Having briefly joined ALCATRAZ and French band TRUST after his departure from IRON MAIDEN, drummer Clive Burr chose to form ESCAPE with erstwhile PRAYING MANTIS trio of the Troy brothers and vocalist Bernie Shaw. Following the discovery of another band with the rights to the ESCAPE name, Burr chose to go with TIGON for a short period of time before finally settling on STRATUS.

The 'Throwing Shapes' album was produced by Norman Goodman. The album was originally only available in Japan before it saw release in Europe as STRATUS supported MÖTLEY CRÜE on their 1985 British tour. For a period former LIAR member Steve Mann would act as keyboard player before joined LIONHEART and subsequently the McAULEY SCHENKER GROUP.

Whilst Bernie Shaw later joined URIAH HEEP and keyboard player Alan Nelson hooked up with MAMA'S BOYS, the Troy brothers wound up successfully reforming PRAYING MANTIS for a lucrative career in Japan. Burr was to become involved in ex TWISTED SISTER vocalist DEE SNIDER's ill starred DESPERADOES project.