laser love

A year after signing with them, ATF's first album for CBS, Laser Love, was released to the world on 21st September, and was given fairly substantial promotion. As well as the UK, the album was scheduled for release in the US, Japan, Australia, Germany, Holland, Sweden, and several other countries, and was available in vinyl and cassette formats.

CBS 83795

The cassette of the album differed in having the positioning of Check It Out and Suspended Animation transposed - presumably in an attempt to even up the playing length of each side. Clearly, however, it showed that CBS were not too concerned about any artistic concerns with regards to sequencing the tracks in a carefully considered manner. Small evidence, perhaps, of the problems that were to come. Certainly, to some, the record appeared to lack cohesion, and seemed to be a collection of potential hit singles, rather than a carefully planned musical statement. The vinyl running order was:

side one
Laser Love
Joy
Take Me Higher
Life In The City
Suspended Animation

side two
Like The Power Of A Jet
One Rule For You
Time To Think
Timestar
Check It Out?

The new album by Writz (ex-Fish Co) was also released in September, adding to the 'new wave' of Christian music, soon to be joined by releases from the Bill Mason Band, and Giantkiller.

In the October edition of Buzz, published as it was, a couple of weeks before the beginning of the month, CBS placed a full page ad promoting the new album with the words 'Laser Love. Let It burn right through you...' The band's session for BBC2's Old Grey Whistle Test, was transmitted on 9th October.

In the November edition of Buzz, Piercy's critical review of the How The West Was One album backfired on him, as three letters were published from irate readers, unhappy with the 'hypocritical' tone of his review. Comparison's were made with Piercy's own complaints about the snide press coverage that had lead to the writing of One Rule For You. In the same issue, however, Steve Spicer gave Laser Love his complete approval, considering it to be one of the most significant albums ever produced by the Christian culture. He wrote:

"It is usually easy to class an album after the first spin. If it is good, then 'it's got a secular potential.' And if it's the average standard then it is 'a meaningful, spiritual work.' Laser Love disrupts this brainless method of thinking. After The Fire have produced what is surely one of the most significant albums from our culture. It also happens to be one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. Anywhere."

He continued:

"Most of the tracks will be known by established punters. Those coming to it fresh will find a robust selection of material - with a lot more drive than the traditional Christian fare."

"The lyrics throughout are not the obvious, boring, blatant rubbish that too many Christian bands apologise with. After The Fire are not a bunch of singing vicars. Neither have they sold out to CBS and the world by producing an album which is totally devoid of spiritual meaning."

"The lyrics are in many cases ambiguous. Is Laser Love about Christ or a girlfriend? Whether this is intentional or not I wouldn't like to say. But it is a feeling that runs through the entire album."

"After The Fire are well balanced on their tight-rope. I don't usually wax strong in reviews - but it is rare that an album comes along with such good pedigree. It reflects the best in Christian music and must surely set the pace for a long time to come."

Whatever the band felt about being treated as a 'group of individuals who happen to be Christians', the Christians were not willing to let go of them quite that easily. As the reviewer showed, After The Fire were the great cross-over hope for the coming new decade, and carried the aspirations of many who wanted to see Christian music filling up the secular charts. They had identified with them, and claimed all the band's success as their own. Consequently, and more than one might have expected for a 'normal' band, ATF found the lyrical content of their songs coming under very close scrutiny, as they were searched for hidden meaning, and spiritual insight. There was a suspicion that CBS would bully them into toning down the religious content of their songs, to make the band more palatable to a secular audience. Yet in fact, the band's distancing of themselves from the Christian sub-culture was not at all at the insistence of CBS - as many assumed - but reflected a desire on the part of the band to succeed by their own merits, and not by the disproportionate support of the Christian fan-base.

The irony was, that CBS would have been quite happy if ATF had promoted their Christian image a lot more, as this would have made them a much more interesting product to market. But they did not want to be a novelty act, and so the perceived ambiguity in their music was another factor that would haunt them later. After The Fire were pioneers, and the Christians had followed them into a new and frightening world. Both had much to learn.

Part of this learning process began in an article in the same issue of Buzz. Under the title Gospel Rock Breaks Out, it featured prominent photos of ATF and Writz, as writer Les Bruce attempted to catalogue the explosion of interest in Christian music that had occured during the previous year, and prepared for the 80's.

Piercy's Lost & Found cartoon strip continued.

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