Fiction was released in 1982 on Polydor Records. It was The Comsat Angels' third 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 ,...

 twice, in 1995 by RPM Records and in 2006 by Renascent, with different track listings (see below). The album peaked at #94 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...

 charts in September 1982.

Fiction was less gloomy than the Comsats' previous album, Sleep No More. 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....

 said of the change: "I certainly didn't want to make another record as intense as Sleep No More — at least not immediately. Sleep No More was so dark that I felt it skewed things a bit — possibly even mentally for me. I just felt if we carried on in that direction it'd lead to madness or maybe even something worse."

Fellows felt satisfied with many of the songs on Fiction, including "What Else!?," "Pictures," and "After The Rain." He did feel the album as a whole could have been better. "We were a bit short of tunes when we recorded it," he said. "We were touring quite a bit after Sleep No More and there wasn't as much time to write as I would have liked."

Track listing (1982)

All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake

1. After the Rain
2. Zinger
3. Now I Know
4. Not a Word
5. Ju Ju Money
6. More
7. Pictures
8. Birdman
9. Don't Look Now
10. What Else!?

Track listing (1995)

All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake

1. After the Rain
2. Zinger
3. Now I Know
4. Not a Word
5. Ju Ju Money
6. More
7. Pictures
8. Birdman
9. Don't Look Now
10. What Else!?
11. It's History
12. After the Rain (remix)
13. Private Party
14. Mass

Track listing (2006)

All tracks written by Fellows/Glaisher/Bacon/Peake

1. After the Rain
2. Zinger
3. Now I Know
4. Not a Word
5. Ju Ju Money
6. More
7. Pictures
8. Birdman
9. Don't Look Now
10. What Else!?
11. (Do the) Empty House
12. Red Planet Revisited
13. It's History
14. Private Party
15. For Your Information
16. After The Rain (remix)
17. (Do The) Empty House (live)
18. What Else!? (live)

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 ....