Music Banter - View Single Post - Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album Mini-Reviews

Trollheart · 08-23-2012, 11:41 AM

Maybe there was something in this new wave malarky after all...

Artiste: Ultravox
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Rage in Eden
Year: 1981
Label: Chrysalis
Genre: New Wave/Electronic
Tracks:
The voice
We stand alone
Rage in Eden
I remember (Death in the afternoon)
The thin wall
Stranger within
Accent on youth
The ascent
Your name (has slipped my mind again)
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Like most people, the hits: Vienna, The voice, Reap the wild wind, Dancing with tears in my eyes and so on.
Interesting factoid: Er, well, Midge Ure once appeared on the anarchic TV comedy show “Filthy, Rich and Catflap” as himself, but the boys confused him with Sting, and kept singing “Roxanne!” Hilarious, really, and sadly cut out of the TV broadcast editions later, presumably for copyright reasons.
Initial impression: Ohhhhh, Vienna! Sorry...

Best track(s): The voice, The thin wall, I remember (Death in the afternoon), Your name (has slipped my mind again)
Worst track(s): Accent on youth
Comments: Although like most people I of course know Ultravox, electronic darlings of the eighties New Wave period, and have heard their singles, I've never listened to a full album by them. I've never possessed one, until now. This is one from which two of their bigger singles (not Vienna) were taken, so I have a passing familiarity with it, and it's one of those singles that opens the album, the uptempo, keyboard-driven The voice, with something of the trademark Ultravox choral vocals in it, and Midge Ure on top form. There's little really to hear in terms of guitars, as Ultravox were always based on the synthesiser sound, but a few licks here and there from Midge toughen up the song a little. The second track puts me a little in mind of China Crisis, with a slightly more upfront role for the guitar, though the synths are never far behind, the following track --- the title, in fact --- built on a solid piano and bass line, but a good deal slower.

This is one of those old-fashioned albums that you kids out there won't remember, when you got eight or nine tracks, four a side, and that was your lot. This one has nine. Not for us the seventeen, twenty or more tracks on an album! If we got one with ten we considered we were doing well. Still, for the comparitive dearth of quantity here, there's pretty much quality all the way through, and after all, who wants to hear twenty crappy tracks compared to six gems? This album though, might qualify as bad value in monetary terms, as of the eight tracks none are particularly long (the longest just under seven and a half minutes) and one is only just over a minute long, the whole thing running to a total of forty-five minutes.

Nevertheless, as I say, it's all good, solid music, and the guitars indeed get another chance to shine on I remember (Death in the afternoon), and you can certainly see why Ultravox were so popular at the height of the New Wave craze. There's something very comforting and also infectious about their music. I'm not saying it's safe, but you never feel “threatened” by it, unlike some rock and/or metal. It does really seem like they're just here to have a good time, and spread the love. The keyboard melodies are definitely catchy, and linger in the brain after the songs have faded away, and generally leave you with a good feeling. Even of the few singles I've heard over the years, I couldn't really think of one that depresses, angers or even upsets me a little.

The thin wall is another one I know, and you probably do too: a bubbly synth bass carrying a generally piano-led melody with (gasp!) the odd blast of rocky guitar! Easy to see why it was a big hit single for them, although it does seem a little overstretched here, then Stranger within is that long track I spoke of, a lot of Talking Heads/David Bowie in it, quite arty, but again for me, about two minutes longer than it should be, while Accent on youth gets Ultravox back to what they do best, boppy, uptempo synth-based electropop. The high-pitched synths do manage to get on my nerves, however.

The shortest track, just over a minute, is an instrumental, which utilises some nice violin melodies and a pretty heavy percussion, then the album closes on a song that starts out like their megasmash Vienna, released a year previously. It's an odd little track, with heavy, bouncing drumbeats falling almost singly, backing a quite low and understated, and at times almost inaudible vocal from Ure. It becomes the slowest song on the album, and so I guess would qualify as a ballad, though I wouldn't really call it such.
Overall impression: Happy music without verging into vacuous territory, very catchy.
Intention: I may have to throw a few more Ultravox albums onto my ever-growing playlist...

08-23-2012, 11:41 AM	#64 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Maybe there was something in this new wave malarky after all... Artiste: Ultravox Nationality: British (English) Album: Rage in Eden Year: 1981 Label: Chrysalis Genre: New Wave/Electronic Tracks: The voice We stand alone Rage in Eden I remember (Death in the afternoon) The thin wall Stranger within Accent on youth The ascent Your name (has slipped my mind again) Chronological position: Fifth album Familiarity: Like most people, the hits: Vienna, The voice, Reap the wild wind, Dancing with tears in my eyes and so on. Interesting factoid: Er, well, Midge Ure once appeared on the anarchic TV comedy show “Filthy, Rich and Catflap” as himself, but the boys confused him with Sting, and kept singing “Roxanne!” Hilarious, really, and sadly cut out of the TV broadcast editions later, presumably for copyright reasons. Initial impression: Ohhhhh, Vienna! Sorry... Best track(s): The voice, The thin wall, I remember (Death in the afternoon), Your name (has slipped my mind again) Worst track(s): Accent on youth Comments: Although like most people I of course know Ultravox, electronic darlings of the eighties New Wave period, and have heard their singles, I've never listened to a full album by them. I've never possessed one, until now. This is one from which two of their bigger singles (not Vienna) were taken, so I have a passing familiarity with it, and it's one of those singles that opens the album, the uptempo, keyboard-driven The voice, with something of the trademark Ultravox choral vocals in it, and Midge Ure on top form. There's little really to hear in terms of guitars, as Ultravox were always based on the synthesiser sound, but a few licks here and there from Midge toughen up the song a little. The second track puts me a little in mind of China Crisis, with a slightly more upfront role for the guitar, though the synths are never far behind, the following track --- the title, in fact --- built on a solid piano and bass line, but a good deal slower. This is one of those old-fashioned albums that you kids out there won't remember, when you got eight or nine tracks, four a side, and that was your lot. This one has nine. Not for us the seventeen, twenty or more tracks on an album! If we got one with ten we considered we were doing well. Still, for the comparitive dearth of quantity here, there's pretty much quality all the way through, and after all, who wants to hear twenty crappy tracks compared to six gems? This album though, might qualify as bad value in monetary terms, as of the eight tracks none are particularly long (the longest just under seven and a half minutes) and one is only just over a minute long, the whole thing running to a total of forty-five minutes. Nevertheless, as I say, it's all good, solid music, and the guitars indeed get another chance to shine on I remember (Death in the afternoon), and you can certainly see why Ultravox were so popular at the height of the New Wave craze. There's something very comforting and also infectious about their music. I'm not saying it's safe, but you never feel “threatened” by it, unlike some rock and/or metal. It does really seem like they're just here to have a good time, and spread the love. The keyboard melodies are definitely catchy, and linger in the brain after the songs have faded away, and generally leave you with a good feeling. Even of the few singles I've heard over the years, I couldn't really think of one that depresses, angers or even upsets me a little. The thin wall is another one I know, and you probably do too: a bubbly synth bass carrying a generally piano-led melody with (gasp!) the odd blast of rocky guitar! Easy to see why it was a big hit single for them, although it does seem a little overstretched here, then Stranger within is that long track I spoke of, a lot of Talking Heads/David Bowie in it, quite arty, but again for me, about two minutes longer than it should be, while Accent on youth gets Ultravox back to what they do best, boppy, uptempo synth-based electropop. The high-pitched synths do manage to get on my nerves, however. The shortest track, just over a minute, is an instrumental, which utilises some nice violin melodies and a pretty heavy percussion, then the album closes on a song that starts out like their megasmash Vienna, released a year previously. It's an odd little track, with heavy, bouncing drumbeats falling almost singly, backing a quite low and understated, and at times almost inaudible vocal from Ure. It becomes the slowest song on the album, and so I guess would qualify as a ballad, though I wouldn't really call it such. Overall impression: Happy music without verging into vacuous territory, very catchy. Intention: I may have to throw a few more Ultravox albums onto my ever-growing playlist... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 11:10 AM.