As a life-long Ultravox fan, I was, to say the least, a little excited at the prospect of a new album from the "classic" line-up..!
"Live" is a good start: with a nice chant riff for the crowd at gigs...!
Listening through the album as a whole, it is clear that Midge is a much better singer now than in the "classic" era.....this comes across as "rounded" and "polished". Maybe it is enhanced during the production process, but for me, some of the "rawness / edge / grit" is no longer there?
I just loved the Conny Plank treatment...!
Perhaps this is due to Midge's voice "maturing", but listen to most of the "Rage in Eden" and "Vienna" songs for comparison, and you'll get where I'm coming from...... "Brilliant" and "Satellite" in particular, would sound totally different if sung in the vein of "All Stood Still"....?
Prior to listening to the album for the first time, I was eagerly anticipating a "Vienna" / "Rage in Eden"- type production, and to that end, I was a little disappointed. That IS a personal opinion, mind you, and the tracks are clearly Ultravox: polished, well-produced, melodic.....all the things we expect from Midge and the boys.....!
Its just that we have more of a "Quartet"-onwards Ultravox here...very clean, very polished and most of the songs fit into this bracket. And that's not a bad thing, is it...?
When I heard the first few seconds of "Lie", though, I got that 1984 feeling.....! Now THATS what I'm talking about!
"Lie" actually SOUNDS like an old Ultravox song......hinting at "Dancing With Tears in my Eyes"...? Defo my fave song from the album!
What we have here is a good album: considering it IS 30 years later, times have changed, and things HAVE moved on......
I think the band have managed to re-incarnate a good chunk of the Ultravox we know and love: I just wish we could ALL go back to 1980 and do it all over again...!!!
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