Slates
by The Fall

Slates by The Fall
Year: 1981
Release date: 1981-04-27
Overall rank: 4,252nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 76 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (74th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (619th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,252nd)

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Product Details
Availability

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The Fall – Slates – EP plus Peel Session and Outtake, Vinyl Record NEW 2021
Condition: New


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THE FALL - Slates / A Part Of America Therein, 1981 - CD
Condition: Good


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The Fall Slates (Live) (Vinyl) 10" EP (UK IMPORT)
Condition: New


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The Fall bestography

Slates is ranked 6th best out of 55 albums by The Fall on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Fall is This Nation's Saving Grace which is ranked number 927 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,887.

The Fall album bestography « Higher ranked (3,689th)
Grotesque (After The Gramme)
This album (4,252nd)
Slates
Lower ranked (4,571st) »
Bend Sinister

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Slates track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Slates rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,252nd | 1980s rank: 619th | 1981 rank: 74th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026spewventuriTop 91 Music Albums of the 1980s11/9118
2026 Patman360Top 100 Music Albums of 19816/1005
2026LittleM1971Top 90 Music Albums of 198112/904
2026 WasinskiTop 100 Music Albums of 198151/1003
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s70/1006
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of 198155/1002
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198167/1002
2026 MadhattanJackTop 100 Music Albums of 198143/1003
2026LittleM1971Greatest Music Albums: 601-70015/100 -
2026Steve_EmmettTop 40 Greatest Music Albums27/4035
2026 Xxnu99etxXMy Top 116 EPs (of those allowed on the site) pt. 138/83 -
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 19818/1005
2026 PurplepashTop 40 Music Albums of 198110/404
2025juanr1096Top 54 Music Albums of 198116/544
2025ThuramThugoodTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s68/1007
2024sonicdiscourseTo-Do List 198137/90 -
2024 Jboy56Top 80 Music Albums of 198171/801
2024 meccaleccaTop 80 Music Albums of 198140/803
2024ThuramThugoodTop 18 Music Albums of 19814/184
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 198163/1002
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 61
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 342
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Slates collection

Slates ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 76 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 76 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
05/05/2026 17:13 Steve_Emmett  Ratings distribution  12168/100
 
80/100
 
03/13/2026 12:24 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  11,41470/100
 
80/100
 
01/15/2026 20:18 BorderFreeAndrew  Ratings distribution  15,42874/100
 
100/100
 
11/13/2025 00:06 1977Podcast  Ratings distribution  6686/100
 
80/100
 
08/17/2025 21:06 juanr1096  Ratings distribution  6,14278/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.1/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.9.

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Slates favourites

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Slates comments

Showing all 1 comments |
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Rating:  
95/100
From 06/22/2016 10:36 | #169417
With only six tracks this is more often than not regarded as just an EP but with no filler this makes for a wonderful mini LP featuring one of the best tracks in the Fall cannon in Leave The Capitol. Middle Mass is certainly worth a mention too.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Damaged by Black Flag
9. Dare by The Human League
10. Deceit by This Heat