Land was released in 1983 on Jive Records. It was The Comsat Angels' fourth album. The album was reissued on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 with 5 b-sides

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 as bonus tracks in 2001 for Jive's Connoisseur Collection.

The song "Independence Day," which was on their debut album, Waiting for a Miracle

Waiting for a Miracle

Waiting for a Miracle is the debut album by The Comsat Angels, released in September 1980 on Polydor Records. The album was reissued on CD twice, in 1995 by RPM records and in 2006 by Renascent, with different track listings...

, was re-recorded for Land. "Will You Stay Tonight" and "Independence Day" received a reasonable amount of airplay and charted in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 at #81 and #71 respectively. "Island Heart" was also released as a single.

Land was the first of two albums for the Jive label and it was viewed as a major departure from the Comsats' first three albums. Frontman Steve Fellows

Stephen Fellows

Stephen Fellows is a singer, songwriter and musician. From 1978-1995, he was frontman for the band the Comsat Angels. He has also been manager for the band Gomez and has helped guide the band the Little Glitches....

 looked back in a 2006 interview: "We made more commercial albums in the mid 80s because the record company wanted us to do so. We were happy to find a new label after the commercially not-so-successful first albums." He regretted the result, but their options seemed limited because of the pop music world at the time. "Indie

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 didn’t really exist, so we had no choice. But in retrospect we should have [stuck] to our early sound." Bass player Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon (producer)

Kevin Bacon is a British musician and record producer best known for his work with fellow brit Jonathan Quarmby under the moniker 'Bacon & Quarmby', as well as being bass player in his band The Comsat Angels....

 put it this way: "The demos we did for Land were really good. It was a weird time for us – we felt deflated after being dropped after three albums by Polydor. Eighties pop values were rife; we didn’t naturally fit in, but were all into being popular (pop) and felt we could achieve it in a more damning way. We didn’t think Land was crap at the time, we just didn’t think it was us."

Track listing 1983

All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake

1. "Will You Stay Tonight?" – 4:21
2. "Alicia (Can Your Hear Me?)" – 3:54
3. "A World Away" – 5:11
4. "Independence Day (re-recording)" – 3:50
5. "Nature Trails" – 4:55
6. "Mister Memory" – 5:18
7. "Island Heart" – 3:54
8. "I Know That Feeling" – 5:20
9. "As Above So Below" – 5:39

Track listing 2001

All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake

1. "Will You Stay Tonight?" – 4:21
2. "Alicia (Can Your Hear Me?)" – 3:54
3. "A World Away" – 5:11
4. "Independence Day (re-recording)" – 3:50
5. "Nature Trails" – 4:55
6. "Mister Memory" – 5:18
7. "Island Heart" – 3:54
8. "I Know That Feeling" – 5:20
9. "As Above So Below" – 5:39
10. "A World Away (dub)" – 4:57
11. "Shining Hour" – 4:29
12. "Island Heart (dub)" – 6:00
13. "Scissors And The Stone" – 4:31
14. "Intelligence"* – 4:32

Personnel

• Stephen Fellows
  Stephen Fellows
  Stephen Fellows is a singer, songwriter and musician. From 1978-1995, he was frontman for the band the Comsat Angels. He has also been manager for the band Gomez and has helped guide the band the Little Glitches....
  
   - vocals, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Andy Peake - synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , vocals
• Kevin Bacon
  Kevin Bacon (producer)
  Kevin Bacon is a British musician and record producer best known for his work with fellow brit Jonathan Quarmby under the moniker 'Bacon & Quarmby', as well as being bass player in his band The Comsat Angels....
  
   - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Mik Glaisher - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....