I'll give Shfit-Work another go, someone else said it was good too.
"Levitate" is interesting because whilst you don't think of The Fall as being a commercial band, it is very uncommercial by their usual standards. I think this might be the only Fall my partner has heard which is probably why she doesn't like them. Hearing me play "This Nations Saving Grace" was confusing for her.
I grabbed 'Levitate' the week it came out and was...proper gobsmacked. Remember thinking it had this extreme vibe that almost wiped out everything they'd done before. I love it - it's a shambles but with all these obsessive touches -probably the most 'industrial' thing (as in weird/obscure references, DIY production, anti-commercial effects, etc) they ever came up with, which might explain why some fans hate it. Can certainly see how your partner might not have been too enthusiastic about 'Inch', which is a million miles away from 'Edinburgh Man'...
The gigs were quite manic at that time too, culminating in the big NYC fight. I saw them around Xmas '97 at the Forum (started going to their gigs in '94) and that was the first time I saw MES wander off stage to sing from the back, and start fiddling around with the amps. Plenty of bets back then that he was drinking himself into an early grave.
'Levitate' was also the last Fall album I bought. Part of me still thinks, grannies on bongos befucked - they're not The Fall without Steve Hanley. Must admit really liking Bourgeois Town, Blindness, Sparta FC since, though. For me, the worst of the '90s stuff was "Cerebral Caustic".
Then again, most Fall fans would probably burn me alive as I think - shock, horror! - Hex Enduction Hour is overrated, so wouldn't necessarily take my advice...
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