Vienna (Album)
Occupation
- Vocals / Guitar / Keyboard: Midge Ure
- Bass / Keyboard: Chris Cross
- Drums / Percussion: Warren Cann
- Keyboard / Violin: Billy Currie
Studios
- Recording: RAK Records, London
- Mix: Conny 's Studio in Cologne
Vienna (German Wien) is the fourth studio album and the first commercially successful music album of Ultravox after the departure of John Foxx with new frontman Midge Ure. The album was released on 11 July 1980 at Chrysalis Records and is the genre New Wave attributed. It marks the turning point of the first formation of the band around John Foxx from commercially rather unsuccessful post-punk to synth pop.
An eponymous double album was released on September 22, 2008 Remastered Definitive Edition. In addition to a remastered version of the original album on the first CD, it contains a second CD with some B- sides of single releases, live recordings and previously unreleased songs.
Genesis
After John Foxx who left the band after the U.S. tour in March 1979 to launch a solo career, the three remaining members of the band were without a record deal before the corner. Through its involvement with Gary Numan and Visage presented Billy Currie contact with Midge Ure ago, who joined in April 1979 Ultravox, but due to contractual obligations with EMI, the record company of the Rich Kids, which Ure was before, and a USA and Asian tour of Thin Lizzy from November came together with the band. The band played with Ure as the new frontman in November four appearances in the UK and three appearances in the United States with predominantly derived from the pen of Foxx songs already released albums. First published in the summer of 1980 to Vienna, but already heard on this tour in late 1979, were the purely acoustic piece Astradyne, New Europeans and Mr. X, a development of Touch and Go, the Foxx as frontman of Ultravox already on the self-financed U.S. tour had in early 1979 in the program and published on Metamatic under his own name. In February 1980, the band signed a new record deal with Chrysalis Records and toured after a gig for the label at London's Electric Ballroom in February and March 1980 two months in the U.S. and Canada. During this tour, the later released on the album Songs Private Lives, Western Promise, Passing Strangers, All Stood Still, Sleepwalk and Vienna have already been played.
For the recording of the album at London's RAK Studios no new songs were written, but recorded only the already proven live songs. The ten-day shots in the RAK studios were next to the recording priority of the determination of the search of the band's sound. Not only the actual recording studios were used for the recordings, but the whole studio building. Some percussion passages were, for example, included in the entrance hall of the studio, because the sound there rather corresponded to the desired result of Cann. Cann was able to resume its passages because of the street noise at night only. Currie played the passages one on the violin in the studio toilet.
The album was mixed and mastered by Conny Plank at his studio in Wolperath near Cologne. As the album title was briefly proposed by Warren Cann Torque Point ( dt pivot point ) talking, but was rejected in favor of Vienna, the release the band members as the best composition of the album, despite the slow rhythm and a length of about four as a single wanted. Plank, who had worked as a sound engineer and producer for several Krautrock bands and power plant, was also the co-producer of the album otherwise produced by the band itself.
Instrumentation
For the album for the first time put all the band members an electronic instruments. In addition to the already used for earlier recordings and live performances ARP Odyssey ( distorted by an Electro -Harmonix Electric Mistress ) and the ELKA Rhapsody 610 in Currie and the Roland TR- 77 at Cann, with the band already had two years of experience, were also re- acquired or existing equipment in the studio for the album used: Cross used a Moog Minimoog for some bass lines, Cann a Roland CR -78 drum machine, SDS- 3 drum pads Simmons claptrap and a Synare III pad. Currie used - especially live - an electronic piano type Yamaha Yamaha CP -30 and a Yamaha CS -20 and CS -40 string sounds in addition to its enhanced by Barcus -Berry pickup violin from the Vienna tour. Ure took over the title piece, the cello accompaniment with a Yamaha SS -30, while Currie served as the acoustic violin solo after tempo change. In particular, the rhythm section is synthesizer -heavy; Cann said his acoustic Ludwig kit with Zildjian cymbals remains true. The bass line of the title track as well as in Sleepwalk, New Europeans and All Stood Still took over Cross with the Minimoog. The CR -78 is heard as a "ticking" in the first chords at Astradyne and as percussion with Mr. X. The Claptrap is in New Europeans used and the Synare pad provides the thunder sound of the rhythm of the title track. In addition to curries Violin as string instrument, a bass guitar and an electric guitar have been used as classic rock instruments, which Ultravox distinguishes itself from synth - pop bands like The Human League and Depeche Mode, the only synthesizer used and partially resorted in live performance on tape machines. Ure himself describes the style in his biography as a heavy metal with synthesizers, are connected to each other in the electronic and organic sounds.
Title list
The Definitive Remastered Edition contains on the second CD:
Publications and chart success
The album reached number three in the UK, in Germany and number 22 in the U.S. space 164 on the album charts. Noteworthy is the 72 weeks with very long residence time in the UK top 75th In the Netherlands, the album reached number one for six weeks and in Sweden and Norway, respectively, the top 20th The album received platinum status in the UK for more than 300,000 copies sold.
A total of four singles were released from the album: Sleepwalk on June 16, 1980 ( before the album's release ), Passing Strangers, on 15 October 1980 the title track Vienna on 15 January 1981, All Stood Still on May 26, 1981 All. four singles were able to place in the British top 40, Vienna was a total of 14 weeks in the top 40, including four weeks at number two and reached also in Germany and Austria top 20 rankings. The single New Europeans appeared exclusively in Japan.
The top of the UK charts not the single reached Vienna, because the first two titles Imagine and Woman of the few weeks before the late John Lennon, and then the Novelty Song Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce, several weeks claimed forward. However, the single was allowed to settle in Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium to the chart and reached peak in Australia and New Zealand, the top 20th
In January 2010, a Facebook campaign has been launched to help Vienna 30 years after the publication by selective downloading of UK online music services in the week from 4 to 10 April 2010 number -one hit. The single reached the end space 113
From a national survey of BBC Radio 2 and The Official UK Charts Company to mark the 60th anniversary of the official singles chart Vienna went end of December 2012 emerged as the best number - two hit. The song referred Fairytale of New York by The Pogues (feat. Kirsty MacColl ), American Pie by Don McLean as well as other well-known songs by The Kinks, The Beatles and Queen, who had not reached the top of the charts on the following places.
Tour
In addition to ten appearances in the UK in August 1980, the band started in December 1980, known as Vienna Tour tour with nine appearances in the UK and other concerts in early 1981 on the European continent, including in Vienna. At the time of European Concerts managed the Single Vienna for several weeks in the British top 5 and made the band even beyond the borders of the United Kingdom known to a wide audience. For recognition of the band also contributed to the participation of Ure and Currie in Visage, who celebrated almost simultaneously with the single Fade To Grey Europe chart success, reaching the top charts in Germany and Switzerland.
The setlist of the tour included with Slow Motion, Hiroshima Mon Amour and Quiet Men only three songs from the period with John Foxx. In addition to all songs released on the album were also regularly Face to Face and Kings Leadhead listed. The title of Kings Lead Head is an anagram of the Talking Heads and comes from Brian Eno.
The increased use of electronics on the album made necessary modifications to the synthesizers for live concerts. Since that time there were no MIDI interfaces, synthesizers had to be manually operated; they could not trigger one another. In particular, Cann and cross rhythm section had any synthesizer manually set to the same rhythm, which raised especially with tempo changes as in the title track of Vienna problems. To solve the problem they soldered LED gauges in the Rhythmuspotentiometer, so that the voltage values could be read even in poor lighting. The devices were synchronized, when the voltage values previously recorded for a particular song at the CR -78 and Minimoog were achieved. At live concerts, the band was often perceived as humorless and serious. Ure commented once that " the technique was so sensitive that the band was live always on the brink of collapse and therefore on the stage seemed so strict ."
"We refused to use backing tapes. We refused to do any of the stuff the other bands were doing. "
"We refused to commit ourselves tape recorders. We refused to do anything of the stuff, what did other groups. "
Reception
The contemporary British press was for the "atmospheric electronics" (Source: New Musical Express ) is not " the slightest doubt about their musical mastery " (Source: Sounds). David Jeffries of Allmusic referred to the band as " melodramatic synthpop Chamber Orchestra " and rated the album as " a bold step, which took time to pay off ."
The sales success particularly in the United Kingdom proves that even after the success of Gary Numan The Pleasure Principle met with the sound of Vienna one years the spirit of the times. The synthesis of stage outfit and synthesizer -driven music of artists such as Visage, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Japan, Depeche Mode, The Human League and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark sat down in Europe in the years 1980 to 1982 by more and more commercially.