Silent Running are a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, who emerged from the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene and were originally called The Setz, before changing musical direction in 1982. The original band members were Richard Collett (bass, born 31 March 1960), Peter Gamble (vocals, born 24 November 1960), Tony Scott (guitars) and Ian Gault (drums). Prior to signing to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, the band recruited George Beavis on keyboards. The current line up has Gary Kirby on drums and Paul Rocks on keyboards.

Career

The first single recorded, "All the King's Men"/"When the 12th of Never Comes", was a 300-copy promotional only release which led to a session for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

following interest from Peter Powell. Shortly afterwards, the band signed with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

and released the single "When the 12th of Never Comes". The band recorded tracks such as "Speed of Life" for the proposed first album, although Beavis was subsequently dismissed and replaced with Alex White. The resulting album was ''

Shades of Liberty ''Shades of Liberty'' is the debut studio album from Belfast new wave/rock band Silent Running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American environmental-themed apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic science fiction film. It is t ...

'' which received a five star review in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' headlined "Silent Classic". Singles such as "Young Hearts" and "Sticks and Stones" both failed to reach the top 40 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and the band never achieved the desired breakthrough.

''Shades of Liberty''

Background

Prior to signing to EMI, Silent Running recruited George Beavis on keyboards and together the band recorded tracks such as "Speed of Life" for their proposed first album. However, Beavis was subsequently dismissed and replaced with Alex White. The line-up then recorded ''Shades of Liberty''. Three singles were released from the album: "Emotional Warfare", "Young Hearts", and "Sticks and Stones". Despite attempts to gain commercial success, the band never achieved the desired breakthrough. "Young Hearts" was the only single to make a chart appearance in the UK, where it reached No. 92. ''Shades of Liberty'' failed to chart. Both "Young Hearts" and "Sticks and Stones" were released within the UK and Europe only, while "Emotional Warfare" was released in America and Europe. ''Shades of Liberty'' was the band's only album release for EMI. A second album for EMI was planned and the single "No Faith is Blind" preceded it in 1985. However, the limited success of the single resulted in the label cancelling the second album and dropping the band. They would sign to Atlantic Records after, where they would record two albums.

Recording

The album was recorded at both The Manor and Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, while it was mixed at The Manor and Air Studios. It was recorded during January–February 1984.

Release

The album was released by EMI Records in the UK, Europe and North America. In America and Canada, the album was titled ''Emotional Warfare'', after the leading (and only American) single. The release featured slightly different front artwork, with a black background replacing the white of the European sleeve. The back artwork on the European and North America editions are completely different. The album has not seen a CD release, except an unofficial one by the Lost 80s Record Company in 2013.

Promotion

A music video was filmed to promote the "Emotional Warfare" and "Young Hearts" singles. In 1984, the band appeared on UK TV show ''The Tube'', where they performed "Emotional Warfare" and "Sticks and Stones". On the German TV show ''Musik Convoy'', the band performed "Young Hearts".

Track listing

Critical reception

Upon release, the album received a five out of five star review in the Melody Maker magazine headlined "Silent Classic". In the American magazine ''Billboard'', ''Shades of Liberty'' was included under the 'Recommended' section of the 'Pop' albums section. The magazine described the album as " U2-style wall of sound to a disco beat."

Chart performance

Singles

''Young Hearts''

Personnel

* Peter Gamble – vocals * Tony Scott – guitar * Alex White – keyboards * Richard Collett – bass * Ian Gault – drums

Additional personnel

* Peter Walsh – producer, engineer * Jif – assistant engineer at Air * Steve Chase – assistant engineer at The Manor * Kevin Killen – assistant engineer at Windmill Lane * Design RX – The Creative Department Ltd. – sleeve artwork * Ursula Steiger – photography

EMI

The second album on EMI was prefaced with the release of the

double A-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 company ...

single "No Faith Is Blind"/"Business as Usual". Despite airplay and appearances on television shows across the musical spectrum (including ''

Cheggers Plays Pop ''Cheggers Plays Pop'' is a British children's game show broadcast on BBC1 from 10 April 1978 to 7 November 1986 hosted by Keith Chegwin Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017) was an English television presenter and actor, ap ...

''), the single only charted at No. 85 in the UK resulting in the band being dropped by EMI. This led to the situation of their second album on EMI getting cancelled before its designated release date. In a major coup, the band were subsequently picked up by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, becoming the first Irish act to join the roster of this American record label. White left in 1985 to work with

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

, resulting in the band relying on

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s such as

Adrian Lee Adrian Lee (born 9 September 1957, London, England) is an English musician, known especially for his brass instrumentation work with several well-known acts of the 1980s. Career Lee was first signed to Phonogram Records in the late 1970s as g ...

(

Mike + The Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) is an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his earlier group Genesis. The band is known for hit singl ...

Clive Gates Clive Gates (born 11 March 1956, Westminster, London) is a British musician who was the keyboardist and synthesizer player of the synthpop band New Musik from 1979 until 1982, replacing original member Nick Straker who left to form the Nick Strake ...

(

New Musik New Musik were an English synthpop group active from 1977 to 1982. Led by Tony Mansfield, they achieved success in 1980 with the top 20 single " Living by Numbers" which was followed up with the top 40 hits "This World of Water", "Sanctuary" ...

) and Ian Curnow (

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drummer), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk (Talk Talk s ...

; he was not really a stranger to the band, since he had already played keyboards on their 1983 debut single) to record the next two albums ('' Walk on Fire'' and ''

Deep Deep or The Deep may refer to: Places United States * Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia * Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah * Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania * Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), C ...

'').

''Walk on Fire''

Background

After the commercial failure of the band's 1984 debut album ''

'' and its three singles, the band were to record their second album for EMI Records. However, the 1985 single "No Faith is Blind" failed to become a commercial success. Despite massive airplay and appearances on television shows across the musical spectrum (including 'Cheggar's Plays Pop') the single resulted in the band being dropped by EMI. In a major coup the band were picked up by Atlantic Records, becoming the first British or Irish act to join the roster of this legendary American record label. A total of two singles were released from the album; "Sanctuary" and "Heartland", which both failed to make enough impact to chart, causing the band to not make the elusive breakthrough that was hoped. "Sanctuary" was released in both the UK and America. The artwork for the single used the main artwork for the album. "Heartland" was released during 1988 in the UK only although it was also released as an American promotional single. The single featured non-related artwork to the album.

Recording

The album was produced and engineered by British-Canadian producer Terry Brown, although two tracks, "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes", were produced by

Andy Richards Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is a British-Australian pianist, composer, music producer and keyboardist. The artists he has played with include Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda, Grace Jones, Rush, Annie Lenno ...

and engineered by Tony Phillips. All tracks are original, where the music was written by all four members of the band, with the lyrics being written solely by vocalist Peter Gamble. Keyboardist Alex White left in 1985 to work with

, resulting in the band relying on session musicians such as

Ian Curnow Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

(

) to record keyboards on the album.

Release

''Walk on Fire'' was released by Atlantic Records in North America, Europe and Australia. The album was made available on all streaming platforms by Warner Music on 23 July 2021.

Promotion

A music video was created for the single "Sanctuary". A European mini-poster advertisement for the album was issued for magazines.

Track listing

Critical reception

Following the commercial failure of the album, the band would work on their next album for Atlantic Records, the 1989 album ''Deep''.

Personnel

* Peter Gamble – vocals, lyrics * Tony Scott – guitar * Richard Collett – bass * Ian Gault – drums, drum programming

Additional personnel

* Terry Brown – Producer, Engineer * Andy Richards – Producer on "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes", Keyboards * Tony Phillips – Engineer on "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes" * James Reynolds – Assistant Engineer * Ren Swan – Assistant Engineer * Trevor Hallesy – Engineer * Ian Curnow – Keyboards * Clive Griffin, Helena Spriggs, Linda Taylor, Shirley Lewis,

Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961 in Ilford, Essex) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and ca ...

– Backing Vocals

''Deep''

Background

''Deep'' was the band's second album for Atlantic Records, and the third studio album, released in 1989. With the release of ''Deep'', the band toured extensively but disbanded shortly after, citing a lack of record company support. Both "Deep in the Heart of Nowhere" and "Local Hero" were released as promotional CD singles in the US.

Recording

The first four tracks of the album were produced by the band themselves with

Frankie LaRocka Frankie LaRocka (April 17, 1954 – May 12, 2005), born Frank LaRocca, was an American rock musician and producer. He was a member of Scandal, playing drums on their debut EP, and, at various stages, played the drums with Bon Jovi, David Johanse ...

and Peter Denenberg, who both engineered the album. The rest of the tracks were produced by John Eden, whilst LaRocka and Deneberg remixed the tracks produced by Eden. The album was LaRocka's first attempt at production work, where he also played drums on part of the album. Originally, LaRocka had signed the band while working in the A&R department at Atlantic Records. Drummer Ian Gault departed the band after the initial recording of ''Deep'' in 1988 and was therefore replaced by Gary Kirby. Around the same time, Paul Rocks joined the band on keyboards, and the band finished recording the ''Deep'' album in New York. Prior to Paul Rocks joining, the previous keyboardist Alex White had left the group back in 1985 to work with

, resulting in the band relying on session musicians such as

(

) and

(

New Music New music may refer to: Musical styles and movements Pre-20th century * Ars nova, musical style in 14th-century France and the Low Countries * '' Le nuove musiche'', collection of monody by Giulio Caccini * New German School, music style in late 1 ...

and Ian Curnow,

. All tracks are original, where the music was written by all three main members of the band; vocalist Peter Gamble, bassist Richard Collett and guitarist Tony Scott, discounting new members Kirby and Rocks, with the lyrics being written solely by vocalist Peter Gamble. Some tracks featured a writing credit to Gault, as they were completed before he left the group.

Release

''Deep'' was released by Atlantic Records in the United States and Europe. The album was made available on all streaming platforms by Warner Music on 23 July 2021.

Critical reception

''Glorydaze Music'' wrote, "Earlier fans of the band would've turned away after their debut, as both ''Walk on Fire'' and ''Deep'' are quite some way removed from their original direction moulded in the style of

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

and U2. On the other hand, AORsters and melodic rockers would've welcomed them with open arms."

Track listing

Personnel

* Peter Gamble – vocals, producer * Tony Scott – guitar, producer * Richard Collett – bass, Producer * Ian Gault – drums, drum Programming * Gary Kirby – drums * Paul Rocks – keyboards

Additional personnel

* John Eden – producer (tracks 5-10) * Frankie LaRocka – producer, engineer, remixer, drums * Peter Denenberg – producer, engineer, remixer * Tom Leinbach – assistant engineer (tracks 1-4) *

– keyboards *

– keyboards * Joe Bonadio – percussion * Steve Sidelnyk – percussion * Adrian Baker, Amy Fradon, Carole Godden, Leslie Ritter – backing vocals

Reunion

In January 2018, the band reunited for the first time in twenty years for a band member's wife's birthday event, augmented by Callum Collett on guitar. In March 2019, Silent Running announced a return to the stage at Belfast venue 'Voodoo' promising songs from all three albums as well as "showcasing new material". They played to a sold-out crowd on 14 June 2019 with fans flying in from England and Scotland. In August the same year, the band returned to the studio for the first time in 30 years to record a brand new track titled "Lost Boy". The song was released as a digital download in October 2019. A much anticipated second concert on 15 November 2019 sold out, with more fans flying to Belfast from Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow, Milton Keynes and Leeds. That night the band played two new songs; "Right Time, Right Place" and "Shadowland". The show was filmed and is available to watch on the band's YouTube channel. The band finally made it back onstage in Voodoo, Belfast on 29 April 2022 to a sell out crowd with Silent Running fans flying in from England, Scotland and Germany to hear them showcase the 4th album 'Follow the Light'.

Live in Voodoo, Belfast

Recording

The album was recorded live in Voodoo, Belfast and engineered by Andy Coles. The album includes live performances of songs from the band's first three albums 'Shades of Liberty', 'Walk on Fire' and 'Deep' plus the 2019 single 'Lost Boy' and a brand new song 'Shadowland'

Release

''Silent Running Live in Voodoo, Belfast'' was released as a CD and digital download in November 2020. A third concert, due to be played on 9 October 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled for 29 April 2022 at Voodoo, Belfast.

Promotion

The show was filmed and is available to watch on the band's YouTube channel.

Track listing

Personnel

* Lead Vocals, Guitar – Peter Gamble * Bass Guitar, Vocals – Richard Collett * Guitar – Tony Scott (7) * Drums, Vocals – Gary Kirby * Keyboards, Vocals – Paul Rocks

Additional personnel

* Engineer – Andrew Coles * Photography By – Bruno Tamiozzo

Digital Re-Releases

On 27 July 2021 Warner Bros made ''Walk on Fire'' and ''Deep'' available for digital download on most streaming platforms. This was then followed by a remastered version of the first album, ''Shades of Liberty''.

''Follow The Light''

Background

''Follow The Light'', the band's fourth studio album, was released by Door Records as digital download and limited edition CD through Bandcamp on 1 April 2022, as well as all streaming platforms.

Release

''Follow The Light'' was released by Door Records as digital download & limited edition CD through Bandcamp on 1 April 2022, as well all streaming platforms. The album was put on general release by Door Records on 22 July 2022.

Promotion

Music videos were created & filmed for the singles "Lost Boy", "Live Right Now" and "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams". Discussing the new album, Peter Gamble appeared on Robin Elliot's 'Tonight' program and was interviewed by Johnny Hero

Darkest Hour

The single Darkest Hour was released on 30 March 2022 as a digital download through Bandcamp in aid of the British Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal with all profits from the download going to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. A video for Darkest Hour is available on the bands YouTube channel

Track listing

Personnel

* Peter Gamble – vocals, acoustic guitar * Tony Scott – guitar, backing vocals * Richard Collett – bass guitar, backing vocals * Gary Kirby – drums, drum programming, percussion, backing vocals * Paul Rocks – Keyboards, acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Additional personnel

* Gary Aiken – Engineer

Critical reception

Powerplay Rock and Metal Magazine gave it 9/10 stating it was 'A Damned Good Album'. The Beat Magazine – 'All eleven tracks shine with the band's renewed life' Maximum Volume Music gave it 8.5/10 stating ''Follow The Light' is a cracker and it felt like Silent Running have never been away.' Redguitarmusic.com – 'Follow The Light' is an excellent record. The Midlands Rocks – 'a career-defining album in the shape of ''Follow The Light Get Ready To Rock website – 'It's not often you can say that a rock album has heart and soul. This one does.'

Tours

Silent Running supported

John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...

in 1983,

on their UK tour in early 1984, and also toured with Robert Palmer and

. During September 1984, they performed live on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

music show '' The Tube''. The band toured the UK during late 1985 and played live on

for the Radiothon appeal at the Birmingham Powerhouse. Later in the 80's they would tour alongside Little Steven (

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

) and Welsh rockers The Alarm. In August 2022 the band once again supported

after 38 years at Custom House Square Belfast.

Discography

Studio and live albums

*''

'' (1984; EMI) *'' Walk on Fire'' (1987; Atlantic) *''

'' (1989; Atlantic) *''Live in Voodoo, Belfast'' (2020; Door Records) *''

Follow the Light Follow the Light may refer to: * ''Follow the Light'' (Bad Boys Blue album), 1999 * ''Follow the Light'' (Molly Nilsson album), 2010 See also * ''Follow the Lights ''Follow the Lights'' (released in the UK as ''Everybody Knows'') is an EP b ...

'' (2022; Door Records)

Singles

*1983 "When the 12th of Never Comes" – UK No. 83 *1984 "Young Hearts" – UK No. 92 *1984 "Sticks and Stones" *1985 "No Faith Is Blind" – UK No. 85 *1987 "Sanctuary" *1988 "Heartland" *2019 "Lost Boy" *2020 "Live Right now" *2022 "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" *2022 "Darkest Hour" *2023 "Walking Wounded" *2023 "Faith Healer"

References

{{Reflist

External links

Silent Running WebsiteSilent Running YouTube ChannelSilent Running TwitterSilent Running InstagramSilent Running Bandcamp PageSilent Running Facebook Page
1984 debut albums Silent Running (band) albums EMI Records albums Albums produced by Peter Walsh 1987 albums Albums produced by Terry Brown (record producer) Atlantic Records albums 1989 albums Musical groups from Belfast New wave musical groups from Northern Ireland Alternative rock groups from Northern Ireland Parlophone artists Atlantic Records artists