Prayers on Fire
| Prayers on Fire | ||||
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| Studio album by The Birthday Party | ||||
| Released | 6 April 1981 | |||
| Recorded | December 1980 – January 1981 | |||
| Studio | A.A.V. Studio 2 and Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 42:06 | |||
| Label | Missing Link | |||
| Producer | Tony Cohen, The Birthday Party | |||
| The Birthday Party chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   |
| Allmusic | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | (9/10) |
Prayers on Fire is the debut studio album by Australian rock group The Birthday Party, which was released on 6 April 1981 on the Missing Link label in Australia, later licensed to the 4AD label. This was the band's first full-length release on an international record label and the first after changing the group's name from Boys Next Door to The Birthday Party. It was recorded at Armstrong's Audio Visual Studios in Melbourne and Richmond Recorders in the nearby suburb of Richmond, between December 1980 and January 1981.
Prayers on Fire is the debut album by Australian post-punk rock group The Birthday Party. In February 1980 Melbourne-based new wave group, The Boys Next Door, changed their name to The Birthday Party. They consisted of Phill Calvert on drums, Nick Cave on vocals, Mick Harvey on guitar, Rowland S. Howard on guitar and Tracy Pew on bass guitar. They relocated to London and soon signed with the 4AD label which issued the extended play, The Friend Catcher in the United Kingdom. In July, their Australian label, Missing Link Records, released "Mr Clarinet" from the EP as a single. In November Missing Link followed with a compilation album, The Birthday Party under the band names The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party, which combined previously issued EP and singles tracks with some previously unreleased material.
Also in November 1980, The Birthday Party returned to Australia and toured. According to Australian music historian, Ian McFarlane, "It was during this time that the band cemented its reputation as a peerless live act, with its omnipresent influence settling over the Melbourne scene". On 6 April 1981 they issued the album and followed in June with its lead single, "Nick the Stripper". The group returned to London. The track "Ho-Ho" is featured in the 2004 German film, Head-On.
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