After three remarkable records and a new label, the Comsat Angels decided to tinker with their formula. They had the critical approval, but they were intent to win public approval. Bringing in Mike Howlett (producer of Berlin, OMD, and Flock of Seagulls), the band threw caution to the wind and let him do what he pleased with the band's already commercial-leaning material. They didn't just sacrifice much of their trademark tension, atmosphere, and paranoia. Mik Glaisher's inventive drums are painfully missing in action for much of the proceedings; studio wizardry cuts up his playing for incidental use. Andy Peake's keyboards are transformed from mood mechanism to central character, which means Stephen Fellows' guitar gets lost in the shuffle. As far as synth-pop records are considered, Land is fine -- it still carries its own mood. For the high standard of such skilled musicians, enabling their work to be manipulated by outside sources results in a less-inspired record. Lodged beneath the gadgetry and shelved chemistry is a decent batch of songs, some of Fellows' most vocally melodic. The first side is solid, including a remake of their near-hit "Independence Day." The second side's "Nature Trails" matches earlier songs like "More" and "After the Rain" in gentle beauty. Truly, the only thing that sounds genuinely bad is "Mister Memory," thanks to an obstructive synth vamp that sounds like a ColecoVision video game sound effect. Connoisseur's 2001 reissue does wonders for the record, which was previously unavailable on CD. Full in sound and package, fans of the earlier records might want to consider picking it up. [It also includes a number of OK bonus tracks.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
Andy Peake (Vocals), Mike Howlett (Producer), Stephen Fellows (Guitar), Stephen Fellows (Vocals), Mik Glaisher (Drums), Andy Peake (Keyboards), Kevin Bacon (Guitar (Bass))
Land was released in 1983 on Jive Records. It was the Comsat Angels' fourth album. The album was reissued on CD with 5 b-sides as bonus tracks in 2001 for Jive's Connoisseur Collection.
The song "Independence Day," which was on their debut album, Waiting for a Miracle, was re-recorded for Land. "Will You Stay Tonight" and "Independence Day" received a reasonable amount of airplay and charted in the UK at #81 and #71 respectively. "Island Heart" was also released as a single.[1]
Land was the first of two albums for the Jive label and it was viewed as a major departure from the Comsats' first three albums. Frontman Steve Fellows looked back in a 2006 interview: "We made more commercial albums in the mid 80s because the record company wanted us to do so. We were happy to find a new label after the commercially not-so-successful first albums." He regretted the result, but their options seemed limited because of the pop music world at the time. "Indie didn’t really exist, so we had no choice. But in retrospect we should have [stuck] to our early sound."[2] Bass player Kevin Bacon put it this way: "The demos we did for Land were really good. It was a weird time for us – we felt deflated after being dropped after three albums by Polydor. Eighties pop values were rife; we didn’t naturally fit in, but were all into being popular (pop) and felt we could achieve it in a more damning way. We didn’t think Land was crap at the time, we just didn’t think it was us."[3]
