"Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Discuss any non-related Stranglers bands here

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Greatkudu
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"Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by Greatkudu »

Ok as well as being a fan of The Stranglers and many others.I always had a soft spot for electronic music Ie:early Human League.OMD and Kraftwerk.And of course the mighty Ultravox

I had lost touch with them recently but my fire was re ignited by seeing them perform on TOTP on BBC 4 recently,doing the might epic "Vienna".I always liked them back in the day,but

towards the end of their career they got a bit to bland for me.But the Vienna period may have been their greatest period with Midge Ure,the album is truely a great piece of work.And

the title track is a total epic in every sense of the word.It's pure sonic perfection with Midge Ure's tenor vocals and the genius that is Billy Currie,possibly the only keyboard player that rivals

Mr Greenfield in his virtuosity? and his amazing violin solo in that song is haunting and sonic nirvana( in the Buddhist way).The other songs aren't half bad to.They still did some great work

after that but towards the end it wen't down hill a bit.I hear they released a new album in 2013 called "Brilliant" and toured,I heard mixed reviews and I missed out on the tour,didn't find

out till after after the reunion,Then of course you cannot forget the original front man Mr Foxx,I imagine "Ultravox" hardcores probably debate the

John Foxx and Midge Ure lineups like we debate Hugh,Paul and Baz etc.To sum up I think "Ultravox" have made some of the best music ever made IMHO.I just hope they tour again? And I will

be checking out the last album.
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by Manc In Black »

I liked this one.........
https://youtu.be/TMkPtOw_r90


Somehow we drifted off too far
Communicate like distant stars
Splintered voices down the phone
The sunlit dust, the smell of roses drifts, oh no
Someone waits behind the door
Hiroshima Mon Amour

Riding inter-city trains
Dressed in European gray
Riding out to echo beach
A million memories in the trees and sands, oh no
How can I ever let them go?
Hiroshima Mon Amour

Meet beneath the autumn lake
Where only echoes penetrate
Walk through Polaroids of the past
Future's fused like shattered glass, the sun's so low
Turns our silhouettes to gold
Hiroshima Mon Amour
on on on on
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Rockula
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by Rockula »

Loved everything in the John Foxx era.
Lost interest quickly when Midge Ure joined. Just not my cup of tea.
I'm not a fan of synthesiser based music.
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by dan-electro »

Saw them a few times in the 1980's and saw them in 2009 and 2010. The 2009 gig (first gig the original band had played since Live Aid in 1985) in Edinburgh was much better than the show I saw at the Hammersmith Apollo a year later. 'Brilliant' is worth a listen (better than I thought it would be). Really loved the 'Vienna' album, they did some great stuff and I must admit I did like Billy Currie on keyboards, loved the sound of his ARP Odessey synth. 8)
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by parasiteinblack »

I have to be in the right mood but yeah they are pretty good. I was at the Brighton gig in 2009 and it was one of the best gigs I've been to.
Rage In Eden is the best album imo. I like the later Foxx era stuff (not too keen on the first album).

I tell you what, everyone likes a chart, so here's mine of the studio albums:

1. Rage In Eden
2. Vienna
3. Systems of Romance
4. Ha! Ha! Ha!
5. Lament
(the rest are a bit dodgy in places, I could only whole-heartedly recommend these top 5)
6. Quartet ("Reap The Wild Wind" is one of their best imo)
7. Ultravox! ("My Sex" is a good one)
8. Ingenuity
9. U Vox
10. Brilliant (or "yeah it's ok" if you like)
11. Revelation
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by Sinister »

Great band loved their early stuff with Foxx and the Vienna album is brilliant, Rage is also very good. Then it went a bit patchy although still not bad, similarly with OMD and Human League I much prefer their early stuff.
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by theraven1979 »

Like both eras - The other day the live version of All Stood Still cropped up on Spotify and good lord that's some serious guitar Midge is laying down!

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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by strangledinAuch »

awful shit
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by jason »

They had some great singles but I don't have any of their albums. I might get one.

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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by vanian »

sleepwalk etc i love and warren cann mega drummer

john foxx though is the man from Metamatic onwards
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by vanian »

parasiteinblack wrote:I have to be in the right mood but yeah they are pretty good. I was at the Brighton gig in 2009 and it was one of the best gigs I've been to.
Rage In Eden is the best album imo. I like the later Foxx era stuff (not too keen on the first album).

I tell you what, everyone likes a chart, so here's mine of the studio albums:

1. Rage In Eden
2. Vienna
3. Systems of Romance
4. Ha! Ha! Ha!
5. Lament
(the rest are a bit dodgy in places, I could only whole-heartedly recommend these top 5)
6. Quartet ("Reap The Wild Wind" is one of their best imo)
7. Ultravox! ("My Sex" is a good one)
8. Ingenuity
9. U Vox
10. Brilliant (or "yeah it's ok" if you like)
11. Revelation
to be honest i would choose 3 into 1 as its a compilation of the first three and the best bits for sure and very much worth a listen - from the '2nd phase' vienna - but not for that song but for the class that was sleepwalk ,passing strangers and all stood still ( all classic live) - had the fortune to see the MK1 version and MK 2 before they got stupidly massive and up their own arse
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Re: "Ultravox" one of the great bands? IMHO.

Post by Bobinblack »

strangledinAuch wrote:awful shit
:lol: I was expecting more comments like this tbh.

After Foxx left, Ultravox morphed into a very different band, didn't they? I preferred them with Midge Ure, 'Sleepwalk' was one of my all time faves. Used to really like Human League before the girls joined, and it took ages to begrudgingly like them again after that. Classic bubblegum electronic music was Dare etc :P

And Kraftwerk, what's not to like?

Honorable mention to an absolute god of synth/electronic music, the late Fad Gadget, he was fecking superb.
Think I'll go for a stroll in the trees.
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