The Fall, The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall (side A)

1984's The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall is more aggressive and less catchy than its immediate predecessor, Perverted by Language.  Somewhat surprisingly, the aggression often comes from a distorted bass sound, as the two drummers are panned out and somewhat smaller in the mix.  The vocals are dark in color and also somewhat buried, without the hooks that made songs like "Eat Yourself Fitter" so memorable.  Guest vocalist Gavin Friday sounds a bit like Metal Box-era John Lydon on the two songs where he appears—combined with the prominent bass, the PIL reference is obvious.  Wonderful and Frightening World sounds rough and strange—it's a bit too low-budget to be recognizably modern and, despite some drastic use of the studio, neither slickness nor experimentation seems to be a goal.  The front cover painting is recognizably memorable.