Ultravox
Rare Retro

Among the reasons John Foxx had in his pocket in '79 for leaving Ultravox, it seems there was also the fact that he couldn't handle life on the road. He could count on two good weeks and then the routine of that part of the job—the hours of inactivity between rehearsals and performances, the constant traveling—began to have a disastrous effect on him, turning him into an automaton for the rest of the tour. These are the words of today's Dennis Leigh, white as snow, shedding some light on what was happening at that time within the shell created by the character he had invented.

He defines himself as a studio craftsman, certainly not a stage animal.

These considerations of his, I don't think would prevent me from feeling thrilled if I found myself with a proper live performance by Ultravox with the exclamation mark.

Could this be the opportunity to do so? From what I know, this... how to call it? This patchwork of live fragments is, for now, what has been officially released concerning live performances from the Foxx era. I don't believe it's purchasable separately from the box set in which it's included and which contains a new edition of the three studio albums from the same period.

It is therefore a sneaky sugar cube aimed at fans to slyly sell them the same material once again.

However, the sugar cube is not so sweet, especially in times of austerity. My rating is the sum of the following considerations, and as is logical in such operations, it cannot solely pertain to the qualitative level of the music contained.

Firstly, it should be highlighted that it is not exclusively live material; there are versions released as singles of some tracks and remixes.

50% of the album consists of material already published both on vinyl and CD. This includes the Retro (Live) EP, plus some tracks featured on previous remastered editions of the studio albums.

The EP is a taste of the tour supporting the album “Ha! Ha! Ha!”, the last recorded farewell of the exclamation mark and the band's first guitarist. A listener unaware of J.F.'s little enthusiasm for live activity certainly wouldn't guess it from listening to the album. His performance level is altogether in line with the studio versions of the tracks. What emerges are the raw nerves of the rest of the group's punk soul. There's some grit. You can feel through your finger the gaps between one component and another of the sound material; the guitar rattles, more prominent than in the studio, and Currie's trills cut sharply.

The most interesting part of the product is probably the group's performances on the two quintessential programs in England in the 70s/80s for front-line music, underground, or whatever one might call it: The Peel Sessions and The Old Grey Whistle Test, programs where music not played on Top of the Pops was heard. However, even in this case, it's material already available on YouTube, so not unreleased.

There's a really succulent cherry, from my point of view. The “Hiroshima Mon Amour” performed at The Old Grey Whistle Test is, for me, the definitive one, better than the studio version, and among my all-time favorite songs. In the studio version, Foxx's and Currie's synth melodies are two enchanting mists that blend and dazzle, yet in listening, I suffer from the lack of a rhythmic reference point more substantial than what seems to me to be a very poor drum machine. The live OGWT version is enriched, among other things, by a beautiful, substantial bass line that further highlights the beauty of those melodies.

Returning to more general considerations, summarizing the material presented on the album, there are three versions of "Young Savage" and "The Man Who Dies Everyday," two versions of other tracks between remixes and single versions. In short, either they have scraped the bottom of the barrel and there's nothing else, or it could have been better done.

In reality, this is not a review but a decoy for the “old” fans of the site who love New Wave, hoping they will be tempted to expose me, proposing lists of live stuff from the John Foxx Ultravox.