This Nation's Saving Grace (Expanded Edition)

ザ・フォールのキャリアでも評価の高い名作『ディス・ネイションズ・セーヴィング・グレイス』に『シュティック - ヤーブルズ・リヴィジテッド』をコンパイルしたエクスパンデッド・エディション!

Uncut (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Here, in all their menacing, utilitarian finery, is arguably the band's strongest configuration..." Alternative Press (7/95, p.84) - Ranked #33 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...If it weren't for these blokes, it would be hard to imagine Pavement's charmed existence..." The Wire (p.68) - "The songs are big and beaty and alterno-disco primed, subversively in sync with prevailing trends." NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #95 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.' NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #22 in NME's list of the `50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.' Record Collector (magazine) (p.87) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "John Leckie's production feels well placed....The star here is the album....Exemplary work from all involved."

"Feel the wrath of my Bombast!" exhorts Smith on this follow-up to their groundbreaking Wonderful and Frightening World of... the Fall, and this collection is ample proof of the pure confidence the group had at this time. Stompers like "Barmy," "What You Need," and the mighty "Gut of the Quantifier" are all led by Brix Smith's twanging lead hooks, filled by distorted guitars and bludgeoning drums, on top of which Smith rants with conviction. But it's the departures from this sound that mark the real interest here: The synth-driven "L.A." looks ahead to the Fall's experiments with electronica; "Paint Work" is an impressionist piece interrupted by Smith accidentally erasing over some of the track at home; and "I Am Damo Suzuki," a tribute to Can's lead singer, which borrows its arrangement from several of that group's songs. The Fall sound mysterious, down-to-earth, and hilarious all at the same time. The CD reissue adds the singles "Cruiser's Creek" and "Couldn't Get Ahead" as well as their B-sides making this an essential purchase. ~ Ted Mills