Search - Ultravox :: Very Best of (2009 Limited Edition) (Incl. Bonus DVD-PAL/Region 0)

Ultravox 1980 - 1986: Sight & Sound (CD & DVD) Remastered

Jason W. Bellenger | Byron Center, Michigan, USA | 05/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Very Best Of Ultravox

CD & DVD (this is NOT a DualDisc release as stated)

2009 Chrysalis/EMI release

CD ~ 75 minutes. Audio remastered by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road Studios in 2008 & 2009.

DVD ~ 73 minutes. Region 0 (all regions). NTSC format (not PAL format as stated on Amazon). Aspect ratio: 4:3. Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo. Produced by Abbey Road Interactive. Steve Rooke 2008/2009 digitally remastered audio re-synced by Andrew Walter.

UPC: 5 099926 672229. Made in the EU.



I love when record labels put out these kind of sight and sound packages! The 2009 'The Very Best Of Ultravox' CD/DVD package gathers 18 U.K. hit singles on CD and 17 promo videos on DVD spanning the '80s incarnation of Ultravox -- Midge Ure, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, and Warren Cann. All four of these members reunited in early 2009 for the first time since 'Live Aid' in 1985 in order to tour the U.K. and celebrate their 30th anniversary, releasing this special collection in order to coincide with the occasion!



The Ultravox '80s reissue campaign started in late 2008 with the 2-CD re-mastered definitive edition of 'Vienna', following with additional 2-disc editions of 'Rage In Eden', 'Quartet', and 'Monument' in early 2009. Sliding in during this campaign is this excellent sight and sound package from Chrysalis/EMI, released in April 2009. Of the 18 tracks featured on the CD a whopping 15 of them placed in the U.K. Top 40!



I've been looking forward to this kind of package from Ultravox for quite a while now since I`m not really that familiar with their hits and back catalogue and have been curious to discover more. One can imagine my excitement when I first read about this release. It's not often that record companies combine stunning audio and video in one package!



All audio tracks have been digitally re-mastered by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road Studios in 2008 and 2009. Seven-inch/single versions, mixes, and edits have been used whenever possible as well (see the tracklisting provided by Amazon), giving fans the chance to hear them as originally played on the radio and issued on 7" vinyl. It's worth noting, too, for those picky about sound quality, that the music has not been brick-walled to death, meaning that the audio is not overly loud. While everyone has different preferences when it comes to audio compression, and frankly I'm fine with brick-walled sound most of the time, the audio restoration is impeccable!



I don't think that these recordings have ever sounded this crisp and clean. One can hear that painstaking work went in to transferring and re-mastering this music from the original master tapes. I really appreciate it! The clarity of tracks like "All Stood Still", "Lament", and "The Thin Wall" have left me "dancing with tears in my eyes".



I was pleasantly surprised with the DVD as well since Abbey Road Interactive, the studio which produced this DVD and has compiled other music DVDs for the EMI branch, can be hit and miss. While the work from this studio is almost always good sometimes videos are not all presented in their best audio and visual form. Fortunately, all promo videos have been re-synced with the 2008/2009 digitally re-mastered audio, and video quality, considering the age, is good as well.



On another note, this DVD is actually NTSC format, not PAL format as stated by Amazon (thanks to Brendan for pointing this out to me!) I had the privilege of watching these promos on a big screen plasma tv and was quite surprised at how grainy some of the earlier videos are. It's different watching them on a huge screen versus a laptop screen. Maybe the quality has something to do with the conversion to NTSC from PAL, the standard format in which these videos were recorded. I would be curious to know what kind of, if any, effect that this conversion had on the quality. For a European release why weren't these presented in PAL anyway? That's the standard format!



I am no visual expert, but based on other promos that I've viewed on similar releases of this era they all still look about as good as I have expected them to be. I am not expecting the clear and vibrant picture of today's standards because it is simply not present on the original tapes. Having these promos, including the uncut clip of "Vienna" and the uncensored cut of "Visions In Blue", on DVD for the first time is enticing enough!



I must admit that I only really discovered Ultravox about 5 or 6 years ago after hearing a handful of their tracks on '80s Internet radio stations and `80s compilations that I`ve added to my own music collection. "Vienna", their biggest hit -- #2 in the U.K. for 4 weeks and #1 in Belgium, Ireland, and Holland -- amazingly never charted on the U.S. Hot 100. In Europe and around the world it is often cited as a masterpiece and classic, even ranking #1 on the countdown of the Top 75 songs of the 1980s by BJMA in 2008. It's amazing how many songs never made the charts in the U.S. yet are regarded as iconic recordings elsewhere. No matter how many more times "Vienna" will be licensed for future collections I will still never tire of it! It never gets old!



In the U.S., however, Ultravox are probably best known for the lone Hot 100 chart single, "Reap The Wild Wind", #71 in 1983, and managing to chart most of their albums in the lower half of the Billboard 200 Albums tally despite only gathering scattered radio airplay. Elsewhere, "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", a #3 U.K. smash and massive single throughout Europe in 1984, is probably the band's second most familiar cut after "Vienna". However, these guys have so much more to offer than these best-known hits. Want to discover more of their Top 40 placements? Start here!"

GreatFor the price

Jose Fontana | atlanta ga | 06/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"for the price it was a steal if you love 80's music you will love this music and video cd it's missing a couple of really good videos but let's look at the bright side it contains many great ones.if new wave is your thing buy it."