{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Slates | type = ep | artist = The Fall | cover = The Fall Slates.jpg | alt = | released = {{Start date|df=yes|1981|4|27}} | recorded = February 1981 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{flatlist| *Post-punk *art punk }} | length = 23:45 | label = Rough Trade | producer = {{flatlist| *The Fall *Grant Showbiz *Mark E. Smith *Adrian Sherwood *Geoff Travis }} | prev_title = Grotesque (After the Gramme) | prev_year = 1980 | next_title = Live in London 1980 | next_year = 1982 }}
'''''Slates''''' is an EP by the English post-punk band the Fall, released on 27 April 1981 by Rough Trade Records. It was one of singer Mark E. Smith's favourite Fall releases, and he claimed it was aimed at "people who didn't buy records".<ref name="Simpson">{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Dave |title=The Fallen |publisher=Canongate Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-1847671448 |page=128}}</ref>
== Release == ''Slates'' was released on 27 April 1981.<ref name="Simpson" /> Containing six tracks and pressed onto 10" vinyl, it was eligible for neither the single nor album charts, being too long for the former and too short for the latter.<ref name="Simpson" /> It was, however, included in the UK Independent Singles chart, where it reached No. 3.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Lazell |editor-first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums) |publisher=Cherry Red Books |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-95172-069-1}}</ref>
The six tracks include "Fit and Working Again", in which Smith comments on the working class work-ethic, and compares his state of mind to that of boxer Alan Minter after taking LSD, and "Leave the Capitol", which was seen as summing up Smith's negative view of London.<ref name="Simpson" /> The vinyl has etched on it "Keep shtum. Plagiarism infects the land".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gimarc |first=George |author-link=George Gimarc |title=Punk Diary |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2005 |isbn=0-87930-848-6 |page=458}}</ref>
''Slates'' made its first appearance on CD in 1992 on the Dojo label, where it was coupled with live album ''A Part of America Therein, 1981'', at the time these being two of the hardest Fall releases to find.<ref name="AllMusic" /> This combined album was reissued in 1998 by Essential and in 2002 by Castle Communications. It was also reissued by Castle on CD with bonus tracks comprising the band's March 1981 Peel session, both tracks from the November 1981 "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul" single, and a studio outtake from the early 1980s, "Medical Acceptance Gate".<ref name="fallonline">{{cite web |url=https://thefall.org/discography/data/album04.html |title=Slates |publisher=The Fall Online |access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref> ''Slates'' was reissued on its original 10-inch vinyl format in 2016 on the Superior Viaduct label.
== Reception == {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web |last=Jeffries |first=David |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/slates-mw0000633075 |title=''Slates'' – The Fall |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Christgau's Record Guide'' | rev2score = B<ref>{{cite book |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |chapter=The Fall: ''Slates'' |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=4760 |access-date=18 December 2020 |title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=1990 |isbn=0-679-73015-X}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Mojo'' | rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Harrison |first=Ian |title=Rebellious Jukebox |magazine=Mojo |location=London |issue=275 |date=October 2016 |pages=62–67}}</ref> | rev4 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Gross |first=Joe |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |chapter=The Fall |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/292 292–95]}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' | rev5score = 10/10<ref>{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Mike |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |chapter=Fall |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=142–44}}</ref> | rev6 = ''Uncut'' | rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Fall: ''Slates'' |magazine=Uncut |location=London |page=138 |quote=[A] perfectly positioned musical axis between Beefheart and the Velvets...}}</ref> }}
Although it was a six-song EP, ''Slates'' still ranked number 13 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1981 by ''NME''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/bestalbumsandtracksoftheyear/1981-2-1045398 |title=1981 Best Albums And Tracks Of The Year |website=NME |date=10 October 2016 |access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref> AllMusic gave it four stars, with David Jeffries writing "Not a bad taster if you're new and want some post-punk, pre-pop Fall – and 90 percent of this is prime material."<ref name="AllMusic" /> ''Trouser Press'' commented on the improvement in production compared to ''Grotesque (After the Gramme)'', calling it "A solid record of greater potential appeal than just to cultists."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Azerrad |first1=Michael |author-link1=Michael Azerrad |last2=Wolk |first2=Douglas |author-link2=Douglas Wolk |last3=Pattyn |first3=Jay |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/fall |title=Fall |website=Trouser Press |access-date=7 March 2018}}</ref>
In 1992, ''The Wire'' included the EP in its list of the "100 most important records ever made" with a blurb by Mark Sinker. Situated between the "callow punk-bandwagon promise and bad haircuts" of their early career and the "classic and even generically classic work" that would follow, Sinker wrote that ''Slates'' captures the Fall at the moment when "Mark E. Smith's unfooled bile seems perfectly dialectically visionary, wearily energised, utterly untimely: his un-musicality a higher music. 'Naive' anti-design sleeve design, rhythms that jerk along like speedheads addicted to paranoia side-effect; a guitar-sound jabbing barbs into your skin, razor-edge squeals into your head—Man With Chip's voice yabbers scarily on through a thick fog of textured noise."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sinker |first=Mark |url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/35374/page/53 |title=''The Wire'' Presents... The 100 Most Important Records Ever Made – 1981 – The Fall: ''Slates, Slags etc.'' (Rough Trade 10") |magazine=The Wire |location=London |issue=100 |date=June 1992 |page=53 |url-access=subscription |via=Exact Editions}}</ref>
Dave Simpson, in his book ''The Fallen'', describes ''Slates'': "Even more than ''Grotesque'', ''Slates'' manages to skirt the boundaries of demented Northern rockabilly, experimental rock, and ''avant garde'', but despite that manages to be insanely poppy".<ref name="Simpson" />
''Slates'' appeared at number 8 in the 2018 ''Billboard'' list "The 10 Best Albums by The Fall: Critic's Picks", with Geeta Dayal picking out "Leave the Capitol" as "one of Smith's most rocking and unforgettable songs...a tune that you could hear reverberating through rock and roll for decades to come".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Dayal |first=Geeta |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/the-fall-best-albums-top-10-8096379/ |title=The 10 Best Albums by The Fall: Critic's Picks |magazine=Billboard |location=New York |date=25 January 2018 |access-date=7 March 2018}}</ref>
==Track listing==
{{track listing | headline = Side A | title1 = Middle Mass | writer1 = Mark E. Smith, Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Steve Hanley | length1 = 3:32 | title2 = An Older Lover Etc. | writer2 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley, Paul Hanley | length2 = 4:36 | title3 = Prole Art Threat | writer3 = Smith, Riley | length3 = 1:57 }} {{track listing | headline = Side B | title4 = Fit and Working Again | writer4 = Smith, Riley, S. Hanley, P. Hanley | length4 = 2:59 | title5 = Slates, Slags, Etc. | writer5 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley, P. Hanley | length5 = 6:34 | title6 = Leave the Capitol | writer6 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley | length6 = 4:07 }} {{track listing | all_writing = | headline = 2004 CD reissue bonus tracks
| title7 = Middle Mass | note7 = Peel session | writer7 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley | length7 = 3:54 | title8 = Lie Dream of a Casino Soul | note8 = Peel session | writer8 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, P. Hanley | length8 = 2:42 | title9 = Hip Priest | note9 = Peel session | writer9 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley | length9 = 9:24 | title10 = C'n'C - Hassle Schmuck | note10 = Peel session | writer10 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley | length10 = 4:11 | title11 = Lie Dream of a Casino Soul | note11 = single A-side | writer11 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, P. Hanley | length11 = 3:09 | title12 = Fantastic Life | note12 = single B-side | writer12 = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, P. Hanley | length12 = 5:21 | title13 = Medical Acceptance Gate | note13 = outtake | writer13 = The Fall | length13 = 3:25 | total_length = }}
== Personnel == Adapted from the album liner notes.<ref name="fallonline"/> ; The Fall
* Mark E. Smith – vocals, piano, harmonica * Marc Riley – electric guitar, electric piano, vocals * Craig Scanlon – electric and acoustic guitars, piano (credited as 'Craig Scanlan') * Steve Hanley – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals * Paul Hanley – drums, percussion
; Additional personnel
* Kay Carroll – vocals, kazoo * Dave Tucker – vocals, clarinet
;Technical
* The Fall – production (1, 3–6) * Grant Showbiz – production (2-6) * Adrian Sherwood – production (1) * Geoff Travis – production (1) * Mark E. Smith – production (2) * Nobby Turner – engineering * Bob – engineering
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|98773|type=album}}
{{The Fall}}
{{Authority control}}
Slates Slates Category:Albums produced by Adrian Sherwood Category:Albums produced by Grant Showbiz Category:Rough Trade Records EPs