Label: Proper Records
Release date: 04.08.2023
It was all change when The Fall signed to Fontana. Guitarist Martin Bramah, who had founded the group with Smith, returned, replacing Smith's ex-wife Brix, who had been in the group since 1983. There were few cries of sell-out, however, when The Fall signed to a major; it was just part of an evolutionary process. The three Fontana albums, Extricate, Shift-Work and Code: Selfish were stunningly consistent. 1992's Code: Selfish marked the arrival of Dave Bush to the group on keyboards, bringing a harder, techno-edge to the work. Less focussed than its predecessors, the album reveals its considerable charms gradually – the initially impenetrable seven-minute splurge of opener of The Birmingham School of Business School gives way to the Top 40 commercialism of Free Range. The glam stomp of Immortality and Two-Face! are counteracted with the wistful introspection of Time Enough At Last and Gentleman's Agreement. This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1992 Fontana Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.