in praise of ...ultravox - systems of romance

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http://www.lexiconmagazine.com/NWC/img/uvox_romance.jpg

...threw this on after mentioning it on the POX Track 07 thread. this album has aged surprisingly well aside from 'some of them'. 'dislocation'and 'maximum acceleration' being particular favourites.

...any thoughts?

― william (william), Sunday, 28 November 2004 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

i liked "dancing with tears in my eyes".
what are the tracks on this because i have a greatest hits on purple vinyl.

― midge, Monday, 29 November 2004 01:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's great - and I like "Some of Them," though it is certainly more "where they're from" than "where they're going." "Slow Motion" is surely one of the all-time-great album openers, and the way "I Can't Stay Long" builds on from that is brilliant - such a breezy feel to that song... It sounds huge. Always loved "Quiet Men" and "Just For A Moment" as well.

― Kent Burt (lingereffect), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 07:55 (twenty-one years ago)

My least favourite of the first three Ultravox! albums, although all of them are better than anything they did with Midge Ure after John Foxx left.

http://perso.club-internet.fr/fperfect/fperfect/ultravox.jpg http://sound.jp/rockwrok/hahaha.gif

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:18 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.lexiconmagazine.com/NWC/img/uvox_tiger_sc.jpg

Although, that's not the cover on mine (Gull records)

(Stew, did you see about "Smash it up" CD Single?)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:26 (twenty-one years ago)

The only Tiger Lily single I've got is "Ain't Misbehavin'" - I thought it was the only one they'd done, I've never even heard of that one!

(25th Anniversary Edition of) Smash It Up? Yeah got that natch, but thanks for the thought!

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00063340O.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Monkey jive is the b-side. Or, it was, anyway.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Neither side was particularly outstanding as far as I can remember.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I have that Tiger Lily single, from when I was an Ultravox collector. It was shit. I bought the damned single last night, but have not had the chance to listen to it. "Systems of Romance" is my favourite Ultravox alb. I like "Maximum Acceleration" best, it sounds so exciting when you crank up the volume. Some of their b-sides etc do not seem to have been compiled on cd yet - I'm thinking of the live ep, and the noisy version of "hiroshima mon amour" particularly. Or does anyone know different?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 13:01 (twenty-one years ago)

The Three Into One comp. includes the non-album single "Young Savage" and the Island Years comp. includes that one and and "Cross Fade" (which was the B-side of Quiet Men).

The material on the "Retro" EP (and presumably they must have recorded a whole set, even if they only released those four tracks?) has never been reissued afaik.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 14:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Systems is also my favorite, and I'm a huge fan of the Foxx-era band. I've gone through two records and a cassette of it, but still don't have it on disc. Throwing the Retro EP or other assorted tracks on there would certainly tip the balance.

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

...just as i was beginning to feel there was no love on ilxor for this disc a discussion springs to life. hearing this when it first came out,"dislocation" was like a wtf moment. i would have to call this lp a defining moment in what music i sought out upon hearing it. before the advent of the net this was a much more rewarding experience i might add.

― william (william), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Systems is my fave too, especially "I Can't Stay Long". last time I listened I realised the rhythm/drums on that cut are at least a little inspired by "Shot By Both Sides".

― Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I ought to hear this, I love 'metamatic' and 'mr x'.
there was a funny contretemps between k-punk and woebot about this and 'metamatic' a while ago, with the latter initially suspicious and then being surprised to find they were actually really very good....

― Owen Hatherley (owen), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

Revive! Been going thru a Foxx obsession at the moment, but I've always loved this record very, very much. It's funny to see so much love for "Can't Stay Long" on this board -- it gets none from the critics but has always been my favorite song on here by a mile. The bit coming out of the middle-8 -- "I need to drift through all the walls! I'll let the scenery dissolve!!!" is possibly Foxx's best moment ever. Also, big love for "The Quiet Men" which seems to me to be the greatest Eno song that never was.

It seems as if time has been kinder to John Foxx than posterity...

― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 2 August 2008 04:12 (seventeen years ago)

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