The Sound - All Fall Down

“Reissue of the 1982 album with 3 bonus tracks (11-13). The 3 extra tracks are from the original sessions, but didn't make it onto the album. They have never been released in any form before.
All Fall Down is one of those maligned records where some fans bailed but a select few would be inclined to attempt — through demonstrative hand gestures and longwinded, shouty, pouty explanations of the circumstances surrounding it — why it's the band's greatest achievement. All this despite the fact that the majority of the other people who have heard it will tell you it should be avoided at all costs. "It's hopelessly 'down,' it's got no 'tunes,' it doesn't go anywhere," etc. Truthfully, it falls somewhere between those two views. This is one of those records where patience pays off, because it will gradually become more apparent that the songs all fit together and pretzel themselves in a sense that each one's effect is optimized with the context of those surrounding it. It's not a sprawl of songs but an album. Nothing comes by and smacks you in the face; its progression unfolds slowly. They play around with song structures, avoid choruses, drop down unexpected portals, use rhythmic drives for extended stretches, and employ chanted refrains, tape effects, and mechanized handclaps. Some songs build and build and build on a slight gradient and fade out or disappear with no resolution, no catharsis. None of these developments emaciate the band's power. However difficult the record is to crawl into, it shows a band that had reached another level of mastery.”

Review on allmusic.com