I bought 50,000 Fall fans can't be wrong.

As the average Fall fan is an ill-educated northern oik, I wouldn't trust them. Indeed, it turns out that 50,000 Fall fans can be very, very wrong.

This band are rubbish.

has the early singles "Rowche rumble" "Fiery Jack", "Elasic man" and the glorious "Totally wired".

Was The War Against Intelligence. It was awesome but for some reason I never got anymore. There's just so many :(

starting with Hex Enduction Hour or This Nation's Saving Grace, for studio albums. 50,000 Fall Fans... is probably a good overview and may suggest to you where to go next.

I never bought any of the compilations personally but the two best ones in my opinion are live at the witch trials and hex enduction hour. Hex might be a better starting point though.

Live at the Witch Trials, Dragnet, The Real New Fall LP, The Unutterable, Perverted by Language - they're all good 'uns.

YOU START WITH BING MASTERS BREAK OUT AND END WITH THEIR LASTEST ALBUM !! EVERYTHING IS ESSENTIAL !!

understood the big thing about the fall. However, I remember mark e smith reading the football final scores and adding 'town' onto every other team which was amusing.

2. this nation's saving grace

if you like them, welcome, you like The Fall.

I've got 80s Fall pretty well covered, as well as 00s Fall, but I have nothing they did in the 90s.

Are any albums from that period (I'm aware it was quite a difficult time for them) worth getting?

strarting with the first album:
Live At Witch Trials
- it's not a spectacular album nor live, but don't worry you are just about to get to the good stuff, the next run of albums remain unmatched by any other band and are all essential in any record collection
Dragnet
Grotesque
Slates
Hex Enduction Hour
Room To Live
The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall
This Nations Saving Grace
Bend Sinister

next get The Complete Peel Sessions

you still have about 20 studio albums to get but none match the quality above so you can afford to be a bit picky about them.
Good luck on your brave journey

Fucks sake. Another one. Another one !!

is the place to start. Then the following:

Slates
Hex Enduction Hour
Perverted by Language
This Nation's Saving Grace
Grotesque
Dragnet
Wonderful and Frightening World...

If you're feeling flush the Peel Sessions box set is a must-have. Not only is it a more comprehensive overview of their career, but it also has the definitive versions of some Fall classics and a couple of obscure gems (i.e. New Puritan).

Live at the Withc Trials are all fun.

I personally think that the complete peel sessions pretty much encapsulate what the band is about really...you could do worse than start with that!

Also watch 'The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E Smith' on youtube.
It's a BBC documentary someone's uploaded in parts and it's a fantastic introduction for a new listener.

The records to recommend are:
'The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall'
'Hex Enduction Hour'
'This Nation's Saving Grace'
'Fall Heads Roll'

or, just buy the Peel Sessions boxset for £20.

for 30p then realised my dad had like 20 Fall albums, so i listened almost chronilogically. Also, see them live.

is a way to ease yourself in. But as already stated a few times above, all the best Fall work was done for Peel - the beautifully-packaged Complete Peel Sessions is pretty damn treasure trove.

And a shout for the off-kilter pummelling electro of 2000s The Unutterable. As Peel used to say, always different, always the same.