| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ingenuity | | | | ||
| 2. There Goes A Beautiful World | | | | ||
| 3. Give It All Back | | | | ||
| 4. Future Picture Forever | | | | ||
| 5. The Silent Cries | | | | ||
| 6. Distance | | | |||
| 7. Ideals | | | | ||
| 8. Who'll Save You | | | | ||
| 9. A Way Out, A Way Through | | | | ||
| 10. Majestic | | | | ||
All songs by Ultravox.
From 1980-86, Ultravox were among the most notable synth-based bands in the British musical landscape. Under the leadership of Midge Ure and Billy Currie, they succeeded in an extremely rare art: making pop singles which were both accessible and artistically proficient (comparisons to early Roxy Music may be appropriate). They had numerous top-ten singles in Britain during this period; in America, "Reap The Wild Wind" nudged its way into the Top 100 briefly, and that was the extent of their success as such (Roxy comparisons are valid here as well).
This wasn't the original Ultravox, of course -- a lineup led by John Foxx had released three albums from 1977-1980, featuring a somewhat different stylistic approach. But it was a credible Ultravox, featuring at least two strong musical talents and a solid songwriting approach. After the disappointing U-Vox (1986), the group dissolved -- drummer Warren Cann had already departed; bassist Chris Cross drifted out of the music industry; Ure and Currie embarked on solo careers.
After making two solo albums (including Transportation, with Yes guitarist Steve Howe), Currie made the curious decision of reviving the Ultravox name with a different lineup. His first endeavour as such was Revelation (1992), which I have not yet heard. After this, he consolidated the new Ultravox lineup for Ingenuity (1994).
The evidence of this release, quite frankly, shows an Ultravox which is not artistically credible. There are a number of problems with the composition of the band, not the least of which is Currie's own role. It's clear that he is the visionary behind this project, and while he is still capable of creating interesting textures and performances on occasion, his general approach seems to be either cynical or tragically nostalgic. Many of the songs on Ingenuity contain the superficial aspects of the "old" UV, but lack the creative magic -- the songwriting, in particular, could have been much better. Currie's willingness to go through with the dilution of his earlier musical approach must count as evidence against him.
Then there's Vinny Burns. Listening to this album, one can come to one of only two conclusions: he's either a very limited player, or was ordered by Currie to play nothing but rudimentary backing and vacous solos. Perhaps we should assume the latter, but his previous experience with Asia (on the Aqua tour) may be somewhat telling as well.
The bass and drums were never a major part of Ultravox to begin without, so Williams and Holmes merit little concern for their proficient- but-unspectacular performances. As regards Sam Blue ... well ... his sole vocal trick seems to be his ability to sing in Midge Ure's range, every so often getting the imitation spot-on. Otherwise, he's a "dime-a-dozen" session man.
Armed with a second-rate band and a set of second-rate songs, Currie's Ultravox predictably produced a second-rate album. A few songs stand out from the lot, but not by much; much of the album is mediocre, though it's a point in the band's favour (sort of) that they only rarely descend into the truly "bad" realms.
The album begins in a moderately promising manner with "Ingenuity" and "There Goes A Beautiful World", both of which strongly resemble the Ure-era Ultravox. "Ingenuity" begins with a synth-dominated intro and a few deliberate "space" effects (corresponding to the astronaut image on the front cover). Blue seems to be aping Ure to the fullest extent of his abilities, particularly in the chorus (which seems firmly based in UV's history of pop craftsmanship, perhaps even to the extent of quoting "Reap The Wild Wind" slightly). Burns is used sparingly, and primarily for texture. The resulting song is perfectly hummable, if a bit on the light side. The dangers of subsequent tracks are suggested, but not yet brought into reality.
"There Goes A Beautiful World" begins with good playing from Currie and decent singing from Blue; although the full band arrangement is a bit less interesting, there's still enough here for it to come out on the positive side. Vinny Burns takes a guitar solo at the end, sadly; the last thing the rock world needs is another EVH rip-off, but this isn't really enough to damage the song.
Then the troubles start. Despite Currie, this Ultravox doesn't have enough of a talent base to branch out on its own; when they try, the results are usually tedious. "Give It All Back" begins in a promising enough manner (with a bass/drums intro), but quickly transforms itself into a mediocre pop number -- the performances aren't terrible (save for the boneheaded guitar part), but they can't disguise the fact that this simply isn't much of a song. A viola solo at the end helps things a bit, but not by enough.
From here, the album goes through a lengthy downturn in quality. "Future Picture Forever" incorporates a lamentable power ballad ethos into its first verse, and keeps it in place for the rest of the song. The chorus hook has a bit of the older UV magic, but not nearly enough -- this song can be written off fairly easily. A near-invisible viola presence and an empty guitar solo only confirm the tedious nature of the song.
"The Silent Cries" is a bit better, but not by much. The opening section sounds exactly like the UV of the 1980s [a bit like "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", perhaps], but gets mediocre very quickly. From a musical standpoint, Currie is the only good thing about the song -- this is a half-developed idea which could hypothetically have been transformed into something much better. I distorted viola solo seems to emerge at the end (I'm guessing it probably isn't Burns with a MIDI) to no real difference in the song's overall quality. Maybe if they had finished writing the song ...
"Distance" is the nadir of the album, a terrible ballad with moronic lyrics, programmed drum machines (to my ears), and singing which is at best mediocre. With a brief exception midway through the track, this is the epitome of a faceless corporate rock number. (The exception, since you're curious, consists of the tempo suddenly speeding up, and the band playing a fairly good instrumental section which has nothing to with the rest of the track -- even the guitar solo isn't too bad. They then slow down again, and resume with the plodding mediocrity of the normal track. This might be Currie's way of saying "Help me, I'm trapped in a project that's grown beyond my control and my musical instincts desperately want out!". Or perhaps not.)
"Ideals" is another faceless corporate rock track, benefiting from a few minor advantages (the chorus hook may be the best on the album; a decent keyboard hook exists here as well; neither of these changes the fact that the song is rather mediocre). There's not much to talk about here.
"Who'll Save You" is generally another bad number, getting a "mediocre" rating by virtue of its extended closing section (which has a rather nice soundscape dominated by the viola). Otherwise, its another prosaic ballad in the tradition of "Future Picture Forever". Burns's solo is as bad as one would expect.
By this point, one might reasonably choose to give up hope for the project. Which makes "A Way Out, A Way Through" even more of a surprise -- this is actually a fairly good pop track. Aside from another empty guitar line, the track is actually fairly good. A few decent tricks on the drums(!) and keyboards contribute to the general value of the song, but the primary strength is obviously Currie's craftsmanship. Not a great song, but a good one. [Incidentally, does anyone think that Sam Blue sounds a bit like the current Genesis singer, Ray Wilson?]
The very nature of "Majestic" seems to suggest that it will be a token number for the older fans. Even so, it comes off as only a half-success. This instrumental number begins in the tradition of the earlier UV numbers as such, with Currie's texturing skills coming to the foreground. But even here, Currie can't quite manage to make anything truly special out of this number.
The best that this reviewer can say about Ingenuity as a whole is that its seldom painfully bad -- even the mediocre moments are generally listenable. But fans of earlier Ultravox lineups are unlikely to find much of interest here. Billy Currie is capable of much more than this.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 28 January 1998; updated 30 January 1998)