In May 1981 they released the album considered by many to be their best work, Quasimodo's Dream, which saw the band displaying an impressive maturity in song writing, backed with strong performances, inventive arrangements and top-class production. The album's title track, "Quasimodo's Dream", was released as a single and, although widely considered to be one of the best Australian singles of that period, it peaked at No. 27 in June. The band undertook the Kitchen Man Tour, which saw the stage dressed as a fully equipped Australian kitchen.
The Reels' lack of top 10 mainstream commercial success was at odds with their strong live following, but it was due in part to the restrictive programming on commercial radio at that time, which gave little exposure to local "new wave" acts. The group's deteriorating relationship with Mercury was also a factor, as evidenced by the album's track listing—it included the earlier hit "According to My Heart", but a disclaimer printed on the sleeve noted that it had been included at the insistence of the record company (i.e. against the band's wishes).
Internal tensions were also a factor in the group's career vicissitudes—Bliss left just after the recording of the album, and Newham had quit by the time it was released. The new five-piece lineup (with Fidock) cut a new single, "No. 3", which was not successful; soon after this, both Abrahams and Ansel left. Now reduced to a trio (Mason, Hooper and Fidock) they continued performing by augmenting their live sound with taped backing tracks, and used the new Fairlight synthesiser for studio recordings.
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