The “various years” referred to on the cover end up being only three (1988, 1993, and 1997) and the recording dates and locations of the New York and Austria recordings are up for debate with fans who have compared them to bootleg tapes. Still, Live Various Years is one of the better releases in Resurgent’s live series, all with lead singer Mark E. Smith’s “nuts to you” cover shot, and the sound quality is better than usual. The 1993 edition of the Fall has been over-documented with Twenty Seven Points and the many Receiver compilations all pulling from this era, so it’s a shock that the excellent versions of “Shift-Work” and “Grudgefull” weren’t released before. The 1997 tracks sound sloppy and thin, but “Interferance” will remind any fan of the impromptu jams the band can come up with waiting for Smith to return to the stage. An inspired performance of “Hip Priest” makes the collection worthwhile even if the song’s fadeout gets its own track for some unknown reason. A tighter sounding Fall is represented by three 1988 tracks that annoyingly get their own disc. – David Jeffries
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