''The Comforts of Madness'' is the debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by English
alternative rock band
Pale Saints. It was released on 12 February 1990 by
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...
.
''The Comforts of Madness'' peaked at number 40 on the
UK Albums Chart.
On 17 January 2020, 4AD released a
remaster
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
ed and expanded reissue of the album for its 30th anniversary.
Critical reception
Reviewing ''The Comforts of Madness'' for ''
NME'', Simon Williams praised the album as an "unnervingly multi-dimensional collage of melody and friction" with "at least eight Great Pop Tunes, all hooklines and absolutely no stinkers."
The magazine later named it the 45th best album of 1990.
In 2016, ''
Pitchfork'' ranked ''The Comforts of Madness'' at number 21 on its list of the 50 best
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
albums of all time.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
* Pale Saints (Chris Cooper,
Ian Masters, and Graeme Naysmith) – all instruments
Production
* Al Clay –
engineering (tracks 4, 6–8, 11)
* Tim Davis – engineering assistance (tracks 4, 6–8, 11)
*
John Fryer John Fryer may refer to:
*John Fryer (physician) (died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer
*John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician
*John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor
*Sir John ...
–
production (tracks 1–3, 5, 9, 10), engineering (tracks 1–3, 5, 9, 10)
*
Gil Norton – production (tracks 4, 6–8, 11)
Design
* Chris Bigg –
art direction
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...
assistance, design assistance
* Bleddyn Butcher – group photography
*
Vaughan Oliver – art direction, design
* Sarah Tucker – cat photography
Charts
References
External links
*
1990 debut albums
Pale Saints albums
Albums produced by John Fryer (producer)
Albums produced by Gil Norton
4AD albums
{{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub