This Nation's Saving Grace

Paul Hanley left the Fall in November 1984, leaving Karl Burns as the sole drummer and ending the band's classic dual drummer lineup. His brother, longtime Fall bassist Steve Hanley, took four months of paternity leave in late 1984, replaced by Simon Rogers, a classically trained musician whom frontman Mark E. Smith knew from an earlier collaboration with the dancer-choreographer Michael Clarke.

After Steve Hanley's return, Rogers remained in the band and switched to guitar and keyboards. Smith marked Hanley's reappearance with the inscription "S Hanley! He's Back" on the run-out groove on Side 1.

"Yarbles" (from the song titled "To NK Roachment: Yarbles") appears in the novel A Clockwork Orange as Nadsat for testicles or bollocks. The song's lyrics "Every day you have to die some/Every day you have to cry some" may be an allusion to the Arthur Alexander song "Every Day I Have To Cry Some" or possibly to similar lines in the Lou Reed song "Home of the Brave", from his 1983 album Legendary Hearts.

"I Am Damo Suzuki" is a tribute to the seminal 1970s Krautrock group Can and their occasional vocalist Damo Suzuki. The riff descending in semitones is based on the end section of "Bel Air" from the Can album Future Days (a similar progression also features in "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" from the Soundtracks album), while the drum pattern is based on "Oh Yeah" from Tago Mago.

The title of "What You Need" and its lyric "slippery shoes for your horrible feet" are references to an episode of The Twilight Zone. Another lyric, "a bit of Iggy Stooge," is a nod to an additional influence of Iggy Pop (who was credited as "Iggy Stooge" on the Stooges' first album).

This Nation's Saving Grace was released on 23 September 1985 by record label Beggars Banquet. It reached number 54 in the UK Albums Chart.[2]

After tours of the north of England and the US, the Fall recorded the double A-sided single "Couldn't Get Ahead"/"Rollin' Dany" and subsequent single "Cruiser's Creek" with Simon Rogers standing in on bass guitar.[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Guardian	[1]
Mojo	[6]
Pitchfork	10/10[7]
Q	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10[10]
Uncut	9/10[11]
The Village Voice	B+[12]

The album has received critical acclaim. It was ranked number 6 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1985 by NME.[13] Bruce Tiffee of Pitchfork cited This Nation's Saving Grace as "one of the strongest-ever Fall releases" and "perhaps the best record to emerge from the Beggars Banquet Fall era".[7] Dave Simpson of The Guardian wrote that the album showcased the Fall "thrillingly subverting the notion of what pop music is",[1] while John Mulvey of Uncut wrote that it contained the band's strongest configuration, "in all their menacing, utilitarian finery."[14]

Pitchfork listed This Nation's Saving Grace as 13th best album of the 1980s. It ranked at 46 in Spin's list of the 100 greatest albums from 1985 to 2005.[15] Slant Magazine listed the album at number 93 in its list of the best albums of the 1980s.[16] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17] In 2013, NME placed the album at number 400 on its list of 500 greatest albums. It was voted number 441 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[18]

The Fall

• Mark E. Smith – vocals, violin on "I Am Damo Suzuki", guitar; harmonica on "Couldn't Get Ahead"
• Steve Hanley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Craig Scanlon – guitar, backing vocals
• Brix Smith – guitar, vocals
• Simon Rogers – keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, drum machine, backing vocals
• Karl Burns – drums, backing vocals

• 1990 performance of L.A. at Reading