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Rating: Having completed the Ultravox discography with Foxx with "Systems of Romance," I felt compelled to do the same for Midge Ure with the album "Lament" from 1984.
After steering towards more "new-romantic" territories with Ure's arrival, Ultravox released three albums. The first, "Vienna," is a true milestone, and the subsequent "Rage in Eden" and "Quartet" are good works, but in 1984 Ultravox delivered "Lament," an album that, in my opinion, ranks second in a group of four, right after "Vienna," not considering the U-Vox album named U-Vox from '87, missing Warren Cann on drums. The album re-proposes a band in search of experimentation, where Ure and the others try to explore the melodramatic, the most heartfelt and melancholic romanticism, but it also shows a band returning to flirt with rock sounds that they had almost entirely abandoned in the last two works. The first track, "White China," is a hammer, almost obsessive, with the bass pounding, Ure's guitar sounding stranger than ever and his touches being absolutely essential, all advancing while Warren Cann "accompanies" Currie's synth harmonies with his steady pace. There's a sonic exploration even if the recording is less grandiose than the previous two albums and Ure's singing is more lyrical, the samples are more industrial than usual. It moves to "One Small Day," which structurally is a rock piece, Ure opens with a nice riff and immediately Cross and Cann come in behind while Currie sets the atmosphere with his innate classicism, a nice piece. "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" is one of the best tracks of Ure’s entire production, we're at the third episode, and it’s clear that the Ultravox imprint has found a new youth in this album. Ure thrashes his guitar like never before and for "Lament" he lets it rest and shifts to synth, "Lament" is a great track, an electronic ballad of enviable elegance (Depeche Mode will take inspiration for upcoming albums, especially Martin L. Gore).
The second half of the album opens with "Man of Two Worlds," a very classic epic intro, then suddenly Cross comes in showing his qualities as a bassist, the piece is varied in time, and in the chorus, the female voice with her vibrato recalls melodies and choirs later used by Gore of D.M., Ure closes superbly with the essentiality with which he uses his heavily distorted guitar. On "Heart Of The Country," electronics dominate, the piece in a way relaxes the listener and slides away without too many pretensions. "When The Time Comes" continues to relax the listener, but here the pretenses are there indeed, the arrangements are top-notch, and there is a very well-curated sonic blend where, as always, they try to find the right balance, Cross's bass is sublime, while Ure sings divinely, owning it, preparing for the last episode of the album "I Friend I Call Desire," a very moving piece if listened to attentively, the sounds are dark, closed, almost to give that sense of "suffering" and melodrama that Ure expresses in his singing, one of the most beautiful songs on the album.
The last effort of a very classy band and almost never trivial compared to other bands, credit for the courage to re-experiment after the two aforementioned albums decidedly more synth-pop than this last one, a gem of the '80s!
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 White China (03:52)
When pale turns to pink
With a soft unnerving ease
And all you've built around
May just tumble to the ground
Will you stand or fall?
With your future in another's hands
Will you stand or fall?
When your life is not your own
When white turns to red
In the not too distant days
Will force and misery
Be the life you have to lead?
Will you stand or fall?
With your children in another's world
Will you stand or fall?
When your town is not your own
White China
White China
When crimson takes a hold
The lights go down on all you've ever known
And all you'll ever do is worked out for you
Will you stand or fall?
When the thoughts you have are not your own
Will you stand or fall?
Oh, when the freedom slips away
White China
White China
White China
White China
White China
White China
02 One Small Day (04:33)
If the stack is high against you
And the hammer's coming down
And the time that's yours lies heavy in your hands
Oh my sentimental friend
The fast much reach an end
Lying face down on the cold stone
And they give their all to you
But their all is slipping through your hands
Oh my sentimental friend
Your time will come again
Chorus:
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One small day
One day where every hour could be a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
One small day
How many times has it turned against you
How many times will they walk away
How many times have you let depression win the fight
Oh my sentimental friend
We'll walk as one again
(Chorus)
How many times has it turned against you
How many times will they walk away
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One day where every hour could be a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
One day where I wouldn't feel my senses die
Where nothing made me hang my head and cry
One day where I could see myself as others do
Where I could feel the strength of love at hand
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One day where every hour could by a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
03 Dancing With Tears in My Eyes (04:44)
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's five and I'm driving home again
It's hard to believe that it's my last time
The man on the wireless cries again
It's over, it's over
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's late and I'm with my love alone
We drink to forget the coming storm
We love to the sound of our favourite song
Over and over
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's time and we're in each other's arms
It's time but I don't think we really care
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
04 Lament (04:44)
And just as my eyes start seeing
After all the pain
The twist in my life starts healing
Just to twist again
In stillness, in sorrow
Returns that softly sighing lament
And just as the smile's returning
After all the pain
The fire inside stops burning
Just to burn again
In moments of madness
Returns that softly sighing lament
08 Heart of the Country (05:09)
I was young and not deceived then
I believed in the heart of the country
How the words sound, how the truth lies
I was moved by the heart of the country
Oh, oh, then I saw through
The charade, the facade,
Now I've had it all
When they ask you who deprives you
You reply your heart of the country
I am older, I am wiser
I despise the heart of the country
Oh, oh, then I felt it
All the tears and the grief
I believed it all
Taking bad times, by the handful
Do what you can for the heart of the country
They dish the dirt out too hard to swallow
Just to follow the heart of the country
Oh, oh, heed the words
And learn the lines
I'll be fine when I have it all
09 When the Time Comes (05:00)
So you think it's over
So you think that down's
The only way out
A sad excuse for lovers
With your head held high
And your heart still full of doubt
It's just like you to scorn
The only one who'll mourn
The day he doesn't love you
Chorus:
When the time comes I'll cry
On the day you cut the thread
When my heart tears I'll cry
So you gave up giving
And you sit and smile
When the awkward silence falls
Deny the life you're living
Just a fleeting love
That you only half recall
It's just like you to make
A passion turned to hate
The day he doesn't love you
(Chorus)
Still we're here together
Feeling helpless as our heaven turns to hell
The taker and the giver
Washed in anger
When we think how far we fell
It's just like you to take
The step than makes the break
The day he doesn't love you
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
10 A Friend I Call Desire (05:12)
Desire (4X)
You live for love, I long for it
You give for love, I take from it
This friend of mine, desire
This lover's crime, desire
Emotion driving all the time
A burning need for things not mine
Desire (3X)
You need your love, I walk from it
You fight for love, I run from it
My enemy, desire
Caressing me, desire
The torch I carried burnt my hand
I can't control what I can't stand
Desire (3X)
You live for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lust
And the want, and the hurt
And the lies, and the fear
And the urge, and the feel
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire
You live for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lies
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire
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By Conteverde
This last dance was something beautiful and strange. A strong embrace before imploding with the madness of the world around.
A Friend I Call Desire... will set the standard and fortune of an entire straying generation of synthetic melancholics.
