Tag: ATF

After The Fire – Batteries Not Included – 1982

While this album always lifts my spirits while I listen to it then I remember that this was it from the 80’s version of After The Fire. I’m not going on a long diatribe about why the band broke up as quite frankly I don’t think those types of reviews are fair as we weren’t in the band and we don’t know. In the end when these things happen I just prefer to say, “That’s Rock & Roll folks.” I spoke briefly with Peter about this album and he refereed to it saying “Batteries was our favourite album, despite it being short lived!”. There is some wrong information out there on this album so I will clarify. The singles were Rich Boys and Frozen Rivers and a music video was produced for Rich Boys. There is some info out there that Dancing In The Shadows was a single but it actually wasn’t, at least not in relation to this album. It was released as a single for the American release of the album Der Kommissar. The album did not do that well which is entirely baffling to me but again I just don’t agree with the choice of singles. To my 80’s DJ ears “Sometimes” is the obvious single. What do you think? Anyway love the band, love the album and luckily for us this would not be the last we heard from them, but it would take quite a few years. Album trivia…. there were versions of this album that used the album cover that would actually later be used on the U.S. release of Der Kommissar.

Tracklist
1 – Short Change – 3:19
2 – Frozen Rivers – 3:36
3 – Sometimes – 3:08
4 – Sailing Ship – 3:57
5 – I Don´t Understand Your Love – 2:53
6 – The Stranger – 2:50
7 – Rich Boys – 3:02
8 – Carry Me Home – 4:14
9 – Dancing In The Shadows – 3:02
10 – Space Walking – 3:17
11 – Gina – 1:39
12 – Stuck In Paris (Nowhere To Go) – 2:45
13 – Bright Lights – 3:36

Credits
Bass – Andy Piercy
Design [Cover] – Carlos Sapochnik
Drums – Pete King
Guitar – John Russell
Keyboards – Peter Memory Banks
Management – AMP Management
Mastered By – Reinhold Mack, Nick Webb
Mixed By [Assisted], Engineer [Assisted], Programmed By [Extra Synthesizers] – Stefan Wissnet
Photography By [Back Cover Photo] – Peter Hince
Producer, Mixed By, Engineer – Reinhold Mack

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Records
Copyright © – CBS Records
Published By – Heath Levy Music Co. Ltd.
Produced At – Musicland Studios
Mixed At – Musicland Studios
Engineered At – Musicland Studios
Mastered At – Abbey Road Studios
Pressed By – CBS, Haarlem – 01-85135

After The Fire – ATF – 1982

After The Fire has a bit of an odd story. By the time this album charted in the U.S. the band had broken up.

Interestingly the album charted in Canada quicker so the band was still together. The album is actually a “Greatest Hits” package and includes the best songs from 3 albums only released in the U.K.

Now that the history lesson is done let’s discuss the album. The album has a strong synth sound but I would describe it as a techno/new wave hybrid.

Of course we all know about the Der Kommissar cover but hey there’s other hits on this album. Checkout “Sometimes” for an upbeat fun song. The band has resurrected itself a few times with different members to tour and cut a few tracks.

Track Listing:
1 – Laser Love – 3:28
2 – One Rule For You – 3:24
3 – Dancing In The Shadows – 3:01
4 – Sometimes – 3:07
5 – Sailing Ship – 3:55
6 – Carry Me Home – 3:22
7 – Frozen Rivers – 3:33
8 – Love Will Always Make You Cry – 3:32
9 – Starflight – 3:46
10 – Der Kommissar – 5:43
11 – 1980-F – 2:32