At a glance
- Artist
- The Fall
- Released
- 8 March 1982
- Label
- Kamera Records
- Catalogue number
- KAM 005
- Format
- 12″ Vinyl
- Country
- UK
- Tracks
- 11, 1:00:06
In the issue
Recorded with two drummers, Karl Burns and Paul Hanley, driving a relentless rhythmic assault that Mark E. Smith compared to a steamroller, Hex Enduction Hour caught the Fall at their most primitive and most powerful. Steve Hanley's circular basslines held the center while Smith's lyrics spiraled outward into increasingly surreal territory.
How it was made
Hex Enduction Hour was recorded in October 1981 at Hitchin's Ritz Ballroom, a disused cinema, rather than a traditional studio. Mark E. Smith insisted on using two drummers—Paul Hanley joining Karl Burns—creating a ritualistic, claustrophobic intensity. The album's sound was deliberately rough and repetitive. "The Classical" and "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)" built around single riffs played obsessively while Smith delivered increasingly surreal lyrics. Producer Grant Showbiz captured the Fall's live aggression without conventional polish.
The album was initially released as a double LP, showcasing the Fall at their most uncompromising. Simon Reynolds later called it "one of the greatest rock albums ever made." Sonic Youth, Pavement, and countless others absorbed its lessons about repetition, dissonance, and refusing commercial compromise. The album demonstrated that the Fall's singular vision could sustain long-form experimentation while retaining punk's intensity.
Listen
Track list
- A1The Classical5:16
- A2Jawbone and the Air-Rifle3:43
- A3Hip Priest7:45
- A4Fortress / Deer Park6:41
- A5Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.2:50
- A6Winter (Hostel-Maxi)4:27
- B1Winter 24:33
- B2Just Step S’ways3:22
- B3Who Makes the Nazis?4:27
- B4Iceland6:42
- B5And This Day10:18