The Twenty-Seven Points
The Twenty-Seven Points is a double album by the Fall, released in 1995.[4] Subtitled "Live 92-95" the album consists of live recordings made in various locations between 1991 and 1995, but also contains 2 previously unheard studio tracks as well as some mildly diverting interludes. Credits on the album are sketchy but the front cover lists the cities in which the tracks were recorded; Prague, Tel Aviv, London, Glasgow, New York City and Manchester.
The Twenty-Seven Points | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1995 | |||
Recorded | various locations 1991-1995 | |||
Genre | Post-punk | |||
Length | 1:40:05 | |||
Label | Permanent Records | |||
Producer | none credited | |||
The Fall chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Critical reception
Trouser Press wrote: "Composed of live tracks, rough demos and random interpolations from Glasgow, London, Manchester, New York, Prague and Tel Aviv, the 28-track, two-CD set is frustratingly uneven but ultimately captures the Fall live experience, complete with onstage disasters."[4]
Track listing
Titles are given exactly as listed on the original sleeve.
- Disc one
- "Mollusc in Tyrol" (note - this is a brief excerpt of the released track played over a PA as an intro tape, not an actual live rendition)
- "Return"
- "Ladybird (Green Grass)"
- "Idiot - Walk Out" (an aborted "Idiot Joy Showland" recorded live Oct. 19, 1993 at the Kentish Town Forum in London)
- "Ten Points" (a recording of Mark reciting a draft of the lyrics to "Glam Racket", played over the PA)
- "Idiot Joy Showland" (recorded live Oct. 19, 1993 at the Kentish Town Forum in London)
- "Big New Prinz"
- "Intro - Roadhouse
M/CR" (a John Barry recording used as an intro tape) - "The Joke" (recorded live March 21, 1995 at the Roadhouse in Manchester)
- "M.H.'s Jokes" (a dictaphone recording of MES chatting with a friend - likely Mike "The Haircut" Hill)
- "British People in Hot Weather"
- "Free Range"
- "Hi-Tension Line -
Tel Aviv 92" - "The League of Bald-Headed Men"
Note: Tracks 10 & 11 are listed on the cover as one track but indexed as 2 on the actual disc.
- Disc two
- 95: "Glam Racket"/"Star" - (two separate live recordings spliced together)
- "Lost in Music"
- Prague '91/"Mr Pharmacist"
- "Cloud of Black" (studio track)
- "Paranoid Man in Cheap Sh..t Room"
- "Bounces - Leeds
94" ("Life Just Bounces" sung by Burns) - "Outro -
Leeds 94" - "Passable" (actually "A Past Gone Mad")
- "Glasgow Advice" (MES spoken word played over the PA)
- "Middle Class Revolt - Simon, Dave & John"
- "Bill is Dead"
- "Strychnine"
- "War!"
- "Noel's Chemical Effluence" (studio track)
- "Three Points" (more MES spoken word played over the PA)
- "Up Too Much" (actually "You’re Not Up to Much")
Note: 15 & 16 are listed as one track but indexed as two on the disc.
2006 reissue
The album was reissued by Castle Music in May 2006 in a remastered edition but with no additional material. However, as the release was mastered from the original vinyl, the original CD-only bonus tracks "Three Points" and "Up Too Much" are missing from this new version, despite being listed on the sleeve.
Personnel
- The Fall:
- Mark E. Smith - vocals, tapes (etc)
- Simon Wolstencroft - drums
- Craig Scanlon - guitar
- Steve Hanley - bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dave Bush - keyboards, backing vocals
- Karl Burns - drums, vocals, guitar
- Brix - guitar, vocals, bass guitar
- Julia Nagle - keyboards
- Kenny Brady - fiddle on "Prague 91/Mr Pharmacist"
- Simon Rogers - machines on "Noel's Chemical Effluence"
- Robert Gordon - bass and keyboards on "Cloud Of Black"
- Rex Sargeant - mix and tape
- Andy Bernstein - sound on tracks 8-23
- there is also an additional credit which appears to read Andy: Rime Time Studios, Ancoats, M/C
References
- The Twenty-Seven Points at AllMusic
- Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Volume 3: MUZE. p. 377.CS1 maint: location (link)
- The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 293.
- "Fall". Trouser Press. Retrieved 1 August 2020.