The Infotainment Scan

The Infotainment Scan
Studio album by The Fall
Released 26 April 1993
Recorded Suite 16, Rochdale
Genre Alternative rock, post-punk, alternative dance
Length 40:36 (LP & cassette)
50:08 (CD)
Label Permanent/Matador
Producer Rex Sergeant, Simon Rogers, Mark E. Smith
The Fall chronology
Code: Selfish
(1992)Code: Selfish1992		 The Infotainment Scan
(1993)		 Middle Class Revolt
(1994)Middle Class Revolt1994

The Infotainment Scan is the fifteenth album by the Fall, released in 1993 on Permanent Records in the UK and by Matador Records in the US (the first of the band's albums to get an official US release since Extricate (1990)).[1] At the time of its release, it was considered the band's most accessible album and came when the band were experiencing unprecedented recognition in the media. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 9, making it their highest-charting album.[2]

Track information

The album features covers of the Sister Sledge disco track "Lost in Music" and of Steve Bent's "I'm Going to Spain", an obscure song that Bent had performed on the British talent show New Faces in 1974 (Bent's version was included on The World's Worst Record album, compiled by disc jockey Kenny Everett in 1978).[3] The CD edition of The Infotainment Scan also includes "Why Are People Grudgeful?", the only track to be released as a single (albeit in a different version). It is based on two reggae songs: "People Grudgeful" by Joe Gibbs and "People Funny Boy" by Lee "Scratch" Perry.[4]

Of the original compositions on The Infotainment Scan, "Glam-Racket" drew much attention for its alleged criticism of Britpop band Suede, with the lyric "you are entrenched in suede", although Mark E. Smith denied it was a reference to the band and asserted that it was an attack on nostalgia.[5][1] "The League of Bald-Headed Men", identified by Simon Reynolds as a "diatribe against gerontocracy", appears to borrow its riff from Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop", despite Smith's claim that he had never heard the band's music.[6][7] A remix of "The League of Bald-Headed Men", retitled "League Moon Monkey Mix", is also included on the CD edition.

"Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room" adapts its title from Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room, an episode of The Twilight Zone.[8] Smith had previously borrowed episode titles What You Need and Time Enough at Last (and would later use Kick the Can).

Reissues

The Infotainment Scan was reissued by Artful in 1999 with the same track listing as the original CD editions. It was remastered and expanded to a double-CD set by Castle Music in 2006 with slightly amended artwork. The first disc followed the original CD album track order, while the second added B-sides, demos, alternate versions and radio sessions.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA–[11]
NME8/10[5]
Spin[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[13]

The album received generally positive reviews. Allmusic's Ned Raggett gave it four stars out of five, calling it "a winner and a half" and "one of the band's most playful yet sharp-edged releases", picking out "Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room" as a highlight.[9] Jim Sullivan for The Boston Globe called it "10 tracks of caustic wit set to backing music that swirls one moment and grinds the next".[14] Robert Christgau gave it a three-star "honorable mention", with the comment "great original sound, one hell of a cover band".[10] Ben Thompson, in The Independent, gave it a positive review, stating "Smith's invective has rarely been more sharply honed" and that the band "have rarely sounded brighter".[15] Simon Reynolds, reviewing it for The New York Times, stated it "may be one of the Fall's more approachable records, but Mr. Smith's lyrics are as caustic as ever".[6] Keith Cameron, reviewing for the NME, gave it 8/10, saying the album "stands at the very peak of their canon".[5] Chuck Eddy, for Spin, was less enthusiastic, saying Smith "used to seem smarter" and accusing him of repeating himself.[12] Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post stated "the album continues the swaggeringly uncompromising and hopelessly unmarketable mix of Craig Scanlon's scratchy guitar, bassist Stephen Hanley and drummer Simon Wolstencroft's loping thump, and Smith's caustic and cryptic, cut-up and spit-out poetry."[1]

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ladybird (Green Grass)"Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon, Steve Hanley, Dave Bush, Simon Wolstencroft3:59
2."Lost in Music"Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards3:49
3."Glam Racket"Smith, Hanley3:12
4."I'm Going to Spain"Steve Bent3:27
5."It's a Curse"Smith, Scanlon5:19
6."Paranoia Man in Cheap Sh*t Room"Smith, Scanlon4:27
7."Service"Smith, Scanlon4:11
8."The League of Bald-Headed Men"Smith, Hanley4:07
9."A Past Gone Mad"Smith, Bush, Wolstencroft4:19
10."Light/Fireworks"Smith3:46
Additional tracks (CD only)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Why Are People Grudgeful?"Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joe Gibbs4:33
12."League Moon Monkey Mix"Hanley, Simon Rogers, Smith4:36

Personnel

The Fall
Additional personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jenkins, Mark (1993) "Recordings; The Brits' New Order After the Fall", The Washington Post, 26 May 1993. Retrieved 11 February 2018  – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "Fall", Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 February 2018
  3. ↑ "MP3 Download Dinner Bell For September", WFMU's Beware of the Blog.
  4. ↑ Why Are People Grudgeful Archived 19 August 2011 at WebCite, The Fall Online.
  5. 1 2 3 Cameron, Keith (1993) "Radical Spangle: The Fall: The Infotainment Scan", NME, 24 April 1993, Archived 20 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. 1 2 Reynolds, Simon "RECORDINGS VIEW; The Fall Softens Its Edge", The New York Times, 11 July 1993. Retrieved 11 February 2018
  7. ↑ Thompson, Dave (September 1993). "Falling Forward" Archived 12 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine.. Alternative Press. pp.43–44.
  8. ↑ http://annotatedfall.doomby.com/pages/the-annotated-lyrics/paranoia-man-in-cheap-sh-t-room.html#n1
  9. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "The Infotainment Scan - The Fall". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  10. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "The Fall: The Infotainment Scan". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  11. ↑ Flaherty, Mike (1993-05-21). "The Infotainment Scan". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  12. 1 2 Eddy, Chuck (August 1993). "The Fall: The Infotainment Scan (Matador/Atlantic]". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. p. 87. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  13. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679755746.
  14. ↑ Sullivan, Jim (1993-06-03). "THE FALL THE INFOTAINMENT SCAN Matador/Atlantic". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  15. ↑ Thompson, Ben (1993) "Rock: Manchester's old flames blaze again: Ben Thompson experiences the reviving properties of new albums from The Fall and New Order", The Independent, 1 May 1993. Retrieved 11 February 2018
  16. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
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