Ultravox!: Live At The Rainbow 1977 (Island Records)
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Off the bat, the only information we have on this album is the very title: Ultravox! - Live At The Rainbow 1977. Beyond that, no other information. No listing of musicians, or liner notes explaining this album in the context of Ultravox’s history and place. And even worse, no announcement on the sleeve that this record is 45 rpm speed. Or maybe it’s meant to be played in both speeds, as a chance piece such as a work by John Cage. I believe there is more information on a bootleg, so considering that this album is released by Island Records, well, it’s a tad shocking.
Music-wise, not a disappointment whatsoever. I have the first three Ultravox! albums with John Foxx as the lead singer and primary author of their songs. Foxx left the band around 1978, and amazingly enough, the rest of the band stuck together and added Midge Ure to their line-up, where they had great commercial success. And I like the Midge years, but I prefer the Foxx era.
The Brian Eno/Steve Lillywhite production of their first album seems to slow down their live sound into something more hypnotic and bring out the melodies. Live, their sound is more punk-orientated. I have read commentary that Ultravox is a combination of the Sex Pistols and Roxy Music, and that comparison is not that far off. At least the way the live album is mastered or put together is like one force of energy, where there is no space between the songs. The music is in your face, and I have heard that early Ultravox! shows in clubs had touches of violence within their audience. I found all that surprising because when I hear the Ultravox! studio albums, they strick me as being mannered and thoughtful. Live is another landscape where their aggression of the music comes out.
For years I have thought of Ultravox! as being under the umbrella of Roxy Music, like so many other bands of that era. This would include Howard Devoto’s Magazine, the band Japan, and I would also put Ultravox! in that category. All those bands are driven by knowledge of literature, film, and the visual arts. But listening to Live At The Rainbow 1977, I sense traces of Suede. Both bands capture the sense of England as a JG Ballard landscape, where the future is now, with touches of the past, such as memory of fleeting British life. Especially the issue of youth in such a culture.
Again, it’s a pity that Island Records didn’t make this package more informative. I feel that this is a lost opportunity, but then there is the music. Played fast, hard, and with exceptional musicianship. I’m happy to have a live recording of “Slip Away,” my favorite cut on their first album. In theory, the live album wasn’t released until now for Record Store Day; 1977 was a very fruitful year for Ultravox! The first album and their second Ha! Ha! Ha! were all pretty magnificent.