The seventeen songs collected here come from The Fall’s Brix Smith era, aka “the golden era of Fall releases.” This is a perfect introduction to the band, and as legendary critic Robert Christgau said, it’s “The only Fall record any normal person need own”. Bypassing their edgy, early singles and concentrating on their artier, more eclectic work of the mid- and late '80s, 45 84 89 - The A-Sides encapsulates nearly all of the Fall's many attributes. all of the singles on a-sides are culled from the era when Brix Smith was in the band, arguably the band's most cohesive and rewarding years. drawing from their strongest albums - The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, This Nation's Saving Grace, Bend Sinister, The Frenz Experiment - A Sides offers an excellent introduction to the Fall. it is both a useful retrospective and a kind of road map, pointing out the differences between albums. for neophytes and the uninitiated, there is no better sampler, and for long-time fans, the collection reiterates what a fine singles band the fall were in their heyday.