On this day, 40 years ago, British Post-punk band The Fall released their third studio album Grotesque (After The Gramme) - 17 November 1980. It was their first studio album released by the Rough Trade Records label.

The album was preceded by two acclaimed singles, "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'" and "Totally Wired", which did not appear on the original pressing but were subsequently included on CD reissues of the album.

The Fall's music at the time was described as "Mancabilly", and by singer Smith himself as "Country 'n' Northern".

The album was generally well received and highly acclaimed by the music press, rating it with four to five out of the five star ratings.

The album reached number one the UK Independent Album Chart for 3 sequential weeks, spending 29 weeks on the chart in total.


Grotesque (After The Gramme) (ROUGH 18 - LP)

DISCOGS

10 years ago an album was released that launched one of the most impressive and consistent careers in dark metal - "Fears" by Lord Of The Lost. Initially, merely an idea of frontman and band founder Chris Harms, this groundbreaking debut developed into a full-fledged band and set the foundation for a unique masterpiece. To mark the 10th anniversary, this classic album is remastered and re-released with bonus tracks.

Everything started quite modestly for Lord Of The Lost, too. Chris remembers "a small flat in Berlin-Friedrichshain, low budget recording equipment, a guitar, a microphone, and far too many ideas that I couldn't place anywhere else." The bittersweet atmosphere of the album perfectly captures the singer's mood: "I was newly in love and spent my days off in Berlin. But that also meant that I had a lot of time alone in this unfamiliar city, while my new girlfriend was at work during the day. So I started to write an album for her, which then became "Fears"." Songs like 'Till Death Us Do Part', 'Dry The Rain', or 'To Die For' already conveyed a melancholic flair, which, paired with heavy guitar riffs and sing-along hooks that perfectly captured the character of this extraordinary band.

"Fears 2020" is now released as Digipak CD including six bonus tracks, as creme white 2-LP, and as a Special Edition including the 2-LP, CD!

Tracks:
1. Last Words
2. Break Your Heart
3. Dry The Rain
4. My Deepest Fear
5. The Measure Of All Things
6. Till Death Us Do Part
7. Prologue
8. Never Forgive
9. To Die For
10. Vicious Circle
11. Not From This World
12. Nothing Words Can Say
13. Sooner Or Later
14. The Eyes Of Love Are Blind - Part I
15. The Eyes Of Love Are Blind - Part II
16. My Deepest Fear (Demo 2008)
17. Never Forgive (Demo 2008)
18. To Die For (Demo 2008)
19. The Measure Of All Things (Demo 2008)

www.outoflineshop.de/neuheiten/lord-of-the-lost-fears-10th-anniversary-edition-cd.html

Movement is the debut album by New Order, released on 13 November 1981 by Factory Records. The album was produced by Martin Hannett who also produced the previous Joy Division albums and releases. At the time of its release, the album was not particularly well-received by critics or audiences, only peaking at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. However, retrospective critical reception has been very positive.

After the suicide of Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis in May 1980, and the subsequent shock for those surrounding him, remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris elected to carry on, albeit under a new name – New Order. With the exception of two songs, "Ceremony" (first played live at Joy Division's very last gig, a bit more than two weeks before Curtis's death) and "In a Lonely Place" (unreleased, but demoed in the studio), all the material played would be new.

A couple of songs on Movement stem from the initial songwriting session the band undertook in the summer of 1980.

Bernard Sumner took the main vocalist role with Peter Hook as back-up though the latter sang lead on "Dreams Never End" and "Doubts Even Here”.

Musically the album situated in between Joy Division's post-punk sound and the synth-pop style that would happen to define New Order and influence pop music for decades".[10]

In 2008 and 2015 the album was remastered and released in different formats (Digital/CD/12”).

References to Ian Curtis appear on the songs "ICB" (rumored to be an acronym for 'Ian Curtis Buried', but confirmed by Peter Hook in a 2013 interview) and "The Him".

The album cover was designed by Peter Saville and is based on a poster by the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero.

The shape created by the top three lines is an 'F' (lying on its back), which refers to Factory Records/Factory Communications Limited and the bottom two lines create an 'L' (lying on its front), the Roman numeral 50, the original catalogue was FACT 50.

Movement - Tracklist

DISCOGS

The Scream is the debut album by Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was an almost instant commercial success, peaking at No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart and was recorded in only one week and mixed in three during August 1978. The album was released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor. Before the album's release, the band had developed a strong reputation as a live act, and had achieved a Top 10 UK single with "Hong Kong Garden”, a track which did not appear on the original album, but was added not much later to most others issues of Scream.

Upon release, The Scream was widely acclaimed by critics. It was also a commercial success, peaking at No. 12 in the UK Albums Chart. The album is regarded as a landmark of post-punk.

Late 1977 and early 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees received major press coverage but failed to secure a recording deal. A fan undertook a graffiti campaign in London, spraying the walls of the major record companies with the words "Sign the Banshees: do it now".[2] Polydor finally signed them in June.

J. G. Ballard and William Burroughs provided the reference points for the lyrics of The Scream.

Since its release, The Scream has received a number of accolades from the music press. NME rated it at No. 57 in their "Writers All Time 100 Albums" list in 1985. Uncut magazine placed it at No. 43 in their list of the 100 greatest debut albums. It was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The Scream placed the group among the pioneers of post-punk, as Robert Smith of the Cure said:

"When The Scream came out, I remember it was much slower than everybody thought. It was like the forerunner of the Joy Division sound. It was just big-sounding."

Joy Division's Peter Hook, who saw the band in concert in Manchester in 1977, said about The Scream: "Siouxsie And The Banshees were one of our big influences, The Banshees first LP was one of my favourite ever records, the way the guitarist and the drummer played was a really unusual way of playing."

The Scream had a strong impact on other musicians. Massive Attack covered and sampled "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" on their song "Superpredators (Metal Postcard)" in 1997.

Scream (1978 LP) - Tracklist

DISCOGS

US dungeon synth act SOMBRE ARCANE has unveiled their newest video for the track "Ancestral Seat Of The Barovian Scourge." The song was released on October 24th on the Wrought Records Halloween compilation entitled The Reliquary of Terror.

Phranick and Naginah of SOMBRE ARCANE perform a macabre ritual to summon the mists of Barovia as a means of conveyance to Castle Ravenloft.

This song is inspired by a playthrough of the Ravenloft Dungeons & Dragons module that the band played through during a campaign they have been playing together for about 8 years.

For fans of: MORTIIS, DEAD CAN DANCE & GUILD OF LORE

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