Rev [Import]

Ultra Vivid Scene | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 20, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: 4ad
• ASIN: B0000251KV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,708 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Murderously Underrated Classic, October 1, 2000

By 

MaddKhameleon (Singapore: The City of Sin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rev (Audio CD)

Who is Ultra Vivid Scene? Nobody cares and nobody knows. I know everyone is going to disagree but Kurt Ralske is more of a genius than Kurt Cobain. He is simply the better Kurt, the most important Kurt in the 90s. Both 'Nevermind' and 'Rev' were released in 1991, the former became the touchstone of all 90s' rock albums, well, it is good, but in no way greater than any of the UVS album. While the latter is a classic that is simply unheard of, even to those 4AD fanatics, the UVS sound faded away after 'Rev' was released. For a long 9 years, nothing from UVS has been released. I guess even the decaying 4AD label is not interested in releasing anything by UVS. Kurt's one-man show is uncategorizale, the music just cannot sell, they are not as melancholic as Radiohead and Red House Painter, not as angry as every punk band, not as cutting-edge as MBV, not as etheral as Cocteau Twins, not as pop as most pop bands. An outcast in the music industry. Nobody cares. Everyone keeps on dismissing the band because no major media have covered them. I really feel sorry for Kurt, but I am even more regretful for the general public, for not having a chance to be exposed to this. Just listen to the album: The first track sounds quite accessible actually, Kurt seems to be quite cheerful, he doesn't seem to have the angst that possessed the other Kurt. These are just superficies. Take note of the lyrics: It talks about blood, talks about suicide, talks about 'She comes, she comes...'. Get the idea? No? OK, just move on to the second track 'Cut-Throat', from the title of the track, it isn't hard to tell that this track, again talks about suicide. The guy talks about suicide as a joy, as if he is he enjoys it. He may, who knows? The guitar riff he provides here gives a mideast touch, inspired by fellow labelmate Dead Can Dance. Not impossible. Then came one of the masterpieces of the album, 'Mirror To Mirror', you gotta listen to it to believe it is true. But before you do, just check out these lyrics: 'All the silver all the black and gold, all the action all the perfect leading roles, all the singles dreaming double all the time, while all the others wait in line...all the things you touch and things you think you see, are not as they appear to be mirror to mirror, to praise the soul keep, the mirror knows to keep the soul to sleep... the mirror breaks to wake you from your sleep'. Certainly, this tells me a lot of things I have never released before, Kurt Ralske is a thinker and a poet as well. The mood changes when the lyrics come to 'the mirror breaks...', the cheerful facade is destroyed, the mirror breaks to wake you from your sleep. Now you realized that all might be hallucination...Get it? This is an album about different aspects of life: Love, Sex, Death, Suicide and Life itself.I can go on and on to explain, it will only bore you because you can never understand. Other highlights are 'A Portion of Delight','Blood and Thunder', 'Medicating Angel' as well as the hyponotic classic 'Thief's Love Song',obscure lyrics, intriguing arrangement, even the mood bewilders you. It doesn't sound like anything you have ever heard before. I really didn't understand what the song was talking about, I just knew everything is beautiful here, so I kept on listening to that track. Every time I listened to the song, it gave me a different feeling. It was not until I listened to it for at least 200 times, I finally saw the light... I am not going to tell you what this song actually means, you gotta figure it out yourself. This is the centrepiece of the album, the centrepiece of the century, the summary of everybody's source of infinite sadness. It is simply my favorite song of the 90's, only Radiohead's 'Paronoid Android' comes close to it. I know I have said a lot, wanted to say more. But who is going to care anyway? In the end, I am just writing some drivel that nobody understands, sad loser I am, indeed I am.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just fantastic, do yourself a favour: Buy it., February 27, 2003

By 

mike jones (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rev (Audio CD)

UVS's albums have sent shivers down my spine for the last twelve years. Of all of them, Rev seems to best stand the test of time. (Don't get me wrong, the others are fantastic too, but are perhaps more of their period). It's the most varied in mood and pace, and has a wider range of mood and tempo. Decadent, dispassionate - yet intense - vocals; soaring, sliding guitars; tension meticulously built up and relieved. A criminally under-rated artist. Kurt, there's an 80's/90,s revival. Do us all a favour and get down to that recording studio.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I think he knows where Syd Barrett lives..., July 5, 2000

By 

D. Hartley (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rev (Audio CD)

Virtual one-man band Kurt Ralske (aka "Ultra Vivid Scene") has definitely worn out his early Pink Floyd albums. This album of textured dream-pop (with a rough edge tossed in here and there) should please you if you enjoy a little psychedelia mixed in with your alternative. Standout track: "Mirror To Mirror",an atomospheric and insidiously hypnotic number. This is definitely one for the headphones!