First Fall song I heard and it got me hooked. Still one of my all-time faves.

My absolute favourite version is from Live Various Years with the electronic noise turned way up and MES giving it to the soundman. :wub:

A close second is the totally destroyed live version from Cheetham Hill. (MES: "Forgot! The lyricsss! Again-ah!" :wub: )

I've only heard 3, I think, and of those I prefer the album version.

Single version seems to have a bit more of a kick to it than the album one...

The whole of Code: Selfish (as much as I love it, my 1st Fall album you see :wub:) sounded a bit weedy back in the day. I wonder if that recent 2CD remaster sounds punchier... Haven't got it yet.

Never really rated it all that much. Sorry.
It's not bad, do not get me wrong but some people say it's one of their best and I disagree.

I'm a huge Code:Selfish fan, too. It's just that I feel they did this type of dance(y) song better elsewhere.

Examples? A Past Gone Mad, 4 1/2 Inch, Birmingham School, The Mixer...

I'm guessing many will think different but there you go.

Free Range has always been one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums. Went with the 12" version but they are all OK with me.

One of the few Fall songs that is made better by that video of them driving round in that open top jeep. Voted for the Code Selfish album version, as its the one I listen to most.

I have to be honest here: I know there's differences in the versions - some very slight - but I never listened closely enough to analyze them so I just voted for the single which I used to play a lot while doing light housework....any version is a good version to me

:applaud: Free Range stands firmly in my top-ten Fall songs, both musically and lyrically. Have only heard 2 to 5, and i voted for the Code Selfish version.
Glad to see it's beating soundly the peel sessions one. The predilection so many fans seem to have for them sometimes puzzles me.

Definitely the single version. Got the certain extra oomph in the chorus that the album version lacks.

Love the video as well - it probably cost a fortune to Phonogram. :rolleyes:

If there's anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it's on YouTube. Turn the sound way up!

P.S. Am I the only saddo who has heard ALL these versions? :blink:

Free Range is indeed very good, and Das Katerer is one of my favorite songs, sans Fall as only option.

Thanks for the option.

While the Peel sessions often prove to be the Holy Grail there are some dodgy versions on there.
Need I even mention Touch Sensitive?

I like the Touch Sensitive Peel session version - it has a sort of typically Fall lazily shambolic nature about it! :)

I think you're in the minority but hey, to each his own right?*

*Unless you like Sting. Then you're a plonker.

Don't panic - Sting's a twat of the highest order! :lol:

I can live with being a minority! :)

So can I (says the black, half Japanese, half Scottish hermaphrodite Eskimo)

There's no diff between the single and album version: I don't know where that idea came from.

THat versh is the one I play the most. The "27 points" versh is best heard in "context" in the full gig in question: one of their finest, - as is the song. A bit too U2 for some, but that's POP!!

HUH? Oh, there weren't any bongos on "Katerer"; I getcha.

Listen again.

Chorus is notably different - the album version has a 'shift' in sound, like Dave Bush's drum machine and some electronics has suddenly been switched off - while the single version keeps the same sound going all the way.
I'd describe the album chorus as a bit 'muffled', and the single chorus as 'shiny' - allthough that probably don't make sense to anyone but me... :P


...and there's the extended intro on the single version of course. I think there are other subtle differences as well...

The single version runs to a conclusion and the album version fades out.

Always thought the single version was the one.