AT2F

Description

AT2F is an album by the British new wave band After The Fire, independently released on Angel Air Records in November 2006, though recorded back in 1982.

1982 was to prove one of After The Fire’s busiest years since signing to CBS Records in 1978. With three major support tours with ELO and Queen in Europe and a mammoth trek around the US and Canada opening for Van Halen it is extraordinary that not only did they record and mix their worldwide hit “Der Kommissar” in between all this “hectivity”, they also booked ICC Studio 2 in Eastbourne, England to lay down ideas for their next album AT2F. However the band split up in 1983 and the album was never released – until now.

In the late ’70s and early ’80s After The Fire were signed to CBS Records and recorded three albums for the label. Unfortunately after a couple of minor hits in 1979, they struggled to find further chart placings. In 1982 after their version of ‘Der Kommissar’ failed to hit the British top 40, the band took a break from touring to record these demos for what would be their next album. However, the band split at the end of ’82 so ‘AT2F’ was never recorded properly. This album is a work in progress with rough demos rather than the hi-tech production associated with their albums. At the heart of the problems was After The Fire’s musical direction with keyboardist Pete Banks interested in capitalising on the experimental synth sounds of the band (it was the ’80s after all!) whilst singer Andy Piercy wanted to take things into a more Springsteenesque direction. The upshot is a mixed bag that leaves a lot of what ifs? hanging in the air. The opening «Young Love» is catchy enough and I love the vocal interplay between Piercy and Banks on «Step By Step». Always known for their instrumentals, «1984-F» is an update of the popular «1980F» and «Cariba» highlights what a great synth player Pete Banks was/is. A lot of this material has a brooding feel and the overall recording is less upbeat and positive than previous recordings, perhaps reflecting the band’s exhausted state of mind. Interestingly you get a version of Leiber & Stoller’s «Stand By Me» which the band had recorded as a potential single but were unhappy with the results. Overall, if you bear in mind that this is simply an interesting curio with patchy sound quality, it’ll appeal to established fans of the band who wondered what might have happened next. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, November 2006]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/at2f/1685945388)

CD tracklist:

01. Young Love – 3:56
02. Step By Step – 3:32
03. Don’t Say Goodbye – 3:57
04. Cariba – 3:03
05. Who Do You Think You? – 2:54
06. Dark Side – 5:05
07. 1984-F – 2:02
08. Over and Over – 4:12
09. It’s Over – 4:04
10. Night Is Still Falling – 4:36
Bonus Tracks:
11. It’s Over (No Voiceover) – 4:04
12. Genz – 3:09
13. Space Walking (Demo) – 4:33
14. Stand By Me (Demo) – 4:35

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1982 proved to be an incredibly busy year for After The Fire! As well as UK and European dates as a headline band we also went out on 3 major tours supporting ELO, Queen and Van Halen. In addition we recorded “Der Kommissar” and a new version of “Starflight” as well demoing new songs for our next album. Sadly the latter never materialised as we fell apart as a band. With a bit of tweaking and lashings of reverb this collection eventually saw the light of day on 2006 on Angel Air Records, as AT2F.