Album-by-album, track-by-track guide to the extensive, highly idiosyncratic 25 year oeuvre of one of rock's most enduring cult acts. Of all the late-'70s punk and post-punk bands, none were longer-lived or more prolific than The Fall. Mark E Smith, with his snarling, near incomprehensible vocals and consuming bitter cynicism has become a true cult legend. By the mid-'80s, in spite of their near-cacaphonic, jagged amelodic sound, The Fall's British following was large enough to result in two U.K. Top 40 hits, but in essence, the group has always been a cult band - their music was always too abrasive and dense for the mainstream, yet The Fall, like many cult bands, inspired a new generation of underground bands. A User's Guide documents every Fall recording; every significant concert they have played; and every major radio session. The end result is, in its own way, a biography, peppered every step of the way with references to Smith's own loves and hates, thoughts and opinions, taste and talents, the records he loved while he was still growing up, the music he hated once he'd grown. A User's Guide gives the obsessive devotee what he wants, while helping the uninitiated navigate the ins and outs of a 25-year career.
"There is plenty of information here that will be news to even the most obsessive fact-addled Fall fan." WIRE, July, 2003
"If a book which tells you what each member of the group did after leaving the Fall, lists all the session information, and painstakingly critiques each release is your thing, then prepare to devour. It is simply the fullest and most comprehensive discography that has ever been attempted on the group. On this we're all agreed, 'The User's Guide to the Fall' is exactly What U Need." RECORD COLLECTOR, September, 2003
