and realised that here was a band like no other. You can never make a compilation tape with the Fall on it because they simply do not fit in with any musical genre. 'Mr Pharmacist' is probably their best known song, and is the most easily accessible on this album, but to get to grips with Bend Sinister properly you have to listen to the triumvirate: 'Gross Chapel...' 'US 80s 90s' and 'Bournemouth Runner'. The latter is about the band's concert-set backdrop being stolen by some wag in Bournemouth.... no really it is! These three songs will draw you in a bit further on each listen and once you're over the border of recognition you will wonder how you ever lived without them. The hypnotic and incessant baseline to 'US 80s 90s' has been going around my head for 17 years and shows no sign of abating. If you're new to the Fall, this is definitely the place to start, as some of their earlier 1980s material and later 1990s stuff can be a bit 'difficult', and their later 1980s albums never quite captured the real Fall sound as did Bend Sinister. A classic that defies adequate description.

The Fall at their best
There are a number of "Fall" albums I would recommend as an introduction to the delights of Mark E Smith and his crew and this is one of them. Some real gems are "Terry Waite Sez" just for the fun of it and "Mr Pharmacist" for the upbeat tempo and "Shoulder pads #1 and #2" for the stupid title. Similarly excellent album along the same lines is: "The Wonderful Frightening World of The Fall". Worth so much more than a compilation album.