Levitate

Levitate finally gets the re-release it's long deserved. It isn't the greatest of Fall albums, but this presentation really does the trick. Disc one is the album in its entirety. It's a bit of a hotchpotch of an album, but I still love it.It's on disc two that this it really comes into it's own. Chock full of real quality, it features great B-sides, remixes and live cuts from the period. It's currently my new favourite Fall disc and is on repeat in my car. It works well as a whole even for a hardened Fall fan like myself.It should be easy to put together a reissue like this, but Cherry Red have stepped up to the mark and delivered where so many others have failed. It's only a few months back when we saw the over priced Fall Singles 7 disc box set that omits as much as it includes (released by Cherry Red themselves). This release ticks all my boxes for a reissue: nice liner notes, original album in it's original form and the bonus of rare material from the period to compliment it.Not for those new to the Fall, but of you're already down the Fall rabbit hole, this will do the job nicely to accompany you on the journey.

One of the last albums I needed to complete my Fall studio albums collection ..I wasnt disappointed with it. Can't add much to what others have said ...it wasnt cheap but it was worth every penny ...totally love The Fall

Excellent

Typical. I recently bought two different versions of the Masquerade single to get their b-sides, which weren't collected on the recent Singles 1978 - 2016 box set, and here they are as part of the second disc on this long overdue reissue. Mind, the singles were cheap enough, so no harm there.Given that I bought the original two-disc CD when it came out (that's all of CD 1 and the first five songs on CD 2), and this adds the b-sides and a couple of remixes, there's no point in my buying this.However, don't let that stop you from buying it. if you don't own it, and like The Fall, i consider this to be one of the must-have releases.

It took me a many years to fully appreciate The Fall's 'Levitate' (1997) after first hearing it in 2002. At the time I wasn't too fond of the album's more heavy electronic sound. I found it a very dense and chaotic piece of work next to the band's other LPs.But fast-forward a few years and I now consider 'Levitate' to be a lost masterpiece; a remarkable achievement considering the extreme and high-stress circumstances it was recorded under with Mark E. Smith off his nut on the scotch (and who knows what else); drummers quitting; producers walking off and taking the tapes with them; and just a general lack of focus or any fully-formed ideas. Yet somewhere, among all that chaos, was a highly original and challenging piece of work.But what does the album sound like? In a nutshell I would say it is Jungle-industrial-surf-ambient rock.

The Fall were never an actual band, they were a vehicle through which the inebriated genius of Mark E Smith projected his Surrealist/Dada poetry. On this occasion, through reasons better known to himself, he decided to rant, proclaim, growl, whisper, shreik, croon, his avant-garde world view through the medium of technodance. Just go along with it. It's The Fall...

You are looking at this page because you are a frustrated Fall collector unable to attain this out-of-print album elsewhere on the cheap. I feel your pain, sister."Levitate" is a frustrating weirdo of an album. The production is TERRIBLE (courtesy of Mark E. Smith at the height of drunken nutter era) but the songs are interesting.This is basically the Fall's "jungle" album. Tracks like "Ten Houses of Eve" and "4 1/2 Inch" abound with overlapped vocals and bouncy jungle beats, making for an entertaingly murky mess.This is either your aural cup of tea or not. Personally, the album sounds rather flat and lifeless for me (Smith's vocals are particularly incoherent throughout) and only a few gems like "The Quartet of Doc Shanley", the rampaging cover of "I'm A Mummy" and the spooky and fast-paced "Ol' Gang" save the album from the doldrums.The meandering Smithisms of "Hurricane Edward" and "Everybody But Myself" are less enjoyable upon repeated listens. The unusual covering of "I Come and Stand at Your Door" (made famous by This Mortal Coil) is quite spooky and Smith sounds miserable enough to do it justice.Fall fans should definately pick this one up and form their own opinion. It's probably the most controversial record (in that it's a love-it hate-it one) so deserves a listen.Everyone else, start with "Hex".

Do not overlook this album by "The Fall" 1997, brilliant in all ways! Mark E Smith triumphs again! Add to your collection.