Quartet

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Ultravox

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Ultravox was an incredible band. The early years with John Fox as lead, broke ground that seemed to me to birth bands like The Cars. But with Midge Ure at the helm, they became one of the true progenitors of what later became Eurosynth or New Wave. But where much Eurosynth became Europop, this is edgy, bold, aggressive and has a beat that is so fat even Jenny Craig's diet plan couldn't take the weight out of it. Add the apocalyptic sensibility of Ure & Company in songs like 'We Came to Dance' and 'Cut and Run,' -- or the striking almost reverent electricity in 'Hymn' and 'Reap the Wild Wind' -- to a mix containing George Martin (yes, *the* Beatles producer) and you have sheer brilliance here. These songs hold up *incredibly* well after so many years. (In spite of the one guy below who gave it one star and called it junk.) There was always a dark, brooding and foreboding sensibility to Ultravox -- and it's done here in incredible fashion. The Techno bands that came after Ultravox, owe an incredible debt to these guys who came along at a time when rock was losing much of its edge and almost all of its guts. Where many later bands went for the polish and precision and the pretty at the expense of the 'pounding and the pulse,' -- Ultravox was a rock band. Brash, extreme and demanding. They were just too damned much for the average listener and so even with George Martin at the helm, they could only muster minor chart success. But to me, they will always be one of a handful of bands that changed the face of rock music forever. There were many EuroTechno bands but there was only one Ultravox. This is their best effort. File it under 'B' for 'Brilliant.'