| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes | | | | ||
| 2. Reap The Wild Wind | | | |||
| 3. All Stood Still | | | | | |
| 4. Slow Motion | | | | ||
| 5. Distance | | | |||
| 6. The Voice | | | | | |
| 7. Ingenuity | | | | | |
| 8. Ideals | | | | ||
| 9. Vienna | | | | | |
| 10. Give It All Back | | | | ||
| 11. Future Picture Forever | | | |||
| 12. The Silent Cries | | | | ||
| 13. One Small Day | | | | ||
| 14. Hymn | | | | ||
| 15. Lament | | | | ||
For some reason, the Currie-era Ultravox has released a live album in addition to their sub-par studio venture, Ingenuity. Future Picture, recorded in Italy in 1993 (prior to the release of said studio venture), is a combination of earlier UV tracks and more recent efforts, all performed by the most recent lineup.
To put it mildly, this is a rather mixed bag. Some of the "classic" material comes off reasonably well; others are disgracefully bad. Some of the new material is better here than on Ingenuity; some is about the same; at least one track is even worse. This may simply be a case of the band being "on" for certain tracks, and "off" for others. Or it may suggest that the limitations of this lineup meant that certain tracks were simply beyond their reach. Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between.
The album does not begin in a promising manner. The first track is "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" (originally from Lament), and the performance is considerably lacking. Much of Ultravox's strength in the peak years was dependent on Midge Ure's distinctive vocals, and Sam Blue is simply unable to rise to the challenge of matching this -- in fact, he "made for hire" voice is particularly inappropriate here. The vocals, put concisely, are "cold" when they should not be. That the band seems to be playing the track slower than the album version doesn't really help. At least VB's role is minimal.
Next comes the album's greatest tragedy. The original version of "Reap The Wild Wind" (from Quartet) was the band's "calling card" piece in America (and perhaps in Britain as well) -- with its lush keyboard- scapes and charming vocals, it was easily one of the better synth-pop numbers of the early 1980s. All of which makes this version the more wretched in comparison. It may safely be said that anyone who likes the original should avoid this rendition: a mellowed, AOR-ified nightmare. Sam Blue's vocal limitations are truly noticeable here, and even Currie doesn't do much to help. Disgraceful.
Suddenly, the album takes its first upturn. "All Stood Still" (from Vienna) is actually done fairly well by this lineup; apparently, Blue's higher vocal range is a bit better than his lower. Currie gets a decent spotlight at one point; Burns's guitar pyrotechnics are hardly needed, but don't destroy the mood of song by too much. This doesn't match the original, but it at least has the dignity of being proficient.
The band introduces the next track as a "new version" of "Slow Motion" (originally from Systems Of Romance), and the results show the proof of this assessment. The band seems to have taken notice of the rise of prog-metal tendencies -- the first verse seems rather AOR-ified, though the basic structure of the song does fight back at times. The track merits its rating as a decent track by virtue of the fact that Currie's (somewhat lengthy) instrumental spotlight is quite listenable, especially with regards to the viola solo; the actual song is average at best.
Some readers might remember that I referred to "Distance" as the worst song on Ingenuity, even in spite of its half-clever instrumental break in the middle. For this version, the power-ballad beginning of the song is even worse, while the middle section remains generally proficient (though VB's solo isn't so good). The rating, as such, does not change.
Things start to improve again with a decent version of "The Voice" (from Rage In Eden -- if nothing else, this lineup deserves credit for its diverse selection of material). This is a good song given fair treatment; Currie's synths dominate the piece, and the electric viola in mid-song is fairly good. Vinny Burns is kept to providing texture, and Sam Blue's singing is proficient enough. This adds to another track which, while not quite reaching the album version, is listenable enough.
This version of "Ingenuity" (another of their new tracks) is actually better than the album version; there are really any major structural changes, but the performance somehow seems more "valid" here. The echo effect used on the guitar is fairly interesting, and Currie's viola bit at the end comes off well. The full extent of this Ultravox as a creative unit may very well be shown here.
"Vienna" (from the album of the same name) is a rather delicate number, which naturally brought concern to this reviewer regarding the chances of this band pulling it off well. To my surprise, they were capable of retaining its general setting, thereby allowing the song itself to carry the performance. Currie's role is fairly impressive, and Blue's vocal recitations fit the mood fairly well. A few parts near the end seem "trite" when compared with the original, but this is a fairly decent number for the most part.
The band then turns to more new material. "Give It All Back", UV's attempt at catching up with 1990s alt-rock, is another track which comes off better here than on the album (Williams and Holmes are given the chance of providing a decent backing track here, and do so well). Blue's performance is average at best, and Currie's viola solo once again makes the "save" (it seems better here than on the album, I should note).
The next track, "Future Picture Forever", was not terribly good on the studio release and is even worse here. There's very little of interest in this power ballad (why did they have to do this and "Distance" on the same bill); lacking the "trick" which made the studio chorus somewhat interesting, it seems even less impressive than before.
"The Silent Cries", also from Ingenuity, is at about the same middling level of quality as the album version, perhaps being marginally worse. Blue's vocals still aren't very good, and the song still seems like a half-written attempt at matching their classic-era material. Vinny Burns's part (which he apparently wrote himself) once again brings the track down somewhat.
"One Small Day" (from Lament) is another ill-conceived stab at recapturing the magic of their better days. The absence of Ure truly weighs heavily on this track, and Blue's vocal performance here is nothing short of embarrassing -- his difficulties handling the wordiness of the chorus (while keeping his generic singing voice ever-intact) are quite humourous if one is not offending by their butchery of this track. Vinny Burns's solo in mid-song is horrible, perhaps his worst moment on the album. A shadow of the original track remains (keeping the overall rating at a "mediocre" level), but this does not redeem the band in any way.
I wanted to be appreciate this UV's version of "Hymn" (from Quartet), but they simply didn't allow this to happen. Blue, rather than Burns, is once again the weak link here -- he seems to have no clue as to the melody of the original track. Burns briefly becomes noticeable which an obnoxious Metallica-esque riff in mid-song. Amid this chaos, Currie stoically does his role fairly well ... which cannot in any way disguise the fact that he's slumming with this lineup.
"Lament" (from the album of the same name) closes this album in a relatively dignified manner. This is a stately pop track of the Roxy Music variety, which allows Blue to demonstrate his vocal diversity by pulling off a proficient Bryan Ferry imitation (though the voice cracks at the end get a bit annoying). Considerably less than the album version, this could have been a lot worse.
If recorded by an Ultravox cover band, Future Picture might be easier to tolerate. As it is, this album stands as a monument to a band with no real reason to exist, re-treading its "heritage" in an attempt to retain some manner of credibility. The opening track contains a line about "living out a memory of a life gone by", and it would be difficult to come up with a more appropriate commentary on Currie's role in this release.
This is, to its credit, a better album than Ingenuity, and those fans curious in hearing what this Ultravox had to offer should probably choose this album. Others need not bother.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 30 January 1998)