Lament [Deluxe Edition]

by Ultravox

Overview

As the title suggests, Ultravox were in a gray mood as they launched into their seventh studio LP, their previous existential angst now pooling around personal anguish. The album's title track was a study in languorous melancholy, where the emotional pain lingered on and on. And why would it ever dissipate, when romance is forever doomed, as "When the Time Comes" exquisitely illustrated? Even "One Small Day," the most musically celebratory song on the set, battles depression but dismally loses the war. No wonder Ultravox were so keen to escape far into the past, with "Man of Two Worlds" taking them back to the gloriously romanticized days of the Celts. The modern world, in contrast, was filled with terrors, both emotional ("A Friend I Call Desire") and global. There was the omnipresent yellow peril to fear; but if "White China" warned of the dangers of creeping communism, the nation sworn to protect its citizens from a Stalinistic embrace proves just as nefarious on "Heart of the Country." Each side is as bad as the other, together threatening the globe with annihilation, with the mini-epic "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" poignantly pointing out the richness of life the world's leaders hold so carelessly in their hands. This was to be Ultravox's final album, at least in this form, and in many ways, the set was the band's perfect epitaph, as lavish musically as it was desolate thematically. ~ Dave Thompson

Product Details

Release Date:	09/06/2024
Label:	CHRYSALIS
UPC:	0840401700006

Tracks

Disc 1

1. White China
2. One Small Day
3. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
4. Lament

Disc 2

5. Man of Two Worlds
6. Heart of The Country
7. When The Time Comes
8. A Friend I Call Desire

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ultravox   Primary Artist
Mae McKenna   Vocals
Midge Ure   Guitar,Vocals,Synthesizer
Billy Currie   Violin,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Debbie Doss   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Shirley Roden   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Margaret Roseberry   String Quartet
Jacky Woods   String Quartet
Amanda Woods   String Quartet
Warren Cann   Percussion,Drums
Chris Cross   Synthesizer,Vocals,Bass
Robert Wollard   String Quartet

Technical Credits

John Hudson   Mixing Engineer
Midge Ure   Composer
Billy Currie   Composer
Ultravox   Producer
June Graham   Transcription,Translation
Warren Cann   Composer
Chris Cross   Composer
Peter Saville   Art Direction,Design
Simon Sullivan   Mixing Engineer