Customer Reviews

Island Years

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4 star:		(4)
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Will John Foxx ever rejoin Ultravox? I certainly hope so!

ULTRAVOX first appeared in the midst of Britain's punk scene in 1977. But it was clear from the cover art of their debut LP, that there was something a bit different about this band.

For one thing, they seemed to project an image of style and upscale tastes, unlike most punk and new wave acts at teh time (who seemed to be interested in showing how trashy and low-life they could be).

In the tradition of David Bowie, and later, Gary Numan, the initial Ultravox band looked very androgynous, and projected an ambiguous sexuality--probably gay [their recordings were produced by Brian Eno, after all], but one could not be certain.

At any rate, the music here has aged rather well. Most of it is taken from 'Ultravox!' and 'HaHaHa', with only a few from 'Systems of Romance'. While it does include 'Slow Motion', a hit song in Boston, parts of New york, and a few other cities with highly sophisticated music commuities, along with 'The Wild The Beautiful and the Damned', and 'Quiet Men', it does not include gems like 'Maximum Acceleration' or 'Saturday Night in the City of The Dead'. For those, you need to go to the original Island CD's, now only available as UK imports.

While CD's released after John Foxx's departure had some well-received European singles, they lost their compelling visual focus, and became just another minor pop act.

I would have given this CD 5 stars if it had been remastered to capture the full dynamic range and bass energy of the master tapes. Unfortunately, in what has become a depressing tradition, Island records has chosen to release this recording using exactly the same (rather thin, dynamically flat) mix they had for the LP's. Given the current economics of the music business, there is simply no excuse for record companies to continue to reissue music with inferior, low-tech sound quality (particularly a high-tech/techno band like Ultravox). Given the penny pinching philosophy extant at most record companies, it's little wonder that so many people aren't buying.

If you can find copies, I recommend that you get ULTRAVOX!, HA HA HA, or SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE. Until then, this CD is going to have to suffice.

My introduction to Ultravox was with the album Vienna which I thought was great! Heavy synth with heavy guitar. I bought a few more Midge Ure fronted Ultravox albums after that but then one day at the record shop, I saw an Ultravox! album fronted by John Foxx called "Three Into One". I bought it.

WHOA! This stuff blew all those other albums away in a heartbeat. It collected songs from the groups first three albums fronted by Foxx. I never viewed the Midge Ure fronted Ultravox in such high regard again although I still like them.

This collection contains all the great songs from "Three Into One" but throws in a few more songs from the first album and 3 songs I've never heard before. This incarnation of Ultravox! is hard to classify musically but that's a good thing. My favorite song, "I Want To Be A Machine" sounds like a fusion of David Bowie and Nick Cave while other songs have a reggae/punk/techno sound.

I've been searching for their second album "Ha Ha Ha" for years now without any success. Maybe I'll find it soon. Wish me luck.

I find punk sometimes a little hard to listen to (and Ultravox's first two albums were real art-school punk, not the manufactured Sex-Pistols-type), and a lot of these songs are no exception. But any album which includes classic tracks like "Hiroshima Mon Amour", "Rockwrok", "My Sex" and (best of all) "The Man Who Dies Every Day" deserves five stars. This album is a compilation and the three separate albums the tracks are taken from were released on CD by Island a few years ago....

This incarnation of Ultravox never enjoyed commercial success to the extant their Midge Ure lineup achieved. This was largely due to John Foxx who wanted to experiment - as opposed to Ure who wanted to be a pop star.

The only way to hear the first three albums (Foxx left before the fourth) is to buy each of them individually. However, if you're not up to that then this one will do nicely.

It's a little raw and of it's time - and since I'm a huge fan of the original records I can certainly find some tracks that were missed for some reason (Where's Dislocation?) but that's not to say this CD doesn't have it's great moments. A big bonus is the inclusion of Young Savage which never made it onto any of the first three albums. It was a standalone single and might very well be the best track here.

But, every track here is worthy - but to name a few standouts - I want to be a machine (a great track along the lines of Bowie's Space oddity stylewise) and Slipaway as just brilliant from the first album. Hiroshima Mon Amour and Rock Wrok are a couple of gems from "ha ha ha" and Slow Motion and Just for a moment are wonderful from Systems of Romance.

Seek out the original albums in their entirety. But if not - well this one is a nice compilation.

I'd love to give this CD 5 stars, and in many ways it deserves 5 stars (the material was so far ahead of its time and so influential on artists ranging from Gary Numan to all of the New Romantics movement, the compilation is so wonderfully inclusive, the sound and mastering job is so good), but the gems here are all slightly flawed by the elements that clearly date this material in the late 70s and early 80s.

But gems they are, even with the flaws. John Foxx's vocals tread dangerous melodic curves effortlessly. The musicianship is wonderfully tight and often inspired. The hooks (both melodic and from production values) stick in the head and draw me back to the tracks repeatedly.

"I Want to Be a Machine" is a great example of both the album's weaknesses and strengths. It begins with an acoustic guitar backed vocal that could easily be a lost track from David Bowie's "Hunky Dory" album (in melody, lyrics and vocal delivery), and initially the song could be dismissed as derivative homage to Bowie. Then, in the second chorus, the bass line and electric guitar kick in with a force rarely achieved on recent recordings. Eno's production work turns the chorus into an awesome hook (more than a little reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" but in a very positive way), and Foxx's vocal control as he rides over the instruments is gorgeous, and the entire song is redeemed.

"Life at Rainbow's End" combines the humor and wit of Foxx's lyrics and delivery with a melody that is instantly catchy yet able to hold up to repeat listens.

"Hiroshima Mon Amour" still stands as a blueprint for the best of what OMD, Human League and all the other New Romantics would later produce. And of course "Dangerous Rhythm" is absolutely iconic synth-pop.

All in all, a must have for fans of smart and sophisticated synth-pop.

Finally, most of the John Foxx-era Ultravox tunes are available on one CD. The Island Years features all the great, long-unavailable early tunes.

I've been waiting a long, long time for the best of the John Foxx era of Ultravox to become available on one CD. The selection covers almost all the songs from this era in Ultravox's history and brings back memories of listening to the old vinyl versions I've had for years. The sound quality is wonderful also. A very reasonable price for some classic post-punk/New Wave songs. John Foxx deserves more credit for his contribution to this genre of music.

Like the other reviewers here, I too, counted THREE INTO ONE as one of the best anthologies by the pre-Ure Ultravox. That is, until this set came along. This generous anthology serves up all the key tracks - from the Eno-produced "The Wild, The Beautiful And The Damned" to "My Sex" and "Hiroshima Mon Amour", this version of Ultravox was the missing link between Roxy Music and Adam Ant, punk and new wave, glam and art-rock. Its influence on everything that came out of the U.K. in the eighties can't be measured. You certainly don't need all three Island albums; this set is absolutely all you require and you should do so without guilt or remorse. Recommended.

tracking the john foxx era, this set resembles the old vinyl package released as three into one way back in the day. (the three being: the debut LP, ha!ha!ha! and systems of romance.) listening to these songs again makes one realize just how great a band ultravox was. unlike almost all their contemporaries (not to mention the hundreds of artists unwittingly influenced by them) their sound has not dated badly. in fact, they sound amazing all these years later. i do not think eno's production is the primary reason for that either. these songs just happen to be really, really good. hiroshima mon amour is the stand-out among many terrific entries.

highly recommended!!

...pre-Ure CD's, then for GOD SAKES get this immediately!

John Foxx, the original (and as far as I'm concerned, only) vocalist completely MADE this band. Otherwise, Ultravox was just another Roxy Music clone. This stuff however...

Almost took off half a point for not including "The Artificial Life" and "Dislocation", then realized that after buying this gem, most of the smartest of ya will get all three complete albums and void my point.

All right, there ya go.