The Alarm - Mid Career

Mid Career

The band had been recording the new album from July 1983, and by the time of the Top of the Pops appearance they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a U.S. tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs.

On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise".

On 7 November, the band returned to the recording studio to finish recording the album, now titled Declaration. In December, The Alarm returned to the U.S. for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car in which the band was travelling crashed, although none of the four members was injured. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre, London.

Whilst the band had been in the U.S., Alan Shacklock and sound engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. Declaration was released by I.R.S. Records on 14 February 1984. A week later, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 6.

In November 1984, The Alarm recorded demos of nine brand new songs, including "Absolute Reality". They played their new material to the American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to Declaration. During this period Peters appeared solo at a number of events, including the Greenbelt Arts festival in Northamptonshire, playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a UK headline tour was booked for May 1985, to coincide with the release of the new album. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with The Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced I.R.S. to release the Shacklock-produced "Absolute Reality" as a single to promote the UK dates in May. "Absolute Reality" was released on 18 February 1985, entering the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart a week later. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), The Alarm began work on their follow-up album, Strength. The band teamed up with MTV, I.R.S. Records, and UCLA's Campus Events to present one of the first live satellite broadcasts from UCLA on 12 April 1986. On 12 July 1986 they played at Queen's Live at Wembley '86 concert.

Strength was another UK success, and brought them into the Top 40 of the US Billboard 200 album chart for the first time; additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a Top 40 UK hit. The Alarm took a break after the supporting tour, but returned in 1987 with Eye of the Hurricane and landed a tour slot supporting Bob Dylan. A concert EP, Electric Folklore Live, followed in 1988. They also had a hit single in the UK in 1987 with "Rain in the Summertime" (from Eye of the Hurricane), which gave them their second best placing on the UK chart.