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." 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". 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". Track listing Personnel Adapted from the album liner notes. 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 External links Slates Slates Albums produced by Adrian Sherwood Albums produced by Grant Showbiz Rough Trade Records albums