Have you read "Trapped In A Scene", largely about these bands? Worth doing so if not.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trapped-Scene-Ian-Glasper/dp/1901447618/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330712109&sr=1-1
I would like to submit that The Fall were the best band of the 1980s.
Funnily enough they were also the best band of the 1970s and the 1990s. Didn't do too badly in the 2000s either.