Dragnet (album)

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Dragnet
The Fall studio album

Publication
(s)

October 26, 1979

Label (s) Step forward

Genre (s)

Post punk

running time

45:42

occupation

production

The Fall, Grant Showbiz

chronology
Live at the Witch Trials (1979) Dragnet Grotesque (1980)

Dragnet is the second studio album by the English rock band The Fall . It was released on October 26, 1979 on the Step-Forward label.

background

The album was recorded from August 2-4, 1979 - less than eight months after its predecessor and first album Live at the Witch Trials . Mark E. Smith and Marc Riley remained from the cast of the group's debut album, with Riley now playing guitar instead of bass. Guitarist Craig Scanlon and bassist Steve Hanley joined the band with Dragnet , both only 19 years old, who were to be an important part of The Fall until the mid-90s. It is the only studio album by the band with drummer Mike Leigh.

The lyrics of the album contain some references to the music industry. Two of the tracks, Printhead and Your Heart Out , contain quotations or paraphrases from reviews of the band's live performances. The title of the play Dice Man comes from Luke Rhinehart's novel The Dice Man .

The album has an unfinished production, which Riley described as a deliberate contrast to the clear sound of the predecessor Live at the Witch Trials . It was the last of the group on the Step-Forward label since they signed with Rough Trade Records in the early 1980s .

Track list

  1. Psykick Dancehall ( Mark E. Smith , Marc Riley )
  2. A Figure Walks (Smith)
  3. Printhead (Smith)
  4. Dice Man (Smith, Riley, Craig Scanlon)
  5. Before the Moon Falls (Mike Leigh, Scanlon, Riley, Steve Hanley, Smith)
  6. Your Heart Out (The Fall)
  7. Muzorewi's Daughter (Smith, Kay Carroll)
  8. Flat of Angles (Leigh, Scanlon, Riley, Hanley, Smith)
  9. Choc-Stick (The Fall)
  10. Specter Vs. Rector (Smith, Leigh, Scanlon)
  11. Put Away (Smith)

Reviews

The album was rated slightly worse than the previous album Live at the Witch Trials on Allmusic . In the Musikexpress it was discussed together with the first album (three stars). The Touch-and-Go -Fanzine revealed that the sound of the band had changed a lot after keyboardist Yvonne Pawlett and drummer Karl Burns left, mainly due to the “frenetic” guitar work of Scanlan and Riley as well as Smith's “cryptic” lyrics is reduced. The result is a comparatively “primitive”, in places manic sound that reminds of the band's 1977 roots. The magazine judged that The Fall would continue to cultivate a unique style with Dragnet and that, alongside Gang of Four, they were one of the very few bands that still produced new types of music.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Myers: Dragnet vs. Dub Housing . In: Pseud Mag . No. 9, 2006.
  2. ^ Ned Raggett: Dragnet - The Fall: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards: AllMusic . In: Allmusic . Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ Musikexpress: Archive review of Live at the Witch Trials and Dragnet . In: Musikexpress . Retrieved March 22, 2014. (Login required)
  4. ^ Tesco Vee & Dave Stimson: Touch and Go. The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine '79 -'93 . 3. Edition. Bazillion Points, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-9796163-8-9 , pp. 49 .