Album Details

• Artist: Comsat Angels
• Album: Seven Day Weekend
• Label: Jive
• Year of Release: 1985
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: charlesmartel on 2012-02-10

Because of this, to my mind they were not a patch on the Chameleons or Fischer-Z. Now, some of you who know them better will say, 'well what do you expect, you are rating one of their weakest albums.' Maybe, but even so, I cannot get my head round this. It seems almost completely shorn of what made post punk so inspiring, and the message which is so important in many post punk classics only comes through occasionally - the title track and album name itself is about unemployment for instance. Other than that, this is simply nothing more than pop music.

To me, the Comsat Angels tried to bridge the gap between post punk and the new romantics. I am not entirely convinced that was the band's desire, but it certainly was their record company's. It may be that they never achieved post punk greatness because of their record label, Jive's insistence that they aim for top-20 hits. I will be generous, and accept that response even though I feel it is only half true. In later years, Stephen Fellowes would admit that the band went along with this idea. Courageous to admit it, and even more courageous to add that it had been a huge mistake.

But the band does not stand comparison to the greats among their contemporaries. They were not as haunting as the Chameleons; they were not as political as Fischer-Z; they did not have the distance, the isolation (that is the only word I can use to describe it) of the early Cure or early B-Movie or Modern Eon. They were almost a pop band. I am aware that they hated the tag as well but found it hard to live down. What must have been particularly galling was that, having gone down this route, they found that the pop success enjoyed by bands like Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran still eluded them. The reason for that is pretty clear on this album. This is a set of rather weak and uninspiring songs which generally lack strong melodies and catchy hooks which are so essential for pop success.

There are some good tracks on this album though, "Day One" is perhaps my favourite. But the more I listen to this, the more difficult I find it to listen to. There is promise there, huge promise. This was a band who could have delivered. Going down the pop route denied them that status. I do not have either of their first two albums so if there is a way I can obtain these I would like to know. I am told that those albums are better, and show the band as true post punks. That I would like to hear. I also know that when they finally came out with My Mind's Eye in the early 1990's they had finally come out with an album which did them justice. Now that is an album worth hearing.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2011-06-12 CharlesMartel Said:

Perhaps the most overlooked of all post punk outfits, "7 Day Weekend" epitomised why. The record company wanted new romantics and came close to getting their way here. Some good songs, but rather messed up due to cack-handed production.
Rating: 6/10