Re: Most underrated Ultravox

Heard "Autonomy" by the Buzzcocks this morning - one of my favorite tunes by the 'Cocks, but not one I ever hear talked about very much. So I nominate it as the most underrated song by the Buzzcocks.

Others:

Television - "Torn Curtain"
The Clash - "Innoculated City"
Blondie - "Detroit 442"
Elvis Costello - "Tiny Steps"
Patti Smith - "Distant Fingers"
Ultravox - "When You Walk Through Me"
Radiohead - "Let Down"



Post Edited (09-10-07 12:45)

These are songs that are in the top 1 or 2 of my favorite songs by the respective artist but do not seem to ever come in discussion of the artist or the album that it appeared on, and definitely do not appear on any Greatest Hits album. I am trying to pick songs that are actully in my 1 or 2 favorite, without being purposefully obscurist. And I am trying not to overlap with my thoughts on underrated albums.

The Fall - Cab It Up: To me, this is the most kick-ass of all Fall songs but nobody mentions it, even when discussing Kurious Oranj. That little one finger keyboard riff is the catchiest icepick you can get through the forehead.

The Beach Boys - Girl Dont Tell Me: God, I love this song. Why is this song not regarded as one of their greatest achievements?

Lou Reed - Turn To Me: From his most underrated album, New Sensations. Really really fun song.

Bruce Springsteen - Wild Bill's Circus Story: The absurd lyrics to this song makes me laugh every time and it has some pathos to it. Maybe I have watched Santa Sangre too many times.

Rolling Stones - Fingerprint File: OK, this is being a little obscurist, but I do love this song.

The Church - Another World: I think the album title Hologram of Baal was so horrible it prevented anyone from ever hearing this song.

Steely Dan - Doctor Wu
Elton John - My Father's Gun.: Two random classic rock selections

Prince - Lady Cab Driver: From 1999. The pornographic section of this song still makes my repressed self squirm in discomfort but this has to be the funkiest song of his career.

Guided By Voices - Dirty Water: Their best song ever? Came near the end so no-one seems aware of it.

The Replacements - Seen Your Video: Rarely mentioned in discussions of Let It Be. Unconventional song structure but the guitars keep coming in and keep gaining power. Brilliantly conceived and executed.

Carcass - Feast On Dismembered Carnage: I always thought this was a charming little tune.

Husker Du - Newest Industry: Devastating intensity.

Van Morrison - You Know What They're Writing About: A rambling song which only really makes sense in the context of the album but is as powerful as anything on Astral Weeks.

Joni Mitchell - Catcus Tree: From her first album. Heart-renching in its beauty.

Led Zeppelin - Rain Song: Is this the most brilliantly executed song in the history of rock music? Possibly.

Morrissey - Irish Blood English Heart: His best solo song by far.

The Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain: The Smith's most beautiful moment in my opinion.

Roxy Music - Mother Of Pearl: My impression is that this song is underappreciated though I've never really been able to penetrate the Roxy Music subculture to understand its true status..

A Tribe Called Quest - The Vibe
LL Cool J - Mr Goodbar: I dont think I have enough credibility on rap to explain why these two incredible songs are underappreciated.

Sonic Youth - Free City Rhymes: From a much-despised album.

The Cure - Lullaby: To me, clearly their most beautfil song. This is on the greatest hits album but every Cure fan I ever met downplays this song for some reason. This might be a different topic than general underappreciation: fans of a group who downplay the group's best song for ideological reasons.

The dbS - Lonely Is As Lonely Does: Really achingly beautiful lyrics. Much better than anything on the overly arty first couple of records.

The Who - The Dirty Jobs: I consider this transcendent level Who, only one notch below Wont Get Fooled Again, but have never met anyone who shared this view.

Van Halen - Little Guitars: Forget about that boring first VH record. This song is the peak of Eddie's power.

Pixies - Letter to Memphis: The 2 songs for the price of one at the end of side one of Trompe Le Monde include some of the hottest power chords in alterna-rock history.

i'll just reuse your list

I have a hard time knowing how these songs are valued in the first place, but let me put in a strong endorsement of "Hologram of Baal" by the Church. It's packed with wonderful music.

Another Earth is one of many should-have-been-hits from that band. Glow-worm is probably no less accessable, while Buffalo contains what may be Kilbey's most affecting lyric ever. Louisiana is only a half-step down in quality from Buffalo. The Great Machine and Tranquility are wonderful hypnotic tracks, while No Certainty Attached is a fine rocker.

Baal isn't a perfect album, but I'd rank it in the top three of a long and very fruitful career.

And as an aside, I even like the noisy, meandering jamming of the "Bastard Universe" bonus disc.



Post Edited (09-10-07 14:10)

does Ultravox have one good song? I was in the process of transferring their greatest hits album to mp3, and I was so bored with it that I didn't even make it to side B. Luckily I only paid $0.50 for the record.

Depends on which configuration you're talking about, Ure or Foxx. Personally, I love em both, but I have much less patience with Ure-travox (post-VIENNA, anyway) than I do with Ultra-foxx. Most likely you've got the Ure greatest hits, and he tended to be a bit operatic in his ambitions.

So even though I am a fan of either version of Uvox, I won't argue with anyone who is bored by the Ure version. I'm not, but I can see why someone would be.

imo, 3 good Long Players:
Systems of Romance
Vienna
Quartet

There are several greatest hits packages, some better than others.
But, obviously you don't care for them.
People on this board think Vienna is the best.

I love "Ha! Ha! Ha!", especially the berserk single version of "Hiroshima Mon amor" included on the CD reissue that blows away the album version.

Later Ultravox gets too slick for me, like "Systems of Romance," but "Vienna" is a stunner.

I might've been in a bad mood that day or something. I had my hopes high... I like a lot of the bands that Ultravox is lumped in with, and I heard that album and nothing at all grabbed me. I thought *something* might on a Greatest Hits album (it was called "The Collection").

The Beach Boys - Feel Flows
David Bowie - Panic In Detroit
Bob Dylan - Heart Of Mine
Gram Parsons - The Angels Rejoiced
The Dead - Mississippi Half Step
Thunders - Little Bit Of Whore
Replacements - IOU
The Stones - Sweet Lady Jane
Ryan Adams - Blossom
T.Rex - Chrome Sitar
VU - Ride into the Sun (demo on Reloaded)

Give "Sleepwalk," "Passing Strangers" and "All Stood Still" another listen, and move on from there. If those don't grab you, then, nah, nothing else on that disc is likely to, either.

ultravox is also best on a better stereo; it needs to be at symphonic levels and with bass that pushes your chest in
on ear buds? don't even bother

The Collection is a best-of from Ultravox's recordings with Midge Ure — which, as others have said on this thread, have their drawbacks. For the band's recordings with John Foxx, The Island Years is a good compilation.

Several of Foxx's solo albums also are worth a listen; check out the TP entry for more details.

IMO, Rage in Eden is the best Ultravox album from the Ure era. Vienna may have had better singles, but Rage flows more the way a good album should.

For better or worse, Midge Ure is largely responsible for the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?"