| Room to Live | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 September 1982 | |||
| Recorded | June–July 1982 | |||
| Studio | Cargo Studios, Rochdale, England | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:46 | |||
| Label | Kamera | |||
| Producer |
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| The Fall chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Room to Live | ||||
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Room to Live, subtitled Undilutable Slang Truth!, is the fifth studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 27 September 1982 through record label Kamera.
Room to Live was recorded as a quick followup to Hex Enduction Hour , which had been released in March of the same year. It was to be Marc Riley's last album with the group.
The group had originally entered the studio to record a single, but Mark E. Smith prevailed upon them to record more songs, all of which were new to the band and had not previously been rehearsed or performed live. [1] In accordance with this experimental approach, members were deliberately excluded from certain tracks. [1] [2] Smith also stated of the songs that "some of them are just me and Karl double-tracked" [3] Whilst these remarks resulted in considerable conjecture among fans, the exact lineups for each track have never been properly confirmed. In a letter to City Life magazine in April 1984, Smith noted that Riley only played on two tracks on Room to Live, and in 2008 Riley confirmed via his BBC6 radio show that he did not appear on all tracks. [4] In his book "The Big Midweek", Steve Hanley states that "Marquis Cha-Cha" was recorded by a trio of himself, Burns and Smith and also confirms the role of Arthur Kadmon (from Ludus and credited as "Cadman") in the recording of "Hard Life in Country" at a session to which neither Craig Scanlon nor Marc Riley were invited. [5] Hanley's version, however, appears to refute the much-rumoured story, as relayed by Mick Middles in his book "The Fall" (co-authored with Mark E Smith), that suggested that Kadmon recorded approximately sixteen seconds of guitar and was then dismissed. [6] Drummer Paul Hanley described the recording of the album as "a fucking nightmare. You'd turn up and find Smith had only invited half the band, or brought in other musicians without telling anyone!". [7]
The album was recorded at Cargo Studios in Rochdale over a two-week period prior to the group's tour of Australia and New Zealand in July and August 1982, and thus songs from the record feature heavily on the live album Fall in a Hole . [8]
Room to Live has been described as the band's most overtly topical album. [1] Smith described it as "me going off on a tangent...most of the songs are about Britain as I see it on a wider scale, having been abroad a lot." [1] "Papal Visit" was about the first visit of a Pope to Britain in 450 years, a song Smith described as 'anti-Pope'. [1] "Marquis Cha-Cha" concerned the Falklands War, the titular character described as "a Falklands-flavoured equivalent to the English-born Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw". [1]
"Marquis Cha-Cha" was originally scheduled for a single release in September 1982, but was shelved and not released until November 1983. [9]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [11] |
| NME | unfavourable [12] |
| Sounds | [13] |
The album was described as "slapped together and half-baked" and "rough around the edges" compared to Hex Enduction Hour, [14] although this was considered by writer Dave Thompson (who described it as "the sound of the band at its most spontaneous, the sound of Smith at his most inchoate") to be intentional, and Smith himself stated "I wanted to do something spontaneous...to get back to the old Fall way of recording songs straight off the top of our heads". [1]
Sounds reviewer Dave McCullough gave it two stars, stating that it "lacks bounce and zap" and "musically, the Fall really are a mess". [13] The NME's Amrik Rai called it "frustratingly sketchy" and stating that it "sounds as if they've written, recorded and pressed it and still got back in time for last orders", going on to sum it up as "right crap". [12]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide stated that the album "sports fabulously irritated lyrics aimed squarely at bourgeois Britain, undercut by thinner, less compelling music, and an uninterested-sounding Smith." [15] It was also described as "a more self-indulgent delivery" than its predecessor. [16] Trouser Press commented on "a sparser, less rhythmic sound than Hex Enduction Hour", going on to say "Smith is in top lyrical form, with pungent, satirical views of British life: 'Marquis Cha Cha' offers biting commentary on the Falklands War." [17] AllMusic's Dean McFarlane described it as "possibly the most archly political and scathing collection of diatribes the Manchester legend spewed forth onto record during what is arguably the group's creative peak" and "one of the greatest pieces of post-punk genius the group ever recorded". [10] Robert Ham, writing for Stereogum was less enthusiastic, stating "Were it not for the seamy bass-and-scratching guitar minimalism of 'Detective Instinct' and the jaunty 'Solicitor in Studio', this would be a complete throwaway." [8]
Room to Live peaked at number 4 in the UK Independent Albums Chart, spending ten weeks on the chart in total. [18]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Joker Hysterical Face" | Mark E. Smith, Steve Hanley, Marc Riley | 4:51 |
| 2. | "Marquis Cha-Cha" | Smith, Karl Burns | 4:34 |
| 3. | "Hard Life in Country" | Smith, Arthur Cadman | 6:16 |
| 4. | "Room to Live" | Smith, Craig Scanlon | 4:16 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Detective Instinct" | Smith, S. Hanley, Burns | 5:45 |
| 2. | "Solicitor in Studio" | Smith, Burns, Scanlon | 5:24 |
| 3. | "Papal Visit" | Smith | 5:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Joker Hysterical Face" (live at Derby Hall, Bury, 27 April 1982) | Smith, Riley, S. Hanley | 4:47 |
| 9. | "Medley: Town Called Crappy/Solicitor in Studio" (live at Hammersmith Palais, London, 25 March 1982) | Smith, Scanlon, Burns | 6:30 |
| 10. | "Hard Life in Country" (live at Union Hall at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 19 August 1982) | Smith, Cadman | 8:32 |
| 11. | "Detective Instinct" (live at Lesser Free Trading Hall, Manchester, 22 December 1982) | Smith, S. Hanley, Burns | 7:12 |
| 12. | "Room to Live" (live at Arena, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 12 February 1983) | Smith, Scanlon | 4:32 |
| 13. | "Words of Expectation" (live at Larry's Hideaway, Toronto, Canada, 21 April 1983) | Smith, Scanlon, S. Hanley | 9:13 |
The 1983 German pressing of the album added the 1981 single "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul" and its B-side, "Fantastic Life", to the end of side B. [1] This inclusion was repeated on the first UK CD edition of the album issued via Cog Sinister in 1998 (mastered from a particularly noisy German vinyl copy) but was removed on the 2005 remaster (from the superior original Kamera vinyl), since the two tracks had since been included in the Slates reissue. Other contemporaneous bonus material was added in its place. The album was reissued on vinyl in 2016 with its original track listing on the Superior Viaduct label.
The Fall were an English post-punk group, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. They underwent many line-up changes, with vocalist and founder Mark E. Smith as the only constant member. The Fall's long-term musicians included drummers Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Karl Burns; guitarists Craig Scanlon, Marc Riley, and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic, circular bass lines are widely credited with shaping the band's sound from early 1980s albums such as Hex Enduction Hour to the late 1990s.
Mark Edward Smith was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester and was its leader until his death. During their 42-year existence, the Fall's line-up included some sixty musicians, with whom Smith released 32 studio albums and numerous singles and EPs.
Marc Riley is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Live at the Witch Trials is the debut studio album by the Fall. It was released on 16 March 1979 through record label Step-Forward. It is not, despite its title, a live album and was recorded in a studio in a single day and mixed by producer Bob Sargeant.
Totale's Turns (It's Now or Never) is a (mostly) live album by the Fall, released on 5 May 1980.
This Nation's Saving Grace is the eighth studio album by the English post-punk band the Fall, released in 1985 by Beggars Banquet. In contrast to the band's earlier albums, This Nation's... is noted for its pop sensibilities and guitar hooks, and John Leckie's accessible production. This Nation's... was recorded in London between June and July 1985, and is the second of the three consecutive Fall albums produced by John Leckie. The album was accompanied by the singles "Couldn't Get Ahead" and "Cruiser's Creek", and tours of Europe and America.
Hex Enduction Hour is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk group the Fall. Released on 8 March 1982, it was built on low-fidelity production values and caustic lyrical content of their earlier recordings, and features a two-drummer lineup. Frontman Mark E. Smith established an abrasive Northern aesthetic built as part of the 20th century literary traditions of kitchen sink realism and magic realism. Smith described the album as an often-satirical but deliberate reaction to the contemporary music scene, a stand against "bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet ... [and] all that shit."
Dragnet is the second studio album by English post-punk band the Fall, released on 26 October 1979 through Step-Forward Records. Appearing less than eight months after its predecessor, Live at the Witch Trials,Dragnet established at an early stage two key patterns characteristic of the group's future: that of high productivity and that of a regular turnover of group members.
Perverted by Language is the sixth studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in December 1983 on Rough Trade Records.
The Wonderful and Frightening World Of... is the seventh studio album by English musical group the Fall, released in October 1984. It was the band's first album after signing to the Beggars Banquet label. Newcomer Brix Smith co-wrote three of the tracks, ushering in a relatively pop-oriented sound for the group. Paul Hanley left the band immediately after the accompanying UK tour, ending the group's distinctive "twin drummers" period.
I Am Kurious Oranj is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 24 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet.
Fall in a Hole is a live album by the Fall, recorded in Auckland in August 1982 and released in December 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.
Live in London 1980 is a live album by the Fall, released in 1982 on cassette on the Chaos Tapes label. Initially a limited edition of 4,000 copies, the album has since been reissued several times as The Legendary Chaos Tape.
Craig Antony Scanlon is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the Fall between 1979 and 1995. During his tenure he was a stalwart member for 17 albums and co-wrote over 120 of the group's songs; singer Mark E. Smith and bass player Steve Hanley excepted, this tally is unmatched by any other musician to have passed through the group.
A Part of America Therein, 1981 is a live album by the Fall, recorded on their 1981 U.S. tour and originally released only in the U.S. in 1982.
"Rowche Rumble" is a 1979 song by British post-punk band the Fall, written by Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon and Marc Riley. Released as the band's third single, it was the first record by the Fall to reach a recognised national chart when it reached number 31 on the indie chart in January 1980, the first month of that chart's existence.
"Fiery Jack" is a song by the Fall released in 1980 as their fourth single.
Hip Priest and Kamerads is a 1985 compilation album by British rock band The Fall, containing tracks taken from their releases on the Kamera label together with a previously unreleased live track from the same era. It was subsequently reissued with a further four live tracks added.
