A much-hated album among the cognoscenti when it was released -- and I suspect most Fall faithful still don't care for it -- this one's got the inescapable whiff of "contractual obligaaay-shun." (Five new, studio tracks and a pile of live, rather poorly-recorded, 90% Brix-era material.) I myself was never rubbed the wrong way by this platter upon first release, however, and time has been particularly kind to the studio material, which is as sloppy and corrosive as just about anything The Fall have done. You've got the near-mandatory inept cover ("Pinball Machine" -- even sloppier than "Ol' White Train" on Light User Syndrome), a "straightforward rocker" ("Dead Beat Descendant"), two outstanding weirdo tracks which stand up to any Beggars-era Fall I can name ("H.O.W." and "Squid Law") and the much-maligned "Mollusc in Tyrol," their most "unlistenable" (in a good way, mind you) track since Room to Live's "Papal Visit." Mark manipulates tapes in his living room and puts the results on wax.

The live material itself is fairly disposable. It's good for half-a-listen, at best, but the studio tracks would have made a stellar EP... I'll take these five cuts over the entire Extricate LP, for what it's worth.

-Bruce Tiffee