Day 83: You shall feel the wrath of my bombast!

Bass-line a go-go.



Song: Bombast
Album: This Nation's Saving Grace
Year: 1985

Sounding for all the world like a robot issuing a firm threat at the start, this is MES puffing his chest out, it's good stuff, with an excellent S. Hanley bassline making everything else seem extraneous. Its a good example of a jam-like track becoming a studio one. This album is full of recording innovation and this song is one of those that seems as if it could last forever. The lyrics aren't much to shout about, but do keep up the whole energy of the track, joining in with all the strident guitar and bass that make this a real album highlight. In fact, scratch that, because every song on this album fits, this is a rare Fall album where everything just flows. Others I would argue that maintain this almost-seamless nature are YFOC, Fall Heads Roll and The Infotainment Scan, where songs seem to have a common theme or template, this song fits in perfectly with the amiable, wandering Paintwork and the straight-up confusion that is of Couldn't Get Ahead.

I often think this is one of the band's best moments, it's certainly an album I'd recommend musicians to listen to, it almost defines thinking outside the box, both with the aforementioned recording techniques, but also in terms of loose playing, the lack and ensuing musicality of the players styles on here defies an easy explanation, it just sounds right. Like a band in tune, not necessarily in the traditional sense, but in the artistic vision they share. I'd have been proud to come up with half of what the line-up on this album did, so inventive and free of genre constraints, it must be a hell of a lot of fun being in The Fall, no matter how brief your involvement.