The Island Years (Ultravox album)

The Island Years
Compilation album by Ultravox
Released	22 March 1999 (1999-03-22) [1]
Recorded	1976 – 1978
Genre	Rock, pop, new wave, glam rock, protopunk, synthpop
Label	Spectrum, PolyGram
Producer	Ultravox, Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite, Conny Plank
Ultravox chronology
Extended Ultravox (1998) The Island Years (1999) The Best of Ultravox (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

The Island Years is a compilation by Ultravox, released on 22 March 1999 by PolyGram and Spectrum labels. It contains songs from their three first albums ( Ultravox! , Ha! Ha! Ha! and Systems of Romance ), when John Foxx was the group's vocalist and frontman, and another two guitarists, Stevie Shears and Robin Simon were with them ^[3] (although not at the same time). The album is a compilation of the band's early years, before Midge Ure became a member, and the band scored a number of hits in the 1980s.

This is an updated version of the Slow Motion compilation, released in 1993 by the same labels.

The band are credited as Ultravox!, although the band decided to drop the exclamation mark (!) before recording their Systems Of Romance album.

Track listing

1. "Dangerous Rhythm"
2. "My Sex"
3. "I Want to Be a Machine"
4. "The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned"
5. "Life at Rainbow's End"
6. "Young Savage"
7. "Slip Away"
8. "ROckWrok"
9. "Hiroshima Mon Amour"
10. "Distant Smile"
11. "Man Who Dies Every Day"
12. "While I'm Still Alive"
13. "Slow Motion"
14. "Quiet Men"
15. "Cross Fade"
16. "Just for a Moment"

Personnel

• John Foxx – vocals
• Chris Cross – bass, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Warren Cann – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Billy Currie – violin, keyboards, synthesizer
• Stevie Shears – guitar 1, 3 – 8, 10 – 12
• Robin Simon – guitar 13 and 14

References

1. "The Island Years". 45cat. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
2. "The Island Years - Ultravox". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
3. Ultravox! – The Island Years (booklet notes) (Polygram, Spectrum, 1999)