Nature Trails - Música

The Comsat Angels Were A Post-Punk Band From Sheffield England Active From 1978 To 1995. 1 Their Music Has Been Described As "abstract Pop Songs With Spare Instrumentation Many Of Which Were Bleak And Filled With Some Form Of Heartache." 2 They Have Been Credited As Being An Influence To Current Post-Punk Revival Bands Such As Editors And Interpol. 3 The Comsat Angels Toured Heavily In Their Native UK And In Western Europe Especially In The Netherlands Where They Were Moderately Popular But Only Did A Couple Of Tours In The United States. 4 Their Music Has Been Extensively Reissued And Recompiled Since 1995 By Various Record Labels But As Of This Date The Band Has Not Reformed. Biography Named After The J. G. Ballard Short Story The Comsat Angels 5 The Foursome's Core Lineup Lasting 1978-1992 Consisted Of * Stephen Fellows - Vocals Songwriting Lead Guitar * Kevin Bacon - Bass * Mik Glaisher - Drums * Andy Peake - Keyboards. They Debuted With An EP Released In 1979 Named "Red Planet". 6 This Release Attracted Polydor A&R Man Frank Neilson And The Band Signed A Three-Album Recording Contract. 7 These Three LPs Waiting For A Miracle 1980 Which Included The Single "Independence Day" Probably Their Best Known Song Sleep No More 1981 And Fiction 1982 Are Regarded By Some As Their Best But Only Sold Modestly. 8 In Their Early Years The Group Shared Live Stages With Bands Like Siouxsie & The Banshees Yellow Magic Orchestra Depeche Mode U2 An 18-Date Tour In 1981 Captain Beefheart The Sound Wall Of Voodoo And Gang Of Four. 9 In 1982 They Performed Two Songs On BBC Television's Old Grey Whistle Test Television Program. 10 A U.S. Tour In 1982 Had To Be Cancelled After A Week Due To Bacon Contracting Appendicitis. 11 Jive Years Having Failed To Live Up To Polydor's Expectations With The Three First Albums The Record Label Let The Band Go. After This They Went On To Sign With Jive Records And Recorded Land 1983 Delving Into A More Commercial New Wave-Oriented Sound. 12 Fifth Album 7 Day Weekend 1985 Also Followed A More Pop-Oriented Trend. However It Also Failed On The Charts Resulting In The Band Being Dropped By A Second Record Label. 13 Their Poppy Single "I'm Falling" Was Featured In The Movie Real Genius With Val Kilmer. 14 The Movie Never Released An Official Soundtrack But Gave The Band Perhaps Its Widest Audience. Switch Of Record Labels The Band Found A Fan And Supporter In Robert Palmer Who Was Enjoying The Height Of His Popularity At This Point In The '80s. 15 Palmer Saw To It That The Comsat Angels Were Signed To Island Records And He Co-Produced Their Next Album Chasing Shadows 1986 And Even Sang On One Song. 16 This Album's Music Is Viewed As The Band's Return To Their Dark Brooding Roots. 17 18 19 The U.S. Based Communications Satellite Corporation Threatened To Take Legal Measures Against The Band For Supposedly Plagiarizing Their Name. Because Of This The Band Were Renamed C.S. Angels In The United States. 20 Dream Command Album For The Follow-Up They Talked Island Into Letting Them Build Their Own Studio. 21 The Band Decided To Try For AOR Radio With Their Next Recording Fire On The Moon 1990 . 22 The Group Changed Its Name To Dream Command For This Record Likely Because Of Pressure From The Communications Satellite Corporation And Their Record Label. 23 Neither The Band Nor Their Label Were Happy With The Album Which Was Released In The U.S. Only In Small Quantities. 24 Few People In The UK Even Knew About It Until The Comsats Were Mentioned In Q Magazine's "Where Are They Now?" Section. 25 Another Switch Of Record Labels Around 1990 They Recruited Sheffield Musician Nick Robinson As An Additional Guitarist. He Appeared On "I Wanna Destroy You" Later Released On The Compilation From Beyond 2. 26 This Was Another Turning Point For The Band As They Set About Writing And Recording New Material On Their Own Terms And Finally Hooked Up With RPM Records And With Caroline Records In The U.S. 27 Who Then Released The Comsats' Radio 1 BBC Sessions From 1979 To 1984 As Time Considered As A Helix Of Semi-Precious Stones. The Title Was Taken From A Samuel R. Delany Short Story . 28 Shortly Afterwards RPM Released A New Comsats Single "Driving" And Album My Mind's Eye In 1992. The Album Was Released In The U.S. On Caroline Records Under The Band Name C.S. Angels With Two Bonus Tracks. The Music Press Praised The Album Citing Several Current Shoegaze-Type Bands E.G. Curve Catherine Wheel Who Were Influenced By The Comsats' Sound. 29 Melody Maker's Review Stated "My Mind's Eye Could Easily Have Been Recorded By Ghosts Such Is The Dexterity Of The Comsat's Approach And The Haunted Nature Of Their Anguished Restraint... Every Snapping Bassline And Icebound Guitar Fragment Has A Place A Purity And A Passion That Chills... At The Heart Of Their Hurtling Hailstorm Lies Steve Fellow's Punishing Baritone. The Man Sounds Like He's Singing From A Carriage On The Soul Train To Hell All Sweat And Worry As The Songs Rage Around Him Like They've Come For A Debt." 30 RPM Also Issued The Dutch Radio Sessions Collection Unravelled Before The Final Studio Album The Glamour In 1995. The Glamour Was The First Studio Album To Feature New Members Simon Anderson & Terry Todd Who Appeared On Unravelled 31 After The Departure Of Kevin Bacon Who Was Now Concentrating On Production Work At The Band's Axis Studio In Sheffield. 32 No Singles Were Released From The Glamour And There Were Songs From These Sessions E.G. "Hyperprism" And "Evanescent" That Were Only Included On The 2007 Reissue Of The Album. Post-Breakup Activity The Comsat Angels Disbanded In Late 1995 Following UK Dates To Promote The Glamour. Steve Fellows Released An Instrumental Album Mood X His First And So Far Only Solo Release On RPM In 1997. He Also Began Managing The Band Gomez That Year After Discovering Them. 33 Currently He Is Said To Be Working On A More Traditional Song-Based Solo Album As Well As Helping The Band Little Glitches. 34 In July 2008 He Posted 5 Songs Recorded In The Mid-1990s On His Myspace Page. 35 The Rest Of The Comsat Angels Regrouped In The Late 1990s Under The New Moniker Soup With New Vocalist Peter Hope But Soon Disbanded. 36 Latter-Day Recognition The Comsat Angels' Albums Were Out Of Print For Years But British Label Renascent Records Reissued Several Of Them In 2006 And 2007 Adding Out-Takes And Other Tracks. 37 Martin Gore Of Depeche Mode Covered "Gone" On His 1989 EP Counterfeit. In 1992 Silkworm Covered "Our Secret" As The B-Side Of Their "The Chain" 7-Inch Single. Jack Rabid Publisher Of The Big Takeover Magazine Has Been One Of The Band's Biggest Supporters Since The Early 1980s. 38 39 Mark Kermode Film Critic For BBC Radio Five Live Championed The Comsat Angels When Reviewing The Ian Curtis Biopic Control Stating That Comsat Angels Were "the Band That Joy Division Should Have Been." 40 In May 2008 Kermode Interviewed British Poet Simon Armitage On BBC Two's The Culture Show And The Two Discussed Their Love Of The Band. read less