Shift-Work (album)
| Shift-Work | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 15 April 1991 | |||
| Recorded | Late 1990-early 1991 | |||
| Studio | FON Studios, Sheffield and elsewhere | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:00 (LP) 51:54 (CD) | |||
| Label | Fontana | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Fall chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| NME | 10/10[2] |
| Pitchfork | 6.8/10[3] |
Shift-Work is the 13th album by English rock band the Fall, released through Phonogram Records in 1991. The Fall started working on the album in 1990 while touring in support of Extricate. Mark E. Smith sacked guitarist Martin Bramah and keyboardist Marcia Schofield immediately after the Australian leg of the tour, reducing the lineup to four for the first time in band's history. Only one song ("Rose") from the sessions with Bramah and Schofield eventually appeared on the album (non-vinyl versions also included the single "White Lightning", originally recorded by The Big Bopper). Several tracks were released as the Dredger EP in August 1990, including "Life Just Bounces", which would later be re-recorded for Cerebral Caustic. The Fall's first release with a reduced lineup was the single "High Tension Line" in December 1990.
Shift-Work marked, in the opinion of critic Ted Mills, a change in direction for the group, as "repetitious grooves became interspersed with pop song structures."[4] Of the songs on the original track list, several have been noted as being more "introspective" than previous Fall efforts. "Edinburgh Man" for example, in which lead singer Mark E. Smith longs to be in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, has been described as "surprisingly malice-free"[4] and, in one enthusiastic review, as the best Fall song ever.[5]
The album reached number 17 in the UK charts, a two-place improvement on their previous best, The Frenz Experiment.
The album was re-released by Voiceprint in 2002, adding two additional tracks to the original 14 -rack CD: "Blood Outta Stone" and "Xmas With Simon". This incarnation was also made available in a double-CD set with Voiceprint's edition of Code: Selfish in 2003. It was reissued again in an expanded and remastered form by Universal on 7 May 2007.
Track listing
Original UK LP
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So What About It?" | Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon, Simon Wolstencroft | Robert Gordon | 3:25 |
| 2. | "Idiot Joy Showland" | Smith, Steve Hanley | Craig Leon | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Edinburgh Man" | Smith, Scanlon |
| 4:44 |
| 4. | "Pittsville Direkt" | Smith, Scanlon, Hanley | Showbiz | 4:02 |
| 5. | "The Book of Lies" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 2:58 |
| 6. | "The War Against Intelligence" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 3:17 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Shift-Work" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 4:38 |
| 8. | "You Haven't Found It Yet" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 4:07 |
| 9. | "The Mixer" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 3:37 |
| 10. | "A Lot of Wind" | Smith |
| 3:46 |
| 11. | "Rose" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 3:20 |
| 12. | "Sinister Waltz" | Smith | Leon | 4:13 |
| Total length: | 46:00 | |||
Original UK CD and cassette
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So What About It?" | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft | Gordon | 3:25 |
| 2. | "Idiot Joy Showland" | Smith, Hanley | Leon | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Edinburgh Man" | Smith, Scanlon |
| 4:44 |
| 4. | "Pittsville Direkt" | Smith, Scanlon, Hanley | Showbiz | 4:02 |
| 5. | "The Book of Lies" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 2:58 |
| 6. | "High Tension Line" | Smith, Scanlon, Hanley |
| 3:48 |
| 7. | "The War Against Intelligence" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 3:17 |
| 8. | "Shift-Work" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 4:38 |
| 9. | "You Haven't Found It Yet" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 4:07 |
| 10. | "The Mixer" | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 3:37 |
| 11. | "White Lightning" | J.P. Richardson |
| 2:14 |
| 12. | "A Lot of Wind" | Smith |
| 3:46 |
| 13. | "Rose" | Smith, Scanlon | Leon | 3:20 |
| 14. | "Sinister Waltz" | Smith | Leon | 4:13 |
| Total length: | 51:54 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Blood Outta Stone" | Smith, Martin Beddington |
| 3:33 |
| 16. | "Xmas with Simon" | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft |
| 3:29 |
| Total length: | 58:52 | |||
2007 reissue
Disc One
- As per original UK vinyl
Disc Two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "White Lightning" ("White Lightning" single; The Dredger EP, 1990) | Richardson |
| 2:14 |
| 2. | "Blood Outta Stone" ("White Lightning" single; The Dredger EP) | Smith, Beddington |
| 3:34 |
| 3. | "Zagreb (Movements I+II+III)" ("White Lightning" single; The Dredger EP) |
|
| 5:55 |
| 4. | "Life Just Bounces" ("White Lightning" single; The Dredger EP) | Smith, Scanlon |
| 4:13 |
| 5. | "The Funeral Mix" ("White Lightning" 12" single) | Smith, Black, More | Coldcut | 3:31 |
| 6. | "High Tension Line" ("High Tension Line" single, 1990) | Smith, Scanlon, Hanley |
| 3:47 |
| 7. | "Xmas with Simon" ("High Tension Line" single) | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft |
| 3:28 |
| 8. | "Don't Take the Pizza" ("High Tension Line" 12" single) | Smith, Simon Rogers |
| 2:37 |
| 9. | "So What About It?" (remix 1) ("So What About It?" 12" promo single, 1991) | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft | Gordon | 4:23 |
| 10. | "So What About It?" (remix 2) ("So What About It?" 12" promo single) | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft | Gordon | 4:33 |
| 11. | "So What About It?" (remix 3) ("So What About It?" 12" promo single) | Smith, Scanlon, Wolstencroft | Gordon | 4:11 |
| 12. | "The Re-Mixer" ("Why Are People Grudgeful?" single, 1993) | Smith, Scanlon | Gordon | 4:08 |
| 13. | "Cloud of Black" (Shift-Work outtake; The Twenty-Seven Points, 1995) | Smith | Gordon | 4:28 |
| 14. | "Arid Al's Dream" (Volume Four, 1992; Volume magazine compilation album) | Smith, Scanlon |
| 4:48 |
| 15. | "The War Against Intelligence" (Peel Session; recorded 5 March 1991) | Smith, Scanlon | Mike Robinson | 3:03 |
| 16. | "Idiot Joy Showland" (Peel Session; recorded 5 March 1991) | Smith, Hanley | Robinson | 3:47 |
| 17. | "A Lot of Wind" (Peel Session; recorded 5 March 1991) | Smith | Robinson | 5:25 |
| 18. | "The Mixer" (Peel Session; recorded 5 March 1991) | Smith, Scanlon | Robinson | 4:32 |
| Total length: | 74:00 | |||
Miscellenea
The War Against Intelligence was the original title of the album until the outbreak of the Gulf War convinced Smith to change it to something less controversial. In October 2003, Universal released The War Against Intelligence – The Fontana Years, a collection of Fall songs from the albums Extricate, Shift-Work, Code: Selfish and related singles, even as the United Kingdom was involved in another Persian Gulf war.
Personnel
- Mark E. Smith – vocals
- Craig Scanlon – guitar
- Steve Hanley – bass guitar
- Simon Wolstencroft – drums, keyboards
- Kenny Brady – fiddle; co-lead vocal on "The Book of Lies"
Additional personnel
- Craig Leon – organ, guitar
- Cassell Webb – backing vocals
- Martin Bramah – guitar on "Rose" and "White Lightning"
- Marcia Schofield – flute on "Rose", keyboards on "White Lightning"
- Dave Bush – electronics; keyboards on "Arid Al's Dream"
- Robert Gordon – bass and keyboards on "Cloud of Black"
- Technical
- Craig Leon – production; mixing (tracks 2–4, 7, 8, 10–12)
- Robert Gordon – production
- Grant Showbiz – production
- Pascal Le Gras – cover art
Notes and references
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ NME review archived from the original.
- ^ The Fall: Extricate/Shift-Work/Code: Selfish | Album Reviews. Pitchfork (12 July 2007).
- ^ a b Mills, Ted. Review AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (20 April 1991). "Quiet! Genius at Work...". NME.
