The Sound “All Fall Down” 1982****

All Fall Down, aka part 3 of The Sound box set

A while ago, I announced the delivery to my door of The Sounds box set and promised to write individual presentations for every CD. The first two were easy, as they were all-time favorites of mine and the vinyl versions of them have kept me company for more than 20 years. "All Fall Down" is a different beast altogether. It was completely unknown to me, never heard any songs off it before on the radio or anywhere else. Not surprising, since there were never any singles released and no promotion whatsoever. As legend has it, when The Sound delivered to WEA their dark masterpiece "From The Lion's Mouth", it responded with pressure to "make something more commercial". This led to a power struggle between band and record company, which saw everyone on the losing side: The Sound delivered a totally uncompromising and deliberately uncommercial record of shadows without light, devoid of the memorable choruses and driving guitars of the past. The record company on its part just released the record without promoting it and broke the band's contract. Fan reaction was (mild to complete) disappointment. It is said (and I will attest to that) that "All Fall Down"is a difficult album that nevertheless possesses hidden virtues and rewards you after repeated listens. Uncommonly, I can use 3 words beginning with "ang" to describe it: Angry, Angular, Angst (as in the work of Kierkegaard and Freud "Angst=an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom"). Regarding the individual tracks, “All Fall Down” is a dark and borderline scary beginning, thankfully followed by the two more listener-friendly songs of the record, the upbeat “Party Of The Mind” and mid-tempo “Monument”. As with previous records, the music is reminiscent of contemporaries like the Cure and (especially) Joy Division.“In Suspense” has a nice chorus with electronic handclaps of some sort and “Where The Love Is” is a beautiful song with strong lead vocals by Adrian Borland. The rest of the album (i.e. second side of the old vinyl) is slightly inferior to the first. "Song And Dance” has a fast and driving rhythm, “Calling The New Tune” typical new wave synths and "Red Paint" sounds like a throwback to the post-punk of their first album. “Glass And Smoke” is a bleak and experimental song constantly repeating the catch-phrase "We have killed our days with boredom" and “We Could Go Far” is a slow song that closed the original album. Some reviewers consider it their favorite track off “All Fall Down”. It kind of sounds like Pornography-era Cure (which is, of course, a good thing) but it leaves me cold. Of the three album outtakes "Sorry" is the keeper with its nice guitar riffs and pounding (drum machine?) rhythm, while “As Feeling Dies” is a dark anti-lovesong. As a bonus,  this edition contains the "This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal" EP, a collaboration with singer-songwriter Kevin Hewick. It's an interesting amalgam of folk and punk/new wave, but not up to The Sound's usual standards.  

**** for Party Of The Mind, Monument, Where The Love Is, Song And Dance, Sorry

*** for All Fall Down, In Suspense, Calling The New Tune, Red Paint, Glass And Smoke, As Feeling Dies, Plenty, 'Neath Dancing Waves

** for We Could Go Far (both versions), The One And A Half Minute Song, Amber, Scapegoat In A Country Churchyard