ALBUM: The Collection
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$
If you listen closely you’ll hear an occasional guitar. But you have to really listen. Ultravox is very much a synth band, and it’s not synthesizer heavy in the name of progressive rock.
Judging from this collection of 20 Ultravox tunes, the band was clearly in pursuit of the Top 40 — at least during the Midge Ure era from late 1979 to the mid 80s.
During that time they garnered seven Top 10 albums and 17 Top 40 singles in the UK.
1981’s Vienna was their biggest hit, but the band was not as successful in the US as they were in the UK. Vienna, for example, hit No. 3 in the UK while it only reached 163 in the US.
Ure became involved in charity work and co-wrote the song ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas?’ with Bob Geldof. The song is one of the biggest selling singles of all time. It was written to raise money and awareness of a great famine in Africa.
According to Wikipedia, Ure has received much recognition for his charity work and fund-raising including four honorary doctorates.