After the Fire - Bright Lights 1974-198

PV002

I first encountered After The Fire in the mid 1970’s when they released their seminal self-released LP Signs Of  Change by mail order.  They were appearing at a Church related venue in Birmingham sadly it was oversubscribed so I was unable to get in, fast forward a few later years to a festival called Greenbelt where they headlined the Friday evening this was in 1979 if I recall correctly again for reasons I can remember I could see them then either, Although I could hear them.

I finally rectified that in 1981 when I saw ATF as there were by then at the Odeon in Birmingham and they were unsurprisingly excellent. Showcasing material from the 1980f album heavily featured along with many songs from the laser Love album (Always a favourite for me! )

Good news then is that this fine box set includes pretty much everything that After The Fire ever released or recorded, you get the Signs of change album, an album of pre cbs laser love tracks, Laser love itself, 1980f, Batteries not included and the attempted follow up AT2F post cbs era, Along with other live and alternative versions in total of 97 tracks over 6cds in a neat clamshell box , With a very informative booklet to complete this great set.

For me the highlight is actually the second cd of tracks recorded at Powergate studios prior to their cbs career starting, you get 9 of the tracks that became the laser love album, 3 earlier tracks and three unreleased tracks. All performed superbly and with some oomph this is a band hungry for success.

After The Fire had an uphill road to mainstream success in that they had to seek a balance in satisfying both their ardent Christian following and also being accessible to unbelievers, Which often left them in à difficult quandary as the fervent Christian element had a different idea of how After The Fire should behave and be marketed by their Record company (CBS ).

This was an ongoing issue for the band and one they never managed to successfully resolve fully, This meant that after 1980F it was a law of diminishing returns for the band with their final cbs album Batteries Not Included was not the success that it should have been.

The final album in this set, AT2F (Post CBS) showed great promise but was left languishing in the vaults after failure to secure a new label left the album languishing in the vaults until being released in 2006 by angel Air By which time the band had folded and moved onto other ventures, occasionally reforming for special events.

All in all one of the better sets released this year from a band who walked a difficult line with courage and dignity. One in which can you can see a Retrogression from their very classic Prog sounding debut Signs Of Change to a more almost new wave style pop with less emphasis on Progressive leanings and sounds.

Special mention should be made of the phenomenal keyboards of Peter “Memory” Banks and the very upfront Bass work of Andy Piercy especially on the song Suspended Animation and indeed pretty much everywhere else. One I will return to often.

Info here: www.afterthefire.com