Extricate

Extricate is the 12th album by post-punk band the Fall. It was made immediately after bandleader Mark E. Smith divorced guitarist Brix Smith. Brix's departure helped define the sound of this album: her background vocals and relatively pop-oriented guitar, which had become mainstays of The Fall, are noticeably absent in this release. In one of the more unusual events in the group's career, she was replaced by founding former member Martin Bramah, who had previously left the group in 1979 to form his own group Blue Orchids.

Lead-off single "Telephone Thing" could have been seen as a nod to the Manchester scene of the time as the sound is quite similar to the dance-influenced music that was being released by Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses in 1989. However, its origins were in Smith's previous collaboration with Coldcut on their track "I'm in Deep", which, in turn, led to Coldcut producing the track and "Black Monk Theme Part II", one of two tracks by 60s garage band The Monks to be covered on the album (the other being "Black Monk Theme" – The Fall retitled both tracks). Elsewhere, Bramah, appearing on his first Fall album since Live at the Witch Trials adds a distinctly raw, even rockabilly sound to some of the songs. However, the album's best-known track was one of the least typical of the group's catalogue: "Bill Is Dead", a slow-paced tender love song which topped John Peel's Festive Fifty that year, the only occasion in the DJ's lifetime when his favourite band would do so. Although originally conceived by Smith and Craig Scanlon as a parody of The Smiths, Smith changed lyrical tack when he decided Scanlon's music deserved better, delivering a highly personal lyric. However, at Smith's insistence, it was not released as a single.

The critical reception to Extricate was largely positive, with Melody Maker suggesting that it was "possibly their finest yet" and NME giving the album a full 10/10. During the Australian leg of the tour accompanying the album, both Martin Bramah and Marcia Schofield were sacked from the group.

The album was re-released in an expanded and re-mastered edition by Universal in May 2007. It would be reissued on vinyl in August 2023, for the first time since 1990, albeit omitting the CD-exclusive bonus tracks.

CD and cassette editions

 * Of the four extra tracks added, "Arms Control Poseur" and "Black Monk Theme, Part II" were released as B-sides to "Popcorn Double Feature", the former in an alternate version. "British People in Hot Weather" was released as the B-side to "Telephone Thing".

Disc 1

 * as per original UK LP

Personnel

 * The Fall
 * Mark E. Smith – vocals
 * Martin Bramah – guitar, backing vocals
 * Craig Scanlon – guitar
 * Steve Hanley – bass guitar
 * Marcia Schofield – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
 * Simon Wolstencroft – drums
 * Additional personnel
 * Kenny Brady – fiddle
 * Charlotte Bill – flute, oboe
 * Mike Edwards (of Jesus Jones) – guitar on "Popcorn Double Feature"
 * Craig Leon – backing vocals, organ
 * Cassell Webb (wife of Craig Leon; credited as "Castle") – backing vocals, organ
 * Technical
 * Craig Leon – production, mixing
 * Adrian Sherwood – production, mixing
 * Coldcut – production, mixing
 * Mark E. Smith – production, mixing
 * Alaistar – engineering
 * George Shilling – engineering
 * Ian Gillespie – engineering
 * "A bunch of guys in ponytails" – engineering
 * Anthony Frost – front cover painting
 * Bob Berry – front cover painting photograph
 * Pointblanc – artwork
 * Paul Cox – band photography