Ultravox, fronted by Midge Ure are a new wave pop group fronted by Midge Ure (one of the key men behind Live Aid) who managed to combine an experimental and interesting take on electronic music with proper solid pop sensibilities. Their classic 1981 hit, Vienna, helped secure the future of electro-pop.
Side A first, Vienna. a ghostly note, an echoed kick and Ure sings, sombre and moody. The melody is haunting, dancing in the back ground. Then an organ and piano come in with the chorus 'it means nothing to me...' bringing the bassline with it, and a neat piano melody. The second verse with more synth effects and piano plonks. I love the chorus of this track, it really stands out as powerful and cinematic, different from the coldness that electronica was associated with. We get a neat instrumental section, repeating the rythm and then speeding up with violin sounds in a faux-orchestrial style. Again, very cinematic, heading for a conclusion, the chorus. It splashes out with some cymbal crashes and a slow grind to end. It's a great song, enjoyable and musically interesting. Plus the textures of those synths just melt the ears.
The B side is called Passionate Reply. Can it live up to the first track? We get a funky Kraftwerk style beat comming in, beefed up with some guitar. Ure does his best Phil Oakey style singing here. This track kics up a steady beat, doesn't change up much but again the use of synth textures keeps it pretty fresh. Repetative can be good afterall. We are treated to a nice instrumental break which sounds like an 80's pop version of Frippatronics. A neat soundscaping made of distorted and merged tones, just with more distortion here. The track begins to speed up as we approach the end. All in all it's quite good, but it's no Vienna.
So then, we have one amazing song and one good song. All in all, a single worth picking up. It's good music.
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