The Light User Syndrome

The Fall’s first and only release on the reactivated Jet Records label, The Light User Syndrome is often acclaimed as the last classic-style Fall album, owing both to the presence of longtime personnel including guitarist/singer Brix Smith, multi-instrumentalist Karl Burns, bassist Stephen Hanley and drummer Simon Wolstencroft, as well as its guitar-driven post-punk sound.

The Fall’s 18th studio album, The Light User Syndrome finds Mark E. Smith on top form, including one of his legendary “pre-cogs” in “Powder Keg.” Along with 13 Fall originals, the band deconstructs Johnny Paycheck’s “Stay Away (Old White Train)” and Gene Pitney’s “Last Chance to Turn Around” (aka “Last Exit to Brooklyn”). The centerpiece of the album, and of this period of The Fall, is the multipart “Interlude/Chilinism,” an expansion of pre-album single “The Chiselers.” 

1 D.I.Y. Meat 2:37
2 Das Vulture Ans Ein Nutter-Wain 3:00
3 He Pep! 3:07
4 Hostile 3:59
5 Stay Away (Old White Train) 2:49
6 Spinetrak 3:08
7 Interlude/Chinilism 7:05
8 Powder Keg 3:16
9 Oleano 3:08
10 Cheetham Hill 3:31
11 The Coliseum 8:08
12 Last Chance To Turn Around 3:24
13 The Ballard Of J. Drummer 3:21
14 Oxymoron 4:02
15 Secession Man 4:49
Bonus Tracks
16 The Chiselers 3:14
17 Chilinist 6:15