| Waiting for a Miracle | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 September 1980 | |||
| Recorded | January 1980 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 37:31 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | Peter Wilson and the Comsat Angels | |||
| The Comsat Angels chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Waiting for a Miracle | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Smash Hits | 7/10 [2] |
| Stylus | A [3] |
Waiting for a Miracle is the debut album by the Comsat Angels, released on 5 September 1980 on Polydor Records.
The entire album was recorded in 10 days. Frontman Stephen Fellows explained how they were able to accomplish this: "We were totally organised. Arrangements, tempos and all the lyrics were sorted out before we went in." [4] But he wasn't quite happy with everything, and in a 2002 interview, said, "The thing that bugs me most about the [early] records is my singing, particularly on the first album. I wish I'd sung more before we made that." [5] The cover photograph was taken by Martyn Goddard at Sheffield Parkway, Sheffield. [6]
Although the album's sales were mediocre, it was well received by critics. [7]
The album was not issued on CD until 15 years after its initial vinyl release. It has been reissued on CD three times, in 1995 by RPM Records, in 2006 by Renascent and in 2015 by Edsel Records, [8] with different track listings (see below). Two singles were taken from Waiting for a Miracle: "Total War" and "Independence Day" (the latter released on July 4). [4]
All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake
CD 1
Bonus Tracks
CD 2
John Peel Sessions
Everything but the Girl are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer, songwriter, composer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer, producer and singer Ben Watt. The group's early works have been categorized as sophisti-pop with jazz influences before undergoing an electronic turn following the worldwide success of the 1994 hit single "Missing", remixed by Todd Terry.
Keri Kelli is an American guitarist who has played with artists and groups including Alice Cooper, Slash, Jani Lane, Vince Neil and John Waite. In March 2013 he formed Project Rock together with James Kottak from the Scorpions. Project Rock consisted of Keri Kelli, James Kottak, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Rudy Sarzo & Teddy Zig-Zag. Kelli is currently in the band Night Ranger.
It Couldn't Happen Here is a 1988 musical film starring the British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys and based on the music from their first two studio albums Please and Actually. It was originally conceived as an hour-long video based on Actually, but it evolved into a surreal full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond and co-starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland, Neil Dickson and Gareth Hunt.
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 of heartache". They have been credited as being an influence on later post-punk revival bands such as Blacklist, Bell Hollow, Editors and Interpol.
Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Gene Clark. Released in January 1967 on Columbia Records, the album was his first effort after his departure from the folk-rock group the Byrds in 1966. The music is a unique mixture of pop, country rock and baroque psychedelic tracks, which received favorable reviews and reinforced Clark's stature as a talented singer-songwriter. Unfortunately for Clark, it was released almost simultaneously with the Byrds' Younger Than Yesterday, also on Columbia, and partly because of his 18-month absence from public attention was a commercial failure.
"California Feelin'" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Stephen Kalinich that was recorded by the Beach Boys in the 1970s. Wilson recorded a solo version in 2002 for the Beach Boys compilation Classics Selected by Brian Wilson. Wilson’s bandmate Al Jardine later recorded his own version for his debut solo album A Postcard from California. Two composite versions of the Beach Boys' original recordings – one complete and the other a piano/vocal demo – were included on the 2013 compilation Made in California.
Sleep No More is the Comsat Angels' second album, released 21 August 1981 on Polydor Records. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece that had a major influence on bands such as U2 and later groups such as Editors and Interpol. The album has been reissued on CD three times, in 1995 by RPM Records, in 2006 by Renascent and in 2015 by Edsel Records, with different track listings. Sleep No More produced no singles, but it had the highest UK chart ranking for any Comsats album, peaking at No. 51.
Fiction is the Comsat Angels' third album, released in August 1982 on Polydor Records. The album has been reissued on CD three times: in 1995 by RPM Records, in 2006 by Renascent and in 2015 by Edsel Records, with different track listings. The album peaked at No. 94 in the UK charts in September 1982.
Land is the Comsat Angels' fourth album, released in September 1983 on Jive Records. The album was reissued on CD in 2001 with five B-sides as bonus tracks for Jive's "Connoisseur Collection".
7 Day Weekend is the Comsat Angels' fifth album, released in 1985 on Jive Records. The album was reissued on CD with bonus tracks in 2001 for Jive's "Connoisseur Collection".
Chasing Shadows is the Comsat Angels' sixth album, released in 1986 on Island Records.
Fire on the Moon is the Comsat Angels' seventh album, released in 1990 on Island Records. It was issued under the alias Dream Command, and in limited quantities in the United States and the Netherlands only. A promo-only single of "Celestine" was released in similarly small quantities.
"Mickey's Monkey" is a 1963 song recorded by the R&B group the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. It was written and produced by Motown's main songwriting team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, who later went on to write two more Miracles hit singles, the Top 40 "I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying", and the Top 20 "(Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need". This was an unusual writing situation for the Miracles, as most of their songs were composed by the group members themselves.
The Glamour is the ninth and final album by the Comsat Angels, released in 1995 on RPM Records and on Caroline Records in the US. In 2007, Renascent reissued the album as a double CD with seven additional tracks.
Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones – The BBC Sessions 1979-1984, a compilation album by the Comsat Angels, was released in 1992 by BBC Music and reissued by Renascent in 2006. The name of the album was taken from the award-winning science fiction short story of the same name by Samuel R. Delany.
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 some of the earliest years of the band and included the entire "Red Planet" three-track single, the Comsat Angels' first record. The second disc contains demo versions of songs from later albums, plus three finished tracks from the album Fire on the Moon.
"Do It Baby" (TS334), was a 1974 R&B album by The Miracles issued on Motown's Tamla subsidiary label. It was noted as the second album by the group featuring new lead singer Billy Griffin, after the departure of original Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson two years earlier. This was the first-ever Miracles album which had absolutely no creative input from Robinson whatsoever. While the group's first album with Griffin, Renaissance, was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, "Do It Baby" was much more successful, reaching No. 41 on the Billboard pop albums chart and No. 4 of the Billboard R&B albums chart.
Peter Wilson is a British record producer. Amongst several others, Wilson worked with the Style Council, Sham 69 and the Comsat Angels.
Renascent is an unblack metal band that originated in Helsinki, Finland, and the core of the band now currently reside in Bloomington, Indiana. The band has released an EP titled, Demon's Quest in 2004 and a full length titled Through Darkness in 2005. The band released their sophomore album, Praise of the Lord God Almighty, on 5 November 2016. The band is openly Christian. The band has been compared to Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child.
Toyah Solo is a compilation box set by British singer Toyah Willcox, consisting of seven CDs and a DVD, released on Edsel Records in 2020.
