The band's classic line-up consisted of bassist and vocalist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever.

[11] The single's cover – a harrowing painting by Smithies, who created the artwork for all of their releases – mirrored the band's tense, atmospheric sound.

[6] Script of the Bridge, featuring the singles "Up the Down Escalator", "As High as You Can Go" and "A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days", showcased Burgess's strong vocals and the band's guitar-based sound, with careful use of synthesisers.

[4] Upon its release, the UK press said that the artwork looked like a "seventies Genesis style drawing rather unhappily adorning the sleeve".

[12] A NME concert review described their music as "guitars slipping and sliding on slopes of echo, snapping their wires, fussing and fretting over stampeding drums, getting angry and staccato and falling to harmonic whispers".

[13] Statik's status as a subsidiary of Virgin prevented the band from qualifying for the independent charts, which resulted in reduced coverage by the British music press.

[11] A rift existed within the band, particularly between Burgess and Fielding,[17][18][19] and Fletcher's sudden death in 1987 due to cardiac arrest led to the group disbanding.

[21] Burgess released his debut solo studio album, Zima Junction, in 1993, and toured America the following year with his backing band the Sons of God.

In addition to Burgess and Lever, ChameleonsVox line-ups have included guitarists Roger Lavallee,[25] Justin Lomery, Andrew Abernathy, Neil Dwerryhouse and Chris Oliver; bassists Frank Deserto and Jessica Espeleta; and drummers Glenn Maryansky, Yves Altana and Stephen Rice.

[31] With Oliver and Rice, the Chameleons announced their first tour in 20 years, playing the United States in fall 2022 with the Mission and Theatre of Hate.

[33] The lineup for this reformation featured founding members Burgess and Smithies alongside drummer Todd Demma, Rice on guitars and keyboardist Danny Ashberry.

[17][7] Smithies and Fielding provided shimmering guitar riffs,[3] while Lever and Burgess on drums and bass, respectively, gave the band a solid, rhythmic foundation.

[36] The Chameleons emerged as Thatcherism was beginning to have its effect on England's former industrial towns, and their music was imbued with a sense of anxiety and a longing for the security of innocence.

[4] Burgess's impassioned vocal delivery[3] complemented his lyrics, which touched on the alienation created in many British communities by the decline of manufacturing and industry, and the consequent disruption of social order.

[7] The Chameleons have inspired the likes of Scooter (band), Oasis, the Verve, Editors, White Lies, Alcest, the Slow Readers Club, the Flaming Lips and Interpol.

Oasis's songwriter Noel Gallagher has expressed his liking for the album Strange Times (1986) saying, "It must have influenced my early years as a song writer because I can hear me in it everywhere!".

[43][deprecated source] The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan named the Chameleons as one of the formative British bands he listened to in the 1980s.

[45][46][47][48] Main line-up Other former members The core quartet were augmented by keyboardists Alistair Lewthwaite and Andy Clegg for live shows in the 1980s, and by percussionist-vocalist Kwasi Asante during their reunion period.