STRESS is the duo of ALAN RIDER and PHIL CLARKE from West Midlands, England formed in 1981. Alan was editor of Coventry fanzine Adventures in Reality, and Phil was editor of Nuneaton fanzine Damn Latin. Stress combined electronic rhythms and keyboards with bass guitar, vocals, percussion, and cut-up samples. They created catchy electronic pop songs that fused accessible & experimental elements with a pointed lyrical edge in the vein of Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode and Joy Division. Their first two albums were cassette releases on Alan's own Adventures in Reality Recordings label. Help Comes Too Late in 1982 followed by Restraint in 1984. In July 1985 Stress released The Big Wheel album and appeared on numerous cassette and vinyl compilations worldwide. More gigs and press followed and the album took the Number 1 spot in the NME's electronic charts. Stress split in September 1985 and re-formed briefly in 1991 to record two tracks. Conspiracy Theory is an 11-song `best of' compilation album featuring tracks from the first two cassette albums with "The Prayer Clock" from Third Mind Records' Life At The Top compilation LP and "Tear It Down" from the Compulsory Overtime compilation LP. Each song has been carefully remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP also includes a 16-page booklet "Stress Edition" of Adventures in Reality fanzine with photos, equipment list, press cuttings, lyrics and an exclusive Stress badge.
