Sleep No More (The Comsat Angels album)
| Sleep No More | ||||
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| Studio album by The Comsat Angels | ||||
| Released | August 21, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | March 1981 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 38:19 (LP) | |||
| Label | Polydor, RPM Records, Renascent, Edsel Records | |||
| Producer | Peter Wilson, the Comsat Angels | |||
| The Comsat Angels chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Smash Hits | 8/10 |
| Stylus | A+ |
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 (who toured with the band) 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 (see below). Sleep No More produced no singles, but it had the highest UK chart ranking for any Comsats album, peaking at No. 51.
After the rushed production of the first album, Waiting for a Miracle, the band was able to put a lot more craft into Sleep No More. Frontman Stephen Fellows described how they achieved a resonant sound on a couple of the tracks: "Pete Wilson suggested taking the drums out of the studio – on the fourth floor at Polydor – and putting them near the lift-shaft (elevator shaft) by the stairs. We then put microphones on the three floors above and below....Obviously we were only able to do this sort of thing in the evening when the offices were closed!"
Fellows felt the album Sleep No More had a unique quality among the band's work: "The only [album] which had a 'thread' through it was Sleep No More, the 'thread' was the sound we wanted to get." Critics recognized it as a great follow-up to Waiting for a Miracle. AllMusic later said, "Sleep No More is certainly more powerful, and it's also a greater achievement. Here The Comsat Angels became one of the era's exceptional bands." In a 1981 review, Mark Cooper of Sounds wrote that it was "an album that is head and shoulders above anything else recorded this year", while Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover summed up the album by saying, "I think Sleep No More is one of the greatest pieces of music ever released!"
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