Penny Kiley of Melody Maker was generally positive but felt the album contained weak moments, saying that "the first half of side two reveals the most tedious liabilities. In Sounds, John Gill gave the album an enthusiastic review, and challenged the reader, "I dare you to find another band who can mix Euro systems-rock, electronics, Can's fairground style and English music with such panache". Reviews for Vienna were mixed, with Ure's introduction and the move towards mainstream pop dividing critics.
#Album or cover ultravox vienna professional#
Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores "New Europeans" was used in a Japanese television commercial and released as a single in Japan, earning a gold disc. " Sleepwalk" was released as a single in June 1980, and was followed by " Passing Strangers" in October 1980, " Vienna" in January 1981 and " All Stood Still" in May 1981. įour singles were released from the album. However, a few test pressings of the album were made with the alternative title Torque Point on the sleeve. The song " Vienna", which had been written quickly in early 1980, was seen by the band as the musical high point of the album and the song that best represented what they wanted to do, so they decided to make it the title track of the album. The tracks for the album were then recorded at RAK Studios in London and later mixed in Conny Plank's studio in Germany. They recorded "Sleepwalk" and were offered a contract by Chrysalis. The band decided to concentrate on one song and record it properly. Following a live gig in London in February 1980 Chrysalis Records had become interested in the band and gave them studio time to record some demos. X", "Private Lives", "All Stood Still" and "New Europeans". Cann wrote the bulk of the lyrics to " Sleepwalk", "Mr. Warren Cann contributed to the lyric writing as Ure, who would later write more of the band's lyrics, was still settling in as a new member. As opposed to the band's previous albums, the music was written collectively by the four members by throwing ideas back and forth between them and then working on the ideas and turning them into song structures. Among the first tracks written were "Astradyne", "Mr. Writing and rehearsing the songs for the album began in autumn 1979, shortly after Midge Ure had joined the band. A remastered Definitive Edition of Vienna was released in 2008, which included a second disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks, and a 40th anniversary six-disc Deluxe edition was released in October 2020. This release also included a selection of B-sides from the album's singles as bonus tracks as well as the promotional video for the " Vienna" single. Vienna was remastered and re-issued on CD in 2000 on the EMI Gold label. Vienna peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart and reached the top ten in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries. In terms of sales, the album had a slow start, but the release in January 1981 of the title track as the third single from the album heralded the band's commercial breakthrough worldwide and led to healthy sales throughout 1981. The lyrics to the album's songs were mainly written by Ure and drummer Warren Cann, who also takes a rare lead vocal on "Mr. X" is a simpler, much sparser Kraftwerk pastiche. Many different styles are in use on the album "Astradyne" is a long instrumental featuring sweeping, majestic synthesizer arrangements throughout, while "Mr. Ultravox changed pace, style and audience with the arrival of Ure, who had already participated in the formation of Visage with Ultravox's keyboard and viola player Billy Currie.
Vienna was produced by renowned German producer Conny Plank who had also produced Ultravox's previous album Systems of Romance, and mixed at Plank's studio near Cologne, Germany. Vienna was Ultravox's first album with their best-known line-up, after Midge Ure had taken over as lead vocalist and guitarist following the departures of John Foxx and Robin Simon, as well as the group's first release for Chrysalis. Vienna is the fourth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, first released on 11 July 1980 through Chrysalis Records.
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