View source for Hex Enduction Hour

{{featured article}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Hex Enduction Hour
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]]
| cover      = Hex Enduction Hour.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 8 March 1982
| recorded   = 1981 at Regal Cinema, [[Hitchin]], England<br />August 1981 at Hljóðriti, [[Reykjavík]], Iceland
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Post-punk]]
| length     = 60:08
| label      = Kamera
| producer   = {{flatlist|
*[[Richard Mazda]]
*[[Mark E. Smith]]
}}
| prev_title = [[Slates (EP)|Slates]]
| prev_year  = 1981
| next_title = [[A Part of America Therein, 1981]]
| next_year  = 1982
}}

'''''Hex Enduction Hour''''' is the fourth studio album by the English [[post-punk]] group [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]]. Released on 8{{nbsp}}March 1982, it was built on [[lo-fi|low-fidelity]] production values and caustic lyrical content of their earlier recordings, and features a two-drummer lineup. Frontman [[Mark E. Smith]] established an abrasive [[Northern England|Northern]] aesthetic built as part of the 20th century literary traditions of [[kitchen sink realism]] and [[magic realism]]. Smith described the album as an often-satirical but deliberate reaction to the contemporary music scene, a stand against "bland bastards like [[Elvis Costello]] and [[Spandau Ballet]]&nbsp;... [and] all that shit."<ref name="Smith, 113">Smith, 113</ref>

Recording for ''Hex'' began during a 1981 three-concert visit to Iceland, where Smith was inspired both by the otherworldliness of the island's landscape and the enthusiasm of an audience unaccustomed to visiting rock groups.<ref name="f104">Ford, 104</ref><ref name="e49">Edge, 49</ref> The Fall recorded "Hip Priest", "Iceland" and non-album single "Look, Know" at the Hljóðriti studio in [[Reykjavík]], and the remaining tracks in a disused cinema in [[Hitchin]], [[Hertfordshire]].

Its cover art was seen by many in the music industry as coarse and lacking accepted layout or typographical qualities; [[HMV]] would only shelve it back to front on their racks. The album peaked at number 71 on the [[UK Albums Chart]] and attracted the attention of several record labels.

==Background and recording==
[[File:Thefall1984.jpg|thumb|240px|left|The Fall, Hamburg 13 April 1984. L-R: Scanlon, Smith, Burns, Hanley]]
By 1981, the Fall had released three critically acclaimed albums, but band leader [[Mark E. Smith]] felt the group was undervalued and poorly supported by their label [[Rough Trade Records]], whom he regarded as "a bunch of well meaning but inept hippies". He felt constrained by the label's ethos and worried that the Fall were in danger of becoming "just another Rough Trade band". Smith made overtures to other labels, and found kindred adventurous spirits at small emergent label Kamera Records.<ref>[[Stephen Thomas Erlewine|Erlewine, Stephen Thomas]]; Jeffries, David. "[http://www.billboard.com/artist/405121/fall/biography The Fall: Biography]". ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. Retrieved 8 October 2015</ref><ref name="jdo">Doran, John. "[http://thequietus.com/articles/03755-becks-induction-hour-a-mark-e-smith-interview-about-the-lp-that-nearly-felled-the-fall Becks Induction Hour: Mark E Smith On The LP That Nearly Ended The Fall]". ''[[The Quietus]]'', 19 February 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2015</ref> Kamera's first release in November 1981 was the Fall's single "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul", which also featured drummer [[Karl Burns]] for the first time since ''[[Live at the Witch Trials]]''. Burns previously substituted for Paul Hanley on a US tour when the latter was denied a visa for being too young, and upon the group's return to the UK, Smith suggested that Burns should stay on as a second drummer.

[[File:SteveHanley1980.png|thumb|180px|Steve Hanley]]
In September 1981, the Fall travelled to [[Reykjavík]], Iceland for the first time to play three concerts, organised by [[Einar Örn Benediktsson|Einar Örn]]. While there, they recorded three new songs ("Hip Priest", "Iceland" and non-album single "Look, Know") at Hljóðriti studio.<ref name="jdo" /> The studio, normally used by local folk artists, had lava walls (according to Smith, it resembled an igloo),<ref name="s114">Smith, 114</ref> a factor that gave it its otherworldly sound.<ref name="jdo" /> Kamera agreed to pay costs for the rest of the recordings and hired producer [[Richard Mazda]], who suggested that the sessions would take place in a disused cinema in [[Hitchin]], known as Regal Sound Studio,<ref name="b47">Britton, 47</ref> as the ambience would resemble the band's live sound. According to critic John Doran, "uncertainty around a record label seeps into the album's sound, the work of a band with a gun pressed to their heads".<ref name="jdo" />

''Hex Enduction Hour'' takes influence from [[the Velvet Underground]]'s "[[Sister Ray]]", [[Captain Beefheart]] and the early 1970s [[Krautrock]] band [[Can (band)|Can]].<ref name="PpM" /> Smith has said that the title was intended to invoke witchcraft,<ref name="s115">Smith, 115</ref> that he concocted the word "Enduction" to suggest the album could be a listener's induction into the Fall and that "[[Hexagon|Hex]]" was a reference to this being the band's sixth release.<ref>{{Citation|last=mondoprune|title=The Fall – Sounds interview 1982|date=2010-01-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lmb8SI8BQ&t=4m13s| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/Y7lmb8SI8BQ| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|access-date=2017-03-12}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His vocals are higher in the mix than on previous Fall releases and were described in 1982 by ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' as "emerg[ing] like a loudhailer from a fog of guitar scratch".<ref name="szs">Robertson, Sandy."[http://thefall.org/gigography/image/82may08_sounds.jpg Hex Enduction]". ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'', 8 May 1982. Retrieved 4 October 2015.</ref> The songs were deliberately produced in a raw and [[lo-fi|low-fidelity]] approach by Smith, [[Grant Showbiz]] and Richard Mazda in a sound described at the time as a "well produced noise"<ref name="e49"/> that was acceptable by Fall standards.<ref name="e47">Edge, 47</ref> Critic Mark Storace claimed he "could have done a better job on a [[multitrack recording|4-track]] if I was pissed out of my head".<ref>Storace, Mark. "Hex Enduction Hour". ''[[Flexipop|Flexipop!]]'', March 1982</ref> Smith responded by saying that "nowadays people just can't just shut up if they don't know what they're talking about."{{efn-ua|"When your mired in the shit of the times&nbsp;... you start to question not only people's taste but their existences. I'd rather listen to Polish builders clanking away than any of that crap." Smith, 113}}<ref name="szs" /> Elaborating on the purposely amateurish production values, Smith remarked that "it was all recorded in deliberately bad places&nbsp;... deliberately simple sort of thing. Three songs were written at rehearsal and done the next time."<ref>"The Fall, Union Hall, 19 August 1982". ''Salient'', 6 September 1982</ref>

==Music and lyrics==
The album was the Fall's first to include Karl Burns and Paul Hanley in the band's classic two-drummer lineup.<ref name="nr" /> Smith intended the album's lyrics "to be like reading a really good book. You have a couple of beers, sit down and immerse yourself. None of those fuckers [[Elvis Costello]] or [[Spandau Ballet]] did that".<ref name="Smith, 113"/> ''Hex Enduction Hour'' was written during an unusually prolific period in his career. Many of the tracks had already been dropped from the band's live set by the time they visited Australia and New Zealand in the autumn of 1982. The earlier single "Look, Know" was recorded during the Icelandic sessions but not included on the album. This was characteristic of Smith's "never look back" approach.<ref name="I82">Irwin, 1982</ref>

[[File:Mark E. Smith.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Mark E. Smith in 1990]]
Opening track "The Classical" acts as a statement of intent similar to that in "Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow" from the Fall's debut album ''Live at the Witch Trials''. Whereas on the earlier song Smith described himself as "[[Northern England|Northern]] white crap that talks back", in the opening lines of ''Hex Enduction Hour'' he complains that the fact that contemporary music lacks culture is his "brag", observing that a "taste for bullshit reveals a lust for a home of office" and references "obligatory niggers", before accusingly shouting "Hey there, fuckface, hey there, fuckface".<ref name="f103" /><ref name="e50">Edge, 50</ref> [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]] released a cover of the track in the early 1990s; Smith later dismissed them as mere Fall copyists.<ref>Herrington, Tony. "Mancunian Candidate". ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'', September 1996</ref><ref>{{cite web|quote="it's just The Fall in 1985, isn't it? They haven't got an original idea in their heads."|last=Keoghan|first=Jim|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/08592-pavement-slanted-and-enchante|title=20 Years On: Revisiting Pavement's Slanted And Enchanted|work=[[The Quietus]]|date=5 November 2015|access-date=4 October 2015}}</ref> "Jawbone and the Air Rifle" depicts a nightmarish folklore tale of a poacher (described as a "rabbit killer") bored by a decades-old marriage who escapes by roaming the local countryside at night hunting prey. One night the protagonist "lets out a misplaced shot", which draws the [[Curse|Hex]] of the "Broken Brothers Pentacle Church". The song's main focal point is toward the end when the lyrics detail a series of semi-religious, semi-pagan horrific and repeating hallucinations.<ref>Forde 103–104</ref>

"Hip Priest" was recorded in Iceland in a single take,<ref name="PpM" /><ref name="CIw">[[Colin Irwin (journalist)|Irwin, Colin]]. "[http://thefall.org/news/iceland.html The Decline and Fall in Iceland]". ''[[Melody Maker]]'', 26 September 1981. Retrieved 8 October 2015</ref> and is one of Smith's most personal songs, apparently written in bemusement following a recent rise in the band's popularity.<ref name="e50" /> The track has been compared to [[Dub music|dub]] but in its Northern bleakness "it had been invented in a drizzly motorway rather than in recording studios in Jamaica."<ref name="gh142">Goddard; Halligan, 142</ref> "Hip Priest" was re-recorded in 1988 in a [[glam rock]] style as "Big New Prinz" for the album ''[[I Am Kurious Oranj]]''.<ref name="jdo" /> An excerpt of "Hip Priest" was used in 1991 in the climactic end scene of [[Jonathan Demme]]'s film ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]''.<ref>Beck, 78</ref>

"Fortress/Deer Park" starts with a [[Casio VL-1]] rhythm preset, the same as used by [[Trio (band)|Trio]] on the 1982 hit single "[[Da Da Da]]".<ref name="gh97">Goddard; Halligan, 97</ref> Its lyrics form a broad and jaundiced look at English culture and [[subculture]]s in the early 1980s.<ref name="gh142" /> It mentions "Good King Harry was there, fucking [[Jimmy Savile]]"<ref name="gh97" /> while the lines "I took a walk down [[W postcode area|W11]]; I had to walk through 500 European punks" are a [[deadpan|dry put-down]] of the fashion-oriented in [[Notting Hill]].<ref>Edge, 53</ref>

{{listen
| filename =The Fall Winter ptI.ogg
| title = "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)"
| description = Sample of "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)", recorded in Iceland
| filename2 = The Fall Who Makes The Nazis.ogg
| title2 = "Who Makes The Nazis"
| description2 = Sample of "Who Makes The Nazis", recorded December 1981
}}
"Winter" is split into two parts, broken by a fade out and fade in: "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)" closes Side{{nbsp}}1 of the record and "Winter 2" opens Side 2.<ref name="I82" /> It was described by Smith in early press releases as "concerning an insane child who is taken over by a spirit from the mind of a cooped-up alcoholic". During the intro of "Winter (Hostel-Maxi)", the narrator describes waiting, [[Hangover|hung over]], in the early afternoon for the pubs to open.<ref name="e52">Edge, 52</ref> The remainder of the song consists of descriptions of and encounters with a [[drug rehabilitation|dry-out house]], a cleaning lady (the mother of the "insane child"), a feminist with anti-nicotine and anti-nuclear stickers on her car (an [[Austin Maxi]]) and a "half-wit" child. After that, the lyrics move towards [[magic realism]] and ad-libbed inscrutability: "The mad kid had four lights: the average is two point-five-lights; the mediocre is two lights".<ref name="e52" />

"Who Makes the Nazis" concludes that Nazis are born of "intellectual halfwits".<ref name="Reynolds">Reynolds, 196</ref> The track contains a number of sounds played through a [[dictaphone]], a device that was to feature heavily in later Fall albums, most notably ''[[This Nation's Saving Grace]]''.<ref>Goddard; Halligan, 104</ref>

"Iceland" was improvised<ref name="cook">[[Richard Cook (journalist)|Cook, Richard]]. "[http://thefall.org/news/pics/nme13_03_82_page37.jpg Hex Enduction Hour]". ''[[NME]]'', 13 March 1982. Retrieved 4 October 2015</ref> in a single take.<ref>Kay, George. "[http://thefall.org/news/fallnz.html The Fall of Slick, Mark E. Smith's Enduction Hour]". ''Rip It Up'', September 1982. Retrieved 4 October 2015</ref> Smith was taken by a country that he described in 2008 as still inaccessible and "totally unlike what it is now. Beer was [[Prohibition in Iceland|against the law]]. You could only drink shit like pints of [[peach schnapps]]".{{efn-ua|"But since then it's become like anywhere else. It's like when you return to the house that you grew up in and its smaller. About a third of the youth population turned up to see us. I feel guilty for spawning [[The Sugarcubes]] and [[Björk]]." Smith, 114}} It consists of a two-note piano figure and a banjo part,<ref name="Reynolds"/> over which Smith played a tape recording he had made of the wind howling outside his bedroom window.<ref name="e45">Edge, 45</ref> According to guitarist [[Marc Riley]], "He [Smith] just said he needed a tune, something [[Bob Dylan|Dylanish]], and we knocked around on the piano in the studio and came up with that. But we hadn't heard the words until he suddenly did them."<ref name="CIw" /> The line "Fall down flat in the Cafe aisle without a glance from the clientele" describes an incident that had happened to Smith that morning. He had tripped in a nearby cafe and fallen across several tables. He was surprised by the lack of response from the other customers, who seemed to have dismissed him as just another drunk.<ref name="CIw" /><ref name="e44">Edge, 44</ref>

The closing track, "And This Day", originally lasted about 25 minutes, but was edited down to ten minutes to fit the album's length; it still remains one of the Fall's longest studio songs.<ref name="f104" />

==Cover art==
''Hex Enduction Hour'''s all-white cover is lined with pen marks and scribbles and was described by music critic Robertson as "meticulously shoddy".<ref name="szs" /> It consists of a series of pen scribbles laid down by Smith. The markings are mostly random rhetorical phrases and sentence fragments added by Smith and include wording such as "Lie-Dream 80% of 10% OR 6% over no less than 1/4 = ??????",<ref name="McCormick">McCormick, Neil. "[http://thefall.org/news/000522.html#hotpress ''Hex Enduction Hour'']". ''[[Hot Press]]'', 1982. Retrieved 4 October 2015</ref> "Hail [[Sainsbury's]]!", "CHUMMY LIFESTYLE", "HAVE A BLEEDIN GUESS"<ref name="f103">Ford, 103</ref> and "CIGS. SMOKED HERE". In an interview with ''Sounds'' that summer, Smith mentioned that he liked artwork to reflect the album content and that his graphic choices reflected his attitude to music. He mentioned how he was drawn to cheap and misspelled posters, amateur layouts of local papers and printed [[Cash and carry (wholesale)|cash and carry]] signs with "inverted commas where you don't need them".<ref name="szs" />

The album art was seen by many within the music industry as coarse and lacking accepted layout or typographical qualities. [[HMV]] would only shelve the sleeve back to front on their racking shelves.<ref name="e49" />

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="nr">{{cite web|last=Raggett|first=Ned|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/hex-enduction-hour-mw0000652913|title=''Hex Enduction Hour'' – The Fall|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=6 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912043536/https://www.allmusic.com/album/hex-enduction-hour-mw0000652913 |archive-date=12 September 2015}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''
| rev3score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harrison|first=Ian|title=Rebellious Jukebox|journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|issue=275|date=October 2016|pages=62–67}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev4score = 9.6/10<ref>{{cite web|last=Raposa|first=David|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2979-hex-enduction-hour/|title=The Fall: ''Hex Enduction Hour''|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=5 July 2005|access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[PopMatters]]''
| rev5score = 9/10<ref name="PpM">{{cite web|last=Begrand|first=Adrian|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/fall-hexenduction/|title=The Fall: ''Hex Enduction Hour''|work=[[PopMatters]]|date=20 September 2005|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Record Collector]]''
| rev6score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref name="Record Collector">{{cite journal|last=Doran|first=John|url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/hex-enduction-hour|title=The Fall – ''Hex Enduction Hour''|journal=[[Record Collector]]|issue=369|date=December 2009|access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|chapter=The Fall|last=Gross|first=Joe|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-last=Brackett|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-last=Hoard|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/292 292–95]}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Pouncey">{{cite journal|last=Pouncey|first=Edwin|author-link=Savage Pencil|date=6 March 1982|title=The Fall – 'Hex Enduction Hour' (Kamera KAM&nbsp;005) ***** / 'Live at Acklam Hall, London 1980' (Chaos Cassettes LIE&nbsp;006) **** |journal=[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]|page=31}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev9Score = 9/10<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev10score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stubbs|first=David|title=Smith and legend|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|issue=92|date=January 2005|page=92}}</ref>
}}

''Hex Enduction Hour'' was the first Fall album to reach the [[UK Albums Chart]], where it spent three weeks, peaking at no. 71.<ref>"[http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21777/fall/ Official Charts]". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015</ref> By mid-1983 it had sold 20,000 copies,<ref>Ford, 115</ref> reflecting a surge in the band's popularity, and five years into their career brought them to the attention of major record labels.<ref name="e49" /> Critics were highly enthusiastic.<ref name="f104" /> Reviewing for the ''[[NME]]'', [[Richard Cook (journalist)|Richard Cook]] described the band as tighter and more disciplined than in earlier recordings, and call Hex as "their master piece to date".<ref name="f104" /> He praised their use of recording-studio techniques and atmospherics without resorting to glamorisation.<ref name="cook" /> ''[[Melody Maker]]''{{'}}s [[Colin Irwin (journalist)|Colin Irwin]] said it was "incredibly exciting and utterly compelling".<ref name="CIw" /> [[Savage Pencil|Edwin Pouncey]] of ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' said it was "the furthest adventure the Fall have ever embarked upon, one that absorbs and holds the listener in a grip of iron. It is also more importantly the Fall's finest hour."<ref name="Pouncey" /> A dissenter was [[Neil McCormick]] of Irish fortnightly ''[[Hot Press]]'', who dismissed the album as secondhand melodramatic [[Punk rock|punk]] and said that if the album was "meant to be minimalist or primitive then it fatally ignores the true primitivism of the strong melody and accessible lyrics found in [[folk music]]."<ref name="McCormick" />

Later, ''[[Record Collector]]'' described the album as a "taut, twitchy and ominous masterclass in [[Lo-fi music|DIY]] [[post-punk]]", and singled out Smith's lyrics for praise.<ref name="Record Collector"/> ''[[The Quietus]]'', in 2009, wrote of the album as "arguably&nbsp;... The Fall's mightiest hour",<ref name="The Quietus">Middles, Mick. "[http://thequietus.com/articles/03029-the-fall-hex-enduction-hour-deluxe-edition-review The Fall]".''[[The Quietus]]'', 21 October 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2013</ref> while ''[[Stylus Magazine]]'' wrote that "''Hex'' demonstrates the culmination of 'early' Fall: a monolithic beast of ragged grooves piloted through the embittering miasma of English society by the verbose acidity/[[Joycean]] all-inclusiveness of Mark E. Smith."<ref name="Stylus Magazine">Powell, Mike. "[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/the-fall/hex-enduction-hour.htm ''Hex Enduction Hour''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509200312/http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/the-fall/hex-enduction-hour.htm |date=9 May 2012 }}". ''[[Stylus Magazine]]'', 16 February 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2013</ref> ''[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]'' listed ''Hex Enduction Hour'' as the 33rd best album of the 1980s.<ref>"[http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/7/ Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1980s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815003118/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5882-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/7/ |date=15 August 2014 }}". ''[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]'', November 2002. Retrieved 8 March 2013</ref> Comedian [[Stewart Lee]] said it is favourite album and "probably the best album of all time."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jablonski|first1=Simon|title=Stewart Lee Selects His Favourite 13 Albums|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/06324-stewart-lee-interview-favourite-albums?page=5|website=The Quietus|access-date=22 April 2017|page=5}}</ref>

According to Smith, the album's lyrics had a negative impact on the band's later career. In 1984, [[Motown Records]] expressed interest in signing the band to a new UK division, with a provisional offer of a £46,000 up-front advance. A label executive asked to hear something from the Fall's back catalogue, but ''Hex'' was the only album Smith had available; he remembered thinking, "when he hears that, we've had it."<ref>Ford, 130</ref> The rejection letter stated that the label saw "no commercial potential in this band whatsoever".<ref name="b48">Britton, 48</ref><ref>Irwin, Colin. "Perverted by Anguish". ''[[Melody Maker]]'', 20 October 1984</ref> Smith believes this was due to the "obligatory niggers" line from the opening track "The Classical".<ref name="e72">Edge, 72</ref>

==Re-issues==
The album went out of print when the Kamera label folded in 1983, but a German edition on the Line imprint remained available, with copies pressed on white vinyl.<ref>Thompson, 59</ref> Line issued a CD edition, flat transferred from a later generation tape. In 2002, a new edition titled ''Hex Enduction Hour +'' (adding both sides of the "Look, Know" single) was released via Smith's Cog Sinister imprint.<ref>"[http://www.allmusic.com/album/hex-enduction-hour-mw0000652913/releases ''Hex Enduction Hour'': Releases]. AllMusic. Retrieved 2 January 2015</ref>

The album was remastered and issued in 2005 by [[Sanctuary Records Group|Sanctuary Records]], along with a disc of bonus live material.<ref>Begrand, Adrien. "[http://www.popmatters.com/review/fall-hexenduction/ ''Hex Enduction Hour'': Expanded Deluxe Edition]. ''PopMatters'', 19 September 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2016</ref> Smith conceded that the remastering was an improvement, but when asked if he liked the bonus live tracks he admitted that he hadn't listened "that far".<ref name="jdo" /> For unexplained reasons, "Look, Know" was removed from the bonus material, although its b-side remained intact; however it would later appear on ''The Fall Box Set 1976–2007''.

==Track listing==
Songwriting credits adapted from the  original album sleeve notes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hex Enduction Hour|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Fall-Hex-Enduction-Hour/release/601773|website=[[Discogs]]|date=8 March 1982 |access-date=16 August 2021}}</ref>
{{track listing
| all_lyrics = [[Mark E. Smith]]
| headline = Side A
| title1 = The Classical
| writer1 = The Fall
| length1 = 5:16
| title2 = Jawbone and the Air-Rifle
| writer2 = The Fall
| length2 = 3:43
| title3 = Hip Priest
| writer3 = The Fall
| length3 = 7:45
| title4 = Fortress/Deer Park
| writer4 = [[Mark E. Smith]], [[Craig Scanlon]], [[Marc Riley]], [[Karl Burns]]   
| length4 = 6:41
| title5 = Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
| writer5 = Smith
| length5 = 2:50
| title6 = Winter (Hostel-Maxi)
| writer6 = Smith, Scanlon
| length6 = 4:26
| total_length = 30:41
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side B
| title1 = Winter 2
| writer1 = Smith, Scanlon
| length1 = 4:33
| title2 = Just Step S'ways
| writer2 = Smith
| length2 = 3:22
| title3 = Who Makes the Nazis?
| writer3 = Smith
| length3 = 4:27
| title4 = Iceland
| writer4 = Smith, Scanlon, Riley, [[Steve Hanley (musician)|Steve Hanley]] 
| length4 = 6:42
| title5 = And This Day
| writer5 = The Fall
| length5 = 10:18
| total_length = 29:22
}}
{{track listing
| headline = 2002 ''Hex Enduction Hour+'' bonus tracks
| title12 = Look, Know
| writer12 = Smith, S. Hanley, Burns, Riley
| note12 = single A-side
| length12 = 4:36
| title13 = I'm into C.B.
| writer13 = Smith
| note13 = single B-side
| length13 = 6:29
}}
{{track listing
| headline      = 2005 "Expanded Deluxe Edition" bonus disc
| title1        = Deer Park
| writer1       = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Burns
| length1       = 4:26
| note1         = from [[John Peel]] session broadcast 15 September 1981
| title2        = Who Makes the Nazis?
| writer2       = Smith
| length2       = 2:57
| note2         = from John Peel session broadcast 15 September 1981
| title3        = I'm into C.B.
| writer3       = Smith
| length3       = 6:30
| note3         = B-side of "Look, Know" single, 1982
| title4        = Session Musician
| writer4       = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, S. Hanley
| length4       = 9:11
| note4         = live at the Bierkeller, [[Leeds]], 5 November 1981
| title5        = Jazzed Up Punk Shit
| writer5       = Smith, Scanlon, Riley, S. Hanley
| length5       = 4:10
| note5         = live at the 666 Club, [[Manchester]], 15 May 1982
| title6        = I'm into C.B. (Stars on 45 Version)
| writer6       = Smith, Scanlon, Kay Carroll
| length6       = 3:14
| note6         = live at Fagins, Manchester, 30 September 1981
| title7        = And This Day
| writer7       = The Fall
| length7       = 6:13
| note7         = live at Main Street, [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]], 20 August 1982
| title8        = Deer Park
| writer8       = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Burns
| length8       = 9:34
| note8         = live at Main Street, Auckland, 20 August 1982
| title9        = And This Day (Revisited)
| writer9       = Smith, Riley, Scanlon, Burns, S. Hanley, P. Hanley
| length9       = 5:24
| note9         = live at [[Astoria 2]], [[London]], 26 February 1997
}}

==Personnel==
;The Fall:
* [[Mark E. Smith]] – [[Singing|vocals]], tape operation on "Fortress/Deer Park" and "Iceland", guitar, [[Record producer|production]], cover design
* [[Steve Hanley (musician)|Steve Hanley]] – [[bass guitar]], [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]]
* [[Marc Riley]] – [[electronic organ]], guitar, [[piano]], backing vocals, [[banjo]] on "Iceland"
* [[Craig Scanlon]] – guitar, backing vocals, piano on "Iceland"
* Paul Hanley – drums, [[guitar]] on "Winter"
* [[Karl Burns]] – [[Drum kit|drums]], backing vocals, tape operation on "Fortress/Deer Park"

;Additional personnel
* Kay Carroll – [[Percussion instrument|percussion]], backing vocals, manager

;Technical personnel
*[[Richard Mazda]] – production<ref name="f104" /><ref>[[Bill Graham (author)|Graham, Bill]]. "The Fall at McGonagles". ''[[Hot Press]]'', March 1982</ref>
*Tony J. Sutcliffe – [[Audio engineering|engineering]]<ref>"[http://www.allmusic.com/album/hex-enduction-hour-mw0000652913/credits ''Hex Enduction Hour'': Credits]". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 December 2015</ref>
*Alan Skinner – cover design<ref>Skinner, Alan. "[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alan-skinner-mn0001865149/credits ''Hex Enduction Hour'']". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2015</ref>

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1982)
! Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|11|artist=THE FALL|album=HEX ENDUCTION HOUR|rowheader=true|access-date=10 March 2020}}
|}

==Notes==

===Footnotes===
{{notelist-ua}}

===References===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* Beck, Jay. ''Lowering the Boom: Critical Studies in Film Sound''. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-252-07532-2}}
* Britton, Amy. ''Revolution Rock: The Albums Which Defined Two Ages''. London: AuthorHouse, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-4678-8710-6}}
* Edge, Brian. ''Paintwork: Portrait of The Fall''. London: Omnibus Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-7119-1740-8}}
* Ford, Simon. ''Hip Priest: The Story of Mark E.Smith and the Fall''. London: Quartet Books, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-7043-8167-4}}
* Goddard, Michael; Halligan, Benjamin. ''Mark E. Smith and The Fall: Art, Music and Politics''. London: Ashgate, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-6867-1}}
* Hanley, Paul. ''Have a Bleedin Guess: The Story of Hex Enduction Hour''. Pontefract: Route Publishing, 2020. {{ISBN|978-1-901927-80-1}}
* [[Simon Reynolds|Reynolds, Simon]]. ''[[Rip It Up and Start Again|Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984]]''. London: Faber & Faber, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-571-21570-6}}
* Simpson, Dave. ''The Fallen: Life In and Out of Britain's Most Insane Group''. London: Canongate, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-84767-144-8}}
* Smith, Mark E. ''Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith''. London: Penguin, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-14-102866-8}}
* Thompson, Dave. ''A User's Guide to the Fall''. London: Helter Skelter, 2003. {{ISBN|978-1-900924-57-3}}
* Young, Rob. ''Rough Trade''. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-904772-47-7}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRNOa7I-sS4 The Fall In Iceland], short documentary on the recording of the tracks in Iceland. Route books, 2022

{{The Fall}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1982 albums]]
[[Category:The Fall (band) albums]]
[[Category:Art punk albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Grant Showbiz]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Richard Mazda]]