This Nation's Saving Grace

Background and production

Paul Hanley left the Fall in November 1984, leaving Karl Burns as the sole drummer and ending their classic dual drummer lineup. His brother, longtime Fall bassist Steve Hanley, took four months of paternity leave in late 1984 and so played very little part in the writing of the album. He was replaced by Simon Rogers, a classically trained musician whom frontman Mark E. Smith knew from working with dancer Michael Clarke. After Steve Hanley's return, Rogers switched to guitar and keyboards. The Fall marked Hanley's reappearance with the inscription "S Hanley! He's Back" on the run-out groove on Side 1.

Content

"Yarbles" (from the song titled "To NK Roachment: Yarbles") appears in the novel A Clockwork Orange as Nadsat for testicles or bollocks. The song's lyrics "Every day you have to die some/Every day you have to cry some" may be an allusion to the Arthur Alexander song "Every Day I Have To Cry Some" or possibly to similar lines in the Lou Reed song "Home of the Brave", from his 1983 album Legendary Hearts.

"I Am Damo Suzuki" is a tribute to the seminal 1970s Krautrock group Can and their occasional vocalist Damo Suzuki. The riff descending in semitones is based on the end section of "Bel Air" from the Can album Future Days (a similar progression also features in "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" from the Soundtracks album), while the drum pattern is based on "Oh Yeah" from Tago Mago.

The title of "What You Need" and its lyric "slippery shoes for your horrible feet" are references to an episode of The Twilight Zone. Another lyric, "a bit of Iggy Stooge," is a nod to an additional influence of the band: Iggy Pop (who was credited as "Iggy Stooge" on the Stooges' first album).

Release

This Nation's Saving Grace was released on 23 September 1985 by record label Beggars Banquet. It reached number 54 in the UK Albums Chart.

After tours of the north of England and the US, the Fall recorded the double A-sided single "Couldn't Get Ahead"/"Rollin' Dany" and subsequent single "Cruiser's Creek" with Simon Rogers standing in on bass guitar.

Reception

This Nation's Saving Grace has received critical acclaim.

Bruce Tiffee of Pitchfork Media cited This Nation's Saving Grace as "one of the strongest-ever Fall releases" and "perhaps the best record to emerge from the Beggars Banquet Fall era". Dave Simpson of The Guardian wrote that the album showcased the Fall "thrillingly subverting the notion of what pop music is", while Uncut wrote that it contained the band's strongest configuration, "in all their menacing, utilitarian finery."

Legacy

Pitchfork listed This Nation's Saving Grace as 13th best album of the 1980s. It ranked at 46 in Spin's list of the 100 greatest albums from 1985 to 2005. Slant listed the album at number 93 in its list of the best albums of the 1980s. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2013, NME placed the album at number 400 on its list of 500 greatest albums.

The CD edition was covered in its entirety by members of the forum on the band's then-official website, with the approval of Mark E. Smith. The complete album was later covered in concert by Triple Gang, featuring members of Faith No More and Fudge Tunnel.

Personnel