[.ca] Rage In Eden (W/1+ Bonus Tracks)

Very good Album:
Very good repeated synths and drums by Warren Cann. The tracks "the thin wall" and "the ascent" are truly amazing.

Ultravox...uber alles:
Rage In Eden is the 2nd Ultravox album that featured 'new'singer/guitarist Midge Ure. It was released around the same time former Ultravox lead singer John Foxx, released his album The Garden. By 1981 both had surpassed what most of their contemporaries were doing with electronic music. This album has an even drearier feel than Vienna. The overall mood of Rage In Eden captures the wintery feel of Europe perfectly. Like winter days in Germany, where you seldom see the sun...just overcast. Some standouts for me are songs 'We Stand Alone', 'I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)', 'The Thin Wall', and the 'Stranger Within'. There are more of Billy Currie's wobbly synth solos on most of the songs and some great violin(viola?) on songs 'The Thin Wall' and 'The Ascent'. Chris Cross provides some funky bass playing on the eerie 'Stranger Within'. If you listen to the title track you'll notice the haunting and unintelligible chorus. I recently found out the vocals which were recorded backwards are repeating "I remember death in the afternoon"...which is a pretty cool way to lead into the next track...'I Remember\oDeath In The Afternoon\c', one of my all time favorite Ultravox songs. The stranger, more experimental side of the band manifests itself on the songs 'The Ascent' and in particular 'Your Name Has Slipped My Mind Again', with Midge Ure's clouded vocals, loud, echoed, exploding percussion and warped sounding keyboard solo. As with all the Ultravox re-releases there are b-sides included. Here you get 'I Never Wanted To Begin' (along with an extended version) and 'Paths And Angels'. There is some beautiful piano and violin on the latter. I dont think Rage In Eden is for those who like the poppier side of early 80s synthrock. But for those who like a moodier, more atmospheric sound, then they will enjoy this.

Their best album:
For 80's synth/dance rock, this is a great album. As far as this genre is concerned, they don't get any better than "Rage in Eden". It has a dark, european underground, industrial feel that would still sound great in a dance club, today (if they weren't so saturated with that Rap garbage). A lot of bands tried to copy Ultravox's style, but (with the exception of Depeche Mode) obviously didn't have Midge Ure's voice or Ultravox's musical knowledge and precise standards. I would actually take off half a star because I find some of Ultavox's synth solos slightly irritating.

Oh I Remember....:
Just recently had the urge to pull this out of my CD collection and listen to it for the first time in a while. I agree with other reviewers who say that this is the best offering from their "quartet" of early 80s releases (in order, "Vienna", "Rage in Eden", "Quartet" and "Lament"). This CD is the strongest from beginning to end and flows seemlessly. Back in the 80s, I discovered Ultravox with "Vienna", coming from a steady diet of overblown 70s prog rock. What attracted me to Ultravox, was the intelligence of their music. There was nothing light and fluffy about this band. The keyboard arrangements are well thought out and almost classically inspired (Billy Currie after all was classically trained), and the way they used the guitars and violins/violas really was different for the era. Another thing I liked about them was how drastically they could change their sound from song to song, but without disturbing the flow or continuity of the album.. one song will be triggered synth bass and drum machines and all keyboards, the next will be live bass, drums, guitars, piano, etc... and all kinds of different variations thereof. Regardless of the instrumentation, Ultravox had an incredible way of making highly emotionally charged music... They were masters of making machines have feelings... Alot of this had to do with Midge Ure's incredible voice and his emotional guitar playing. The piano and violin/viola helped with this alot too... Basically, against the trends that were popular in the day, Ultravox had talent and weren't afraid to use it... Now for a song by song breakdown: The Voice: For some reason, Ultravox had a way of starting off an album with (in my opinion) one of its weakest songs (i.e. sleepwalk, the voice, reap the wild wind). This song is good, but only a glimpse of what is to come... (Live Drums, Live Bass, Lots of Keyboards, Piano) We Stand Alone: This song haunts me constantly... I love the keyboards, and the chorus... Midge's guitars are also used very tastefully to add to the tension... (Live Drums, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitars, Keyboards) Rage In Eden: Nice title track.... mysterious, haunting, moody... I like the backwards chorus ("Oh I remember death in the afternoon" - as someone else said.. a great lead in to the next song... very clever). Again, the guitars add lots of interesting effects and tension to this one... (Drum Machines, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitars, Keyboards) I Remember (Death in the Afternoon): Excellent song... beautiful piano, powerful drums, great melodies. (Live Drums, triggered synth bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Piano) The Thin Wall: Always one of my favorties from this CD. I love the pulsing synth bass, and the funky rhythm guitar, and Midge's vocals, but this song is really a showcase for Billy Currie... his multi tracked violins, keyboard solo and violin or viola solo... (Drum Machine, Triggered Synth Bass, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Violin, Viola) The Stranger Within: I agree with others... this is a very disturbing and paranoid song... not to be listened to in a dark house by yourself... I love the way the synth and guitar noises pop in and out to add to the eerieness... Funky Bass by Chriss Cross over very rigid machine drums. I also like how Billy Currie added real strings to the synth strings to give it a nice full texture. (Drum Machines, Real Bass, Guitar, Violin/Viola, Keyboards) Accent on Youth: Maybe a slight step down from the last few tracks... the chorus and the lead-in to the chorus are great, but the verses don't really do alot for me. (Live and Electronic Drums,Triggered Synth Bass, Keyboards, Guitar) The Ascent: Instrumental Coda to Accent on Youth... Nice transition from Live Drums in the previous track to the drum machine here. This is another showcase for Billy Currie's talent. (Drum Machine, Synth Bass, Violin, Viola, Keyboards) Your Name Has Slipped My Mind Again: I think this song is a perfect ending to this release... it strips away everything down to a stark backdrop for Midge Ure's haunting vocals. This song kind of reminds me of Queen a little... (Percussion, Piano, Processed Piano, Guitar) I Never Wanted to Begin: I love this song.. this is probably my all time favorite Ultravox B-Side. Tribal Drumming (machine and real/electronic drums), Violins/Violas, Nice keyboards, cool guitar solo, and the trademark Ultravox enigmatic lyrics. Paths and Angles: Another cool B-side.. this time with Warren Cann handling the Vocals (ala Mr X). Again.. very machine-like, but brought to life by the piano, guitar and violin/viola. I'm not sure why they included the extended version of "I never wanted to begin", it doesn't really add much to the CD, but it's cool nonetheless. Anyways... enough rambling for now... This is an amazing CD... I wish someone would wake up and release some live recordings from this era... I went to see them on the Quartet Tour and they were amazing live...

• Voice
• We Stand Alone
• Rage in Eden
• I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)
• Thin Wall
• Stranger Within
• Accent on Youth
• Ascent
• Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again)
• I Never Wanted to Begin
• Paths and Angels
• I Never Wanted to Begin \o12" Version\c