Why is it exactly that The Fall are ranked so low on this site(301)
They're one of the all-time great bands.
Go through their catalog: Live At The Witch Trials,Dragnet,Grotesque,Slates,Hex Enduction Hour,Perverted By Language,Wonderful & Frightening,This Nation's Saving Grace,Bend Sinister etc...it's almost all quality
For over 30 years,they've been one of the most prolific bands - but so many of those records are fantastic. They're far more consistent than say,U2.
My guess is that they're just not popular enough. I think the Fall will benefit in the future when younger critics have replaced the dinosaurs of present, or at least when more underground/indie centric publications start making all-time or 80s specific lists (like Pitchfork's 100 Records of the 1980s or the song book it recently published, both of which feature the Fall). You can say what you will about Pitchfork and its ilk, but they are far better assessors of the 1980s than Rolling Stone was/is.
On a personal note, "The Classical" is probably one of my 20 favorite songs. It's as if someone succeeded in recording the sound of pure hatred.
A friend of mine made me a 2-disc compilation of their music. I hadn't heard anything before, so I approached it with fresh ears. It was indeed quite impressive! I'm starting to track down their albums now.
That said, they'll never be able to compete with the likes of U2 in the critical gaze, because they never "conquered the world" like U2 did. I like U2, but I feel that once I know The Fall's catalog better, I'll like them better.
I think they'll always be a band that stays under the radar. They're good but not quite accessible enough to attract a new, younger crowd. Plus, they have a huge catalog and a rotating lineup. The only way I see them really gaining a new crowd is if there is a great biopic of Mark E. Smith.
I've tried to listen to The Fall on many different occasions, but I just didn't like them. I think that it's likely that I don't like them for the same reasons that they are not as acclaimed as other bands: they aren't terrible accessible and they have a caustic and claustrophobic sound that isn't to my liking. I just don't find it melodic enough and also too depressing. But that's just me.
