| Ultravox! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 February 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Studio | Island, London | |||
| Genre | New wave | |||
| Length | 38:04 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer |
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| Ultravox! chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ultravox! | ||||
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Ultravox! is the debut studio album by British new wave band Ultravox. It was recorded at Island Studios in Hammersmith, London in the autumn of 1976 [1] and produced by Ultravox and Steve Lillywhite with studio assistance from Brian Eno. It was released on 25 February 1977 by Island. [2]
The songs "Saturday Night in the City of the Dead" and "Dangerous Rhythm", alongside other songs from the album, were written while the band were named Tiger Lily. The former song predated punk music, written over a year before the emergence of punk. The latter, a reggae influenced song, was released as the first Ultravox single in February 1977 to positive reviews. [1] The band's early ambition to combine 1950s and 1960s pop music with the intensity of raw rock music and glam rock developed into writing longer and more intricate songs like "I Want to Be a Machine". [1] The song "My Sex" includes an early use of a synthesizer. [1] Lyrically the album is mainly about the band's environment, living in London in the mid-1970s, with lyricist John Foxx being heavily influenced by the writings of J. G. Ballard. [1] "Life At Rainbow's End (For All The Tax Exiles On Main Street)" pointedly criticizes the hugely popular 'dinosaur' bands of the past, namely The Rolling Stones, who released an album called Exile On Main Street in 1972.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B [4] |
| Record Mirror | [5] |
Ada Wilson in The Rough Guide to Rock wrote that the album "failed to recapture [Ultravox!'s] on-stage energy". [6] In his retrospective review, Dave Thompson, writing for AllMusic, opined "it was Ultravox! who first showed the kind of dangerous rhythms that keyboards could create. The quintet certainly had their antecedents – Hawkwind, Roxy Music and Kraftwerk to name but a few – but still it was the group's 1977 eponymous debut's grandeur (courtesy of producer Brian Eno), wrapped in the ravaged moods and lyrical themes of collapse and decay that transported '70s rock from the bloated pastures of the past to the futuristic dystopias predicted by punk." [3]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Saturday Night in the City of the Dead" | John Foxx | 2:35 |
| 2. | "Life at Rainbow's End (For All the Tax Exiles on Main Street)" | Foxx | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Slip Away" | Billy Currie, Foxx | 4:19 |
| 4. | "I Want to Be a Machine" | Currie, Foxx | 7:21 |
| 5. | "Wide Boys" | Foxx | 3:16 |
| 6. | "Dangerous Rhythm" | Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Currie, Foxx, Stevie Shears | 4:16 |
| 7. | "The Lonely Hunter" | Foxx | 3:42 |
| 8. | "The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned" | Cross, Currie, Foxx | 5:50 |
| 9. | "My Sex" | Cross, Currie, Foxx | 3:01 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Slip Away (Live)" | Currie, Foxx | 4:12 |
| 11. | "Modern Love (Live)" | Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears | 2:31 |
| 12. | "The Wild, The Beautiful and the Damned (Live)" | Cross, Currie, Foxx | 5:18 |
| 13. | "My Sex (Live)" | Cross, Currie, Foxx | 3:05 |
Another Green World is the third solo studio album by Brian Eno, released by Island Records on 14 November 1975. The album marked a transition from the rock-based music of Eno's previous releases toward the minimalist instrumentals of his late 1970s ambient work. Only five of its fourteen tracks feature vocals, a contrast with his previous vocal albums.
Ultravox were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was their 1981 hit "Vienna".
Fear of Music is the third studio album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads. The album reached number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. It spawned the singles "Life During Wartime", "I Zimbra", and "Cities".
John Foxx is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a solo career in 1980 with the album Metamatic.
Metamatic is the debut solo album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo project following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band's work, Metamatic was purely electronic in sound. The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
Fear is the fourth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released on 1 October 1974 by Island Records.
Ha! Ha! Ha! is the second album by British pop group Ultravox, at that time known as "Ultravox!", with an exclamation mark, as a nod to Neu!. Although the group would later achieve fame and commercial success with lead singer Midge Ure the band was, in 1977, led by singer/songwriter John Foxx who was accompanied by guitarist Stevie Shears, drummer Warren Cann, bassist Chris Cross and keyboard/violist Billy Currie.
In Mysterious Ways is a 1985 album by John Foxx, the follow-up to his album The Golden Section, released two years previously. It features some of the highly romantic style similar to 1981's The Garden album. Largely missing from this recording are many of the styles Foxx was known for in favor of a more soulful, contemporary pop sound.
Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by Brian Eno, released on Island Records on 8 February 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with avant-garde approaches. The album features numerous guests, including several of Eno's former Roxy Music bandmates along with members of Hawkwind, Matching Mole, Pink Fairies, Sharks, Sweetfeed, and King Crimson. Eno employed unusual directions and production methods to coax unexpected results from the musicians.
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in August 1978 on Warner Bros. in the North America and Virgin Records in Europe. Produced by Brian Eno, the album was recorded between October 1977 and February 1978, primarily in Cologne, West Germany.
Systems of Romance, released on 8 September 1978, is the third album by British new wave band Ultravox. It was the final recording for the group with original lead singer, lyricist and co-composer John Foxx, and their first album without guitarist Stevie Shears, who had left the band. Shears was replaced by Robin Simon, making his first and only appearance on an Ultravox album. Though not a commercial success, Systems of Romance had a significant influence on the electropop music that came after it.
Helen of Troy is the sixth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in November 1975. It was the last of his three studio albums for Island Records.
Blackheart Man is the debut album by Bunny Wailer, originally released on 8 September 1976, in Jamaica on Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records.
Yachts were a British power pop/new wave band, best remembered for their 1977 single "Suffice to Say" and the minor new wave classic "Love You, Love You".
Neo was an early new wave band which was part of the English musical scene originated by punk in the 1970s. The group was formed by the American-born singer Ian North, who was the frontman and the only continuous member from the band formation in 1977 to the end in 1979.
"Young Savage" is the second single by Ultravox!. It was released as a single by Island Records on 28 May 1977, during a time of experimentation to define a new sound for the band, in advance of their second album.
"ROckWrok" is a single by the post-punk band Ultravox!, released on 7 October 1977 by Island Records. It was the last British non-free single released from the Ha! Ha! Ha! album and featuring Stevie Shears as guitarist. The next non-free single was Frozen Ones, released only in Germany shortly afterwards.
Retro was the only EP (7") by Ultravox, then Ultravox!, released on 10 February 1978. It was the last recording released by the band as Ultravox!. Also this was the last disc featuring original guitarist Stevie Shears, who left the band after its release.
John Foxx and the Maths is a musical project featuring electronic music pioneer John Foxx, Benge and more recently Hannah Peel. The group specialises in the use of analogue synthesizers and drum machines. It was initially a studio based project working from Benge's studio in Shoreditch, London but has also engaged in live work.
This is a complete discography of the British recording artist John Foxx.
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