Waiting for a Miracle

Infobox Album
Name = Waiting for a Miracle
Type = studio
Longtype =
Artist = Comsat Angels


Released = September 5, 1980
Recorded = January 1980
Genre = Post-punk
Length = 37:31 (LP)
Label = Polydor
Producer = Peter Wilson and the Comsat Angels
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:i9s9kett7q7b link]
Last album =
This album = "Waiting for a Miracle" (1980)
Next album = "Sleep No More" (1981)

"Waiting for a Miracle" is the debut album by the Comsat Angels, released in September 1980 on Polydor Records. The album was reissued on CD twice, in 1995 by RPM records and in 2006 by Renascent, with different track listings (see below). Two singles were taken from "Waiting for a Miracle": "Total War" and "Independence Day," which was released on July 4th. [Sleeve notes from Renascent re-issue of "Waiting for a Miracle"]

The entire album was recorded in just ten days. Frontman Steve Fellows told how they were able to accomplish it. "We were totally organised. Arrangements, tempos and all the lyrics were sorted out before we went in." [Sleeve notes from Renascent re-issue of "Waiting for a Miracle"] But he wasn't quite happy with everything. In a 2002 interview, he 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." [Step Off, interviews, Stephen Fellows Q & A Session May 2002 [http://www.comsatangels.net/] ]

Although "Waiting for a Miracle" had mediocre sales, it has been well-received by the critics. Trouser Press has this to say, "Firm beats play against melancholy melodies and hushed vocals to create the impression of eavesdropping on someone's inner turmoil...." They went on to say that the album was "hailed in one UK paper as the greatest debut LP of all time, it remains a stunning masterwork...." [Trouser Press article [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=comsat_angels] ]

Track listing (1980)

"All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake"
#"Missing in Action"
#"Baby"
#"Independence Day"
#"Waiting for a Miracle"
#"Total War"
#"On the Beach"
#"Monkey Pilot"
#"Real Story"
#"Map of the World"
#"Postcard"

Track listing (1995)

"All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake"
#"Missing in Action"
#"Baby"
#"Independence Day"
#"Waiting for a Miracle"
#"Total War"
#"On the Beach"
#"Monkey Pilot"
#"Real Story"
#"Map of the World"
#"Postcard"
#"Home Is the Range"
#"We Were"
#"Ju Ju Money"

Track listing (2006)

"All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake"
#"Missing in Action"
#"Baby"
#"Independence Day"
#"Waiting for a Miracle"
#"Total War"
#"On the Beach"
#"Monkey Pilot"
#"Real Story"
#"Map of the World"
#"Postcard"
#"Home Is the Range"
#"We Were"
#"Ju Ju Money"
#"Work"
#"Independence Day" (demo)
#"Real Story" (demo)
#"Target Talk" (demo)
#"Living In" (demo)

Personnel

*Stephen Fellows - vocals, guitar
*Andy Peake - synthesizer, vocals
*Kevin Bacon - bass guitar
*Mik Glaisher - drums

References