Great though it was, the previous FALL "John Peel Sessions" (Strange Fruit, 1999, with track listing chosen by ex-bassist Steve Hanley) merely cherry-picked from the band's remarkable run of Peel-sanctioned recordings from 1978 -1993, feeding you tantalising snippets of what Mark.E.Smith and his interchangeable Mancunian henchmen achieved (and still occasionally achieve) during 25 startling years of putsches, internal pogroms and largely fabulous records.
"Words Of Expectation (BBC Sessions)", though, is the fix us diehard Fall addicts have been waiting on for years now. It's a double (28 tracks in all), featuring seven complete Peel sessions, the first five of which catch MES and co during their legendary feverish spell of creativity from 1978-1981 and the run up to arguable career best "Hex Enduction Hour."
However, much as we adore their earlier records (and by God we do!) even the truly devoted among us would admit some of them are blighted by hopelessly amateurish production, so to hear them sounding so vibrant, focussed and produced so powerfully by BBC mainstays such as Dale Griffin, Tony Wilson and Bob Sargeant is little short of revelatory. The first two sessions date from '78 with Martin Bramah's clipped, trebly guitar, Karl Burns' superb drumming and Yvonne Pawlett's cheap, tentative organ pepping up Smith's beserk muse. Lean, wiry and amphetamined, the versions of "Futures And Pasts", "Mess Of My" and a whiplash early take of "Put Away" are unmissable.
Even better, though, is that at last we get the ace September 1980 session in its' entirety. This is the pre-"Grotesque" session and is quite possibly the Daddy of The Fall's 23 (and definitely still counting!) Peel sessions, with a spine-tingling "New Face In Hell", a menacing "New Puritan" and (YESSS!!!) the definitive "Container Drivers": surely the epitome of The Fall's notorious Northern Rockabilly sound.
Flip onto CD2 and you'll immerse yourself in further genius. The early session version if "Lie, Dream Of A Casino Soul" is a tad timid and hesitant, but a beautifully sparse "Hip Priest" and the hilariously pointed "C'n'C/ Hassle Schmuk" ("Oh my God - I can't go on, Arthur Askey's just been shot!") more than make up for it.
The September 1981 session is another landmark. There's a slightly undernourished "Look Know", but the definitive "Winter" makes a re-appearance from the Strange Fruit "Peel Sessions" and the kazoo-friendly "Who Makes The Nazis?" re-establishes itself as a sinister high watermark in Smith lore.
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Mystifyingly, the collection then leaps forward to 1995, prompting some disappointment, as 1982/83 were vintage Fall Peel years. However, 1995 found MES's ex-wife Brix temporarily back to shore up the line-up after the largely lacklustre "Cerebral Caustic" album and her feisty contributions allied with the Karl Burns/ Simon Wolstencroft drum duels again lure Smith to new heights of cranky wisdom on tracks like "He Pep" and a dynamite "Chilinist."
In terms of rarities, this session also yields the Smith-less Lee Hazelwood/ Nancy Sinatra "The City Never Sleeps", delivered adroitly by Lucy Rimmer though one suspects she was only allowed this accolade by dint of being Mark's 'bird' at the time. Hmm.
Anyway, proceedings wrap up emphatically with a further Brix-assisted session from September 1996. "DIY Meat" and "Spinetrak" both sound deliciously vitriolic and wouldn't sound remotely out of place in a climate launching itself into the White Stripes' arms, while MES goes back to the source with a neat cover of Captain Beefheart's goodly "Beatle Bones'n' Smokin' Stones." Yeah, he sounds regally pissed, but it's still a logical place for "Words Of Expectation" to yawn and peter out for all that.
One of the first things you learn being a Fall disciple is that you're in it for life and must rapidly adapt to accepting the (very) rough with the smooth. The line-ups, gigs and records are gelling less often these days and sometimes Mark's creative spark remains on dim. "Words Of Expectation", though, represents one of those days when you can wear your Fall badge with pride. It does make it blatantly clear that Mark owes both Steve Hanley and Craig Scanlon major debts, but mostly - again -reinforces what we knew all along: that on a good day, no band in the world can touch The Fall.
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