Rage in Eden

by

Ultravox

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Just recently had the urge to pull this out of my CD collection and listen to it for the first time in a while. I agree with other reviewers who say that this is the best offering from their "quartet" of early 80s releases (in order, "Vienna", "Rage in Eden", "Quartet" and "Lament"). This CD is the strongest from beginning to end and flows seemlessly.

Back in the 80s, I discovered Ultravox with "Vienna", coming from a steady diet of overblown 70s prog rock. What attracted me to Ultravox, was the intelligence of their music. There was nothing light and fluffy about this band. The keyboard arrangements are well thought out and almost classically inspired (Billy Currie after all was classically trained), and the way they used the guitars and violins/violas really was different for the era. Another thing I liked about them was how drastically they could change their sound from song to song, but without disturbing the flow or continuity of the album.. one song will be triggered synth bass and drum machines and all keyboards, the next will be live bass, drums, guitars, piano, etc... and all kinds of different variations thereof. Regardless of the instrumentation, Ultravox had an incredible way of making highly emotionally charged music... They were masters of making machines have feelings... Alot of this had to do with Midge Ure's incredible voice and his emotional guitar playing. The piano and violin/viola helped with this alot too... Basically, against the trends that were popular in the day, Ultravox had talent and weren't afraid to use it... Now for a song by song breakdown:

The Voice: For some reason, Ultravox had a way of starting off an album with (in my opinion) one of its weakest songs (i.e. sleepwalk, the voice, reap the wild wind). This song is good, but only a glimpse of what is to come... (Live Drums, Live Bass, Lots of Keyboards, Piano)

We Stand Alone: This song haunts me constantly... I love the keyboards, and the chorus... Midge's guitars are also used very tastefully to add to the tension... (Live Drums, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitars, Keyboards)

Rage In Eden: Nice title track.... mysterious, haunting, moody... I like the backwards chorus ("Oh I remember death in the afternoon" - as someone else said.. a great lead in to the next song... very clever). Again, the guitars add lots of interesting effects and tension to this one... (Drum Machines, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitars, Keyboards)

I Remember (Death in the Afternoon): Excellent song... beautiful piano, powerful drums, great melodies. (Live Drums, triggered synth bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Piano)

The Thin Wall: Always one of my favorties from this CD. I love the pulsing synth bass, and the funky rhythm guitar, and Midge's vocals, but this song is really a showcase for Billy Currie... his multi tracked violins, keyboard solo and violin or viola solo... (Drum Machine, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Violin, Viola)

The Stranger Within: I agree with others... this is a very disturbing and paranoid song... not to be listened to in a dark house by yourself... I love the way the synth and guitar noises pop in and out to add to the eerieness... Funky Bass by Chriss Cross over very rigid machine drums. I also like how Billy Currie added real strings to the synth strings to give it a nice full texture. (Drum Machines, Real Bass, Guitar, Violin/Viola, Keyboards)

Accent on Youth: Maybe a slight step down from the last few tracks... the chorus and the lead-in to the chorus are great, but the verses don't really do alot for me. (Live and Electronic Drums,Triggered Synth Bass, Keyboards, Guitar)

The Ascent: Instrumental Coda to Accent on Youth... Nice transition from Live Drums in the previous track to the drum machine here. This is another showcase for Billy Currie's talent. (Drum Machine, Synth Bass, Violin, Viola, Keyboards)

Your Name Has Slipped My Mind Again: I think this song is a perfect ending to this release... it strips away everything down to a stark backdrop for Midge Ure's haunting vocals. This song kind of reminds me of Queen a little... (Percussion, Piano, Processed Piano, Guitar)

I Never Wanted to Begin: I love this song.. this is probably my all time favorite Ultravox B-Side. Tribal Drumming (machine and real/electronic drums), Violins/Violas, Nice keyboards, cool guitar solo, and the trademark Ultravox enigmatic lyrics.

Paths and Angles: Another cool B-side.. this time with Warren Cann handling the Vocals (ala Mr X). Again.. very machine-like, but brought to life by the piano, guitar and violin/viola.

I'm not sure why they included the extended version of "I never wanted to begin", it doesn't really add much to the CD, but it's cool nonetheless.

Anyways... enough rambling for now... This is an amazing CD... I wish someone would wake up and release some live recordings from this era... I went to see them on the Quartet Tour and they were amazing live...

If you are a fan of this band and listened to them back in the early 80's, you can skip this review, b/c you will certainly disagree. If not however, I would skip this, and all later albums by Ultravox. The reason? They sound dated and pompous, with the music sounding like thin 80's synth, the kind SNL made fun of on 'Sprockets' ("Now, vee dance..."). Imagine robotic breakdancers and you get the point. I recently listened to Vienna, Rage in Eden, Quartet, and Lament again for the first time again since the mid 80's, and they have not aged well at all. Part of the problem for me is that Midge Ure, both as a vocalist and as a songwriter, tries and fails to operatic and grandiose, tackling themes that aim to be profound (check out the laughably bad "The Voice" on this album for an example), and it brings the songs way down, making them sound unsuccessful attempts at depth.

To my ear, even the sound on these albums is thin, easily classifiable as "80's synth rock". This is a real shame, considering their 1978 album Systems of Romance is a superb fusion of punk/new wave energy combined with electronic/synth sounds, and with much better/more inventive guitar playing courtesy of Robin Simon and a more robust production job from Conny Plank, who thinned out the sound on Vienna and Rage In Eden for some inexplicable reason.

Music is of course subjective, and a large part of why I dislike this and most other Ultravox albums is due to Midge Ure, who is just embarassing. If you are interested in hearing Ultravox at their best, listen to Systems of Romance, which has John Foxx leading the band. Apart from being a much cooler, less melodramatically overwraught vocalist, Foxx presents much more interesting themes than Midge Ure. Ure sings about entire movements of new european youth and cold war intrigue (he seems to want to be Graham Greene or something) while Foxx sings about personal impressions (a sleepy conversation, the taste of snow being like tin, the change of the seasons). It's for this reason that I feel John Foxx's approach on 'Systems' has aged much better than Ure's failed attempt at grandiosity. Think of Midge Ure as one of these twerpy British New Romantics, and John Foxx as a more reserved, impressionistic singer/lyricist. Finally, Foxx is a lot less slick sounding than Ure in his vocal delivery.

Along with Visage, Flock of Seagulls, Human League, and most Gary Numan, Ultravox were at the vanguard of a style of 80's synth rock that just sounds horribly dated now, having aged very badly. Ironic that on a lower budget and with less advanced equipment, Ultravox were able to put out a stellar recording that combined punk energy and machine like synths in Systems of Romance, only to later churn out half a dozen albums or so of pseudo european new romantic drivel for the rest of their career. It might have been the rage ion '81, but today it's fuel for SNL skits.