''Chasing Shadows'' is the Comsat Angels' sixth album, released in 1986 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. Having left

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

, the band had gotten a recording contract with Island, aided by Robert Palmer, who confessed on a TV show to be a fan of the Comsat Angels. As a thank you, he was credited as "executive producer" on the album, and also provided vocals for the song "You'll Never Know." The track "The Cutting Edge" was released as a single, with "Something's Got to Give" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The latter song was not included on the album, but later appeared as a demo track on the 2007 release ''

To Before ''To Before'' is a double album of Comsat Angels demos and outtakes, released on CD by Renascent in 2007. The selected tracks covered the years 1978 to 1993 and were salvaged from old cassette tapes, DATs and bootlegs. The first disc documented ...

''. The original version appeared on the 2015 reissue of ''Chasing Shadows''. ''Chasing Shadows'' was regarded by the band as a departure from their two prior albums, '' Land'' and '' 7 Day Weekend'', which were produced by

. During a 1997 interview, frontman Stephen Fellows agreed with a suggestion that ''Chasing Shadows'' displayed his best vocal performance, adding: "I liked Rockfield, where we recorded ''Chasing Shadows'' cos it was very informal. We played mostly live, with vocals added later. '' Sleep No More'' was done live – the feel, capturing the moment. Obviously the Jive albums weren't done like that – assembled by machines in another room while we watched television and ate fruit".Step Off, interviews, Stephen Fellows interviewed by Tony Kinson 13/3/9

/ref> ''Chasing Shadows'' was reissued by Edsel Records in November 2015 as part of a two-CD set which also included the 1990 album '' Fire on the Moon (Dream Command album), Fire on the Moon'', which was recorded by the band using the name

Dream Command The Comsat Angels were an English post-punk band from Sheffield, England, initially active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with sparse instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form ...

Track listing

''All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake.'' # "The Thought That Counts" – 6:03 # "The Cutting Edge" – 5:06 # "Under the Influence" – 4:22 # "Carried Away" – 5:05 # "You'll Never Know" – 4:57 # "Lost Continent" – 5:01 # "Flying Dreams" – 5:45 # "Pray for Rain" – 5:01 # "Something's Got to Give" (2015 edition bonus track)

Personnel

;The Comsat Angels * Stephen Fellows - vocals, guitar * Andy Peake -

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, vocals * Kevin Bacon - bass guitar * Mik Glaisher -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

with: * Robert Palmer - executive producer; vocals on "You'll Never Know" * Rob Fraboni - post-production, mixing

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums The Comsat Angels albums Albums produced by Rob Fraboni Island Records albums