The Collection

Ultravox

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000008LVF
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,605 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best bands of the 80's..., August 11, 2000

By	Si Wooldridge (Chippenham, Wiltshire England) - See all my reviews

Oddly enough Ultravox are lumped in with the synthpop artists of this era and that is pretty misleading. Ultravox were always a rock band who liked and used electronics to enhance their sound to great effect. Midge and the boys were my personal favourites for a long time and this collection just brings the singles together. They were never huge in the UK but consistently hit the Top 30 with their singles, bar I think Sleepwalk - the first single. The change was Vienna and life was never the same after this.

The singles here show how diverse Ultravox really were and how tight a band they were, the muscianship and maturity of sound is fantastic. As I said, not typical 80's synthpop (although I've nothing against that, and bought a lot of it at the time).

Standout tracks: Vienna - all-time classic; Reap The Wild Wind - fantastic song, brilliant video; Love's Great Adventure - same as RTWW. The rest aren't too far behind - trust me...

If you like this album, there are 4 others you need to get (Vienna, Rage In Eden, Quartet, Lament) - I'd go for the middle two first then the outer two. With Ultravox you can't go wrong if you like good music.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great place to start, August 15, 2001

By	James Walsh (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Those of us who are Ultravox fans and were during the 80s obviously will rate this album at the top (as bar 2 exceptions) all the songs on it were UK Top 30 hits for the group.

Ultravox were in the forefront of the New Romantic movement in the early 80s (especially once Midge Ure and Billy Curie joined the band). As a reaction against punk, New Romanticism was more about melody, the musical expression and the electronic media that had started to become fashionable at that time, and less about rebelling and defying convention. Ultravox are probably one of the finest exponents of the genre.

Ultravox became known with the song Vienna (which at the time boasted the most expensive video ever made). It's an opera in three minutes. From a commerical point of view the group never reached the same heights with the later tracks although their musical skill and style continued to develop.

The two earliest songs (Sleepwalk and Passing Strangers) are quite weak in comparison to the later works and really are not worthy of this CD. The rest are works of art. Personal favourites include 'Reap The Wild Wind' and the incredibly haunting 'Visions In Blue'.

For somebody who knows little or nothing about Ultravox this is the best place to start. If you don't like this then don't go any further.

If you find yourself drawn in then I suggest you buy the four albums from which these songs are drawn. In order of release they are Vienna, Rage in Eden, Quartet and Lament. On these albums you'll find more to enjoy from one of the 80s best bands.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Intro to These Not-Quite Legends, June 1, 2005

By	SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Ultravox never quite achieved legendary status either in the UK or the US but several of their singles did. Shining moments include "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", the most new wave of the bunch, and the classic "Vienna". There are many other good songs too. However I think enough people have talked about the album's contents. I have a different bone to pick. As Si Wooldridge laments, the legions of people who call this synthpop are way off. He is also correct that they were a rock band that just used synths to add mood to their music. The endless comparisons to Alphaville, OMD or Depeche Mode are pointless... they are in a different genre altogether. However there is a connection to straight synthpop via the Visage side project whose single "Fade To Grey" remains a genre masterpiece. The most accurate comparison for UV is to Roxy Music. Both bands made stylized post-Glam following in the footsteps of Bowie. Both utilized electronics to generate atmosphere and ambience; neither used such instruments to craft punchy dancefloor hooks. Both were led by accomplished vocalists whose personality and charisma often dwarfed the bands: Ultravox by Ure and Roxy by Ferry. If someone picks this up expecting bleepy 80's synth music they will be let down greatly. Generally speaking this is not meant to be slammin' club music.