''All Fall Down'' is the third studio album by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band The Sound, recorded from March to August 1982 and released in November 1982 on record label

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. After being pressured by their record label to release a more commercially successful album, since their previous records failed to attract the attention of the public, The Sound rebelled and recorded ''All Fall Down'', which has been called "distinctly uncommercial". The album was poorly received by critics and led to the termination of The Sound's contract with WEA. No singles were released from the album.

Background

On the album, Andy Kellman of

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opined, "there was no attempt at making a hit. ..The Sound responded to label demands and simmering internal pressures with a record that challenged devout fans as well." Drummer Mike Dudley said of the album:

We thought
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giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both ''Jeopardy'' and ''From the Lions Mouth'' they hadn't really done ..So when they turned around and said, 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs', we thought, 'Fuck you', and went ahead and produced ''All Fall Down''.

Release

''All Fall Down'' was released in 23 October 1982. No singles were released from the album. It failed to chart in the UK and received a negative response from critics. WEA were displeased with the album and decided not to promote it, and The Sound's contract with them was terminated.

Reception

''All Fall Down'' received a negative critical reception upon its release. Johnny Waller of '' Sounds'' panned the album, writing, "This is the album The Sound should never have made, didn't need to make, could have made in their sleep .. tadds virtually nothing to the minimalist passion of '' Jeopardy'' and the following, more impressively structured ''

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'' and, as such, is virtually worthless", concluding the review with "Look in the mirror, Adrian, before you all fall down". A favourable review came from ''

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'', which said, "The black, clashing music makes the challenging LP an acquired taste, an ambitious, admirable exploration of the downside". In his retrospective review of the album, Peter Parrish of

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was very positive, opining that "''All Fall Down'' can make a realistic claim to being their best lbum.

Track listing

Personnel

The Sound * Adrian Borland – vocals, guitar,

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* Graham Green – bass guitar, sound effects, drum machine programming, percussion, production * Max Mayers – keyboards, production * Mike Dudley – drums, percussion, production Additional personnel * Manor Choir – backing vocals on "All Fall Down" * Craig Milliner –

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– engineering * Steve Prestage – engineering * Bill Smith – sleeve artwork design * Andrew Douglas – sleeve photography * Nick Robbins – production

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Sound (band) albums 1982 albums Albums recorded at Trident Studios