| Breathe | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1996 | |||
| Label | BMG | |||
| Producer | Richard Feldman | |||
| Midge Ure chronology | ||||
| ||||
Breathe, a 1996 album by Midge Ure, was the fourth solo release for the former Ultravox frontman. The album, produced by Richard Feldman, was released first in Continental Europe, followed by the U.K. and U.S. [1] [2]
The recording of 'Breathe' was completed in early 1995, but the album's release was delayed by the record company. [3] The recording took place in various studios in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dublin and in Ure's own studio in Bath. Ure first recorded four of the tracks with producer Julian Mendelsohn, but they were later re-recorded. [4]
In 1998, the single "Breathe" became a hit-single in several European countries, boosted by its use in a Swatch TV advert campaign, two years after its original release. [3] The single charted at No.1 both at the Italian and the Austrian charts, No.10 in Spain and No.12 in Germany. [5] [6] "Guns And Arrows" and "Fields Of Fire" were also released as singles.
Influenced by his Scottish heritage, the album 'Breathe' features a unique blend of traditional instruments, such as the uilleann pipes and bodhrán, combined with the exotic sounds of the didgeridoo and Gaelic vocals. The result is a musical landscape that pulses with organic vibrancy.
Ure called "Breathe":
"More of a Midge Ure album than any other album I´ve done." "In a way", he adds, "Breathe is a much more honest and open record".
Ure traces the origins of "Breathe" to a U.S. Tour he did with other songwriters in 1992. Once the other songwriters convinced him to try playing "Vienna" on acoustic guitar, Ure realized he could make music without the wealth of electronics or other musicians backing him up."That turned my whole perception of what I was doing musically". [7]
Ure said about the album in 2015:
"It was just another phase of discovery. To me, the important part of it was the quality of the songs, not just necessarily the instruments enhancing the songs.""You try to run a million miles from what you’re known for and it’s all part of the process of finding your own feet and trying to decide what you are and what you want to do. Part of that process would have been turning my back on the standard synthesis and rediscover my Scottish roots." [8]
The song "Live Forever" was inspired by Anne Rice book "Interview with the Vampire". [9]
Ure said in 2015:
" ‘Breathe’ was one of those albums where the record company, in their infinite wisdom, decided to A&R me after all these years! They wanted me to not use the same musicians, not to record in the same studios, not to produce the album myself… so they asked me to gather a whole bunch of songs which I did and I ended up with a producer I could work with, Richard Feldman who had done an album for the model and actress Milla Jovovich which was a great album. So I made ‘Breathe’, it was fantastic and I delivered the album, only to have it sit on a shelf for a year while BMG started sorting out their internal problems. It was a hideously frustrating process to go through, and when it finally came out, the first two years of its life, it was the worst selling record I’d ever made. So until Swatch came along and picked up the title track thanks to a fan in Italy, the album was an absolute disaster. But because of a TV commercial, it turned the entire thing round. It bounced all around Europe and was a big record eventually."
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Breathe" | Ure | 4:28 |
| 2. | "Fields Of Fire" | Ure, Feldman | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Fallen Angel" | Ure, Feldman, Eric Bazilian | 3:53 |
| 4. | "Free" | Ure, Feldman, Klein | 4:42 |
| 5. | "Guns And Arrows" | Ure | 4:44 |
| 6. | "Lay My Body Down" | Ure, Feldman | 3:58 |
| 7. | "Sinnerman" | Ure, Danny Mitchell | 3:38 |
| 8. | "Live Forever" | Ure, Feldman, Shipley | 4:20 |
| 9. | "Trail Of Tears" | Ure, Mitchell | 3:38 |
| 10. | "May Your Good Lord" | Ure | 4:04 |
| 11. | "The Maker" | Ure | 4:45 |
James "Midge" Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, a hypocorism of his given name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and as the second frontman of Ultravox. In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second-highest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.
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"Vienna" is a song by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 9 January 1981 by Chrysalis Records as the third single and the title track from their fourth studio album of the same name. Featuring Midge Ure on lead vocals, the new wave ballad is regarded as a staple of the synth-pop genre that was popularised in the early 1980s and remains both the band's signature song and their most commercially successful release.
Troy Donockley is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of Uilleann pipes. Having performed with many artists as a session player, he is most notable as a member of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, which he has performed with since 2007 and joined as a full-time member in 2013.
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U-Vox is the eighth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 13 October 1986 by Chrysalis Records. It was the band's fifth album during the Midge Ure era, and the final one featuring the band's 1979 lineup, with the exception of Warren Cann, for nearly 26 years. The Ure-era lineup would eventually reform in 2008. It was also the last Ultravox album to reach the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine.
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"Breathe" is a song by Scottish singer Midge Ure released on 22 March 1996 as the first single from his album Breathe.
Pure, released 16 September 1991, is the third solo album by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure. It was the first release by Ure with a new record label BMG-Arista. The first single "Cold Cold Heart" reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1991. "I See Hope in the Morning Light" and "Let It Go?" were also released as singles. The album has a blend of ethnic rhythms and clean album-oriented rock pop, pervaded by catchy hooks.
Move Me, released 25 September 2000, is the fifth solo album by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure. Ure produced, arranged and recorded it almost entirely at home. It was released by BMG Records in continental Europe and was not released in the UK until 14 May 2001 by Curb Records. It was also released in the U.S. by Koch Records.
