Lament
	Produced by Ultravox
	Released on April 1984
	UK CHART POSITION #8 . . . US CHART POSITION #115
	Find it at GEMM
FV 41459 cover [high resolution scan]

I went into this wearing black, lamenting the loss of another revolutionary icon to the lure of new romantic luchre, but I’ve got no business being sad with Lament. This is probably the best of the Ure era after Vienna, scads prettier than Eden anyway. The sound is vintage Vienna, the romantic ideals not nearly as obvious as a “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” might have you think, the sum effect is Japan under the shadow of Ultravox (with the little bowie banzai bushes that invariably grow there). The best track on here is “Lament.” Love it. The rest of the record is remarkably solid; kind of “The Thin Wall” stacked sevenfold. The songs feature brighter passages than Vienna’s dark corridors. However, Lament takes Vienna’s achievement as its foundation. The players appear in the same roles, ply the same sounds, work with the same cold colors in making Lament’s music. Rage In Eden wanted to be a difficult record; Lament doesn’t. Its purpose is finely crafted, new romantic music. The one facet missing for me is the band’s fascination with displacement: “Dislocation,” “Vienna,” “Mr. X,” “I Remember (Death in the Afternoon).” Ultravox’ original coolness factor hinged on their dispassionate observations (the whole electronic movement, really), and with the new romantic shift they just became so, well, engaged. “The Voice” seemed like overkill, “Man of Two Worlds” too, and don’t even get me started on OMD. But Lament isn’t simply a case of subverting art to commercialism; it’s an artistic expression of commercial interests. Architects design banks, painters are commissioned by corporations, and Ultravox can make popular dance music about romance. That they do it skillfully on Lament is a cause for joy.

TRACK LISTING

1. WHITE CHINA    3:50
2. ONE SMALL DAY    4:38
3. DANCING WITH TEARS IN MY EYES    4:39
4. LAMENT    4:40
5. MAN OF TWO WORLDS    4:27
6. HEART OF THE COUNTRY    5:05
7. WHEN THE TIME COMES    4:56
8. A FRIEND I CALL DESIRE    5:09
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
9. EASTERLY
10. BUILDING
11. HEART OF THE COUNTRY (INSTRUMENTAL)
12. MAN OF TWO WORLDS (INSTRUMENTAL)
13. WHITE CHINA (SPECIAL MIX)
14. ONE SMALL DAY (REMIX)
15. LAMENT (REMIX)
    
    Tracks 1-8 written by Billy Currie/Midge Ure/Chris Cross/Warren Cann

CREDITS

WARREN CANN --
CHRIS CROSS --
BILLY CURRIE --
MIDGE URE --
Debbie Doss -- backing vocals (8)
Mae McKenna -- Gaelic vocals (5)
Shirley Roden -- backing vocals (8)
Amanda Woods, Jacky Woods, Margaret Roseberry, Robert Woollard -- string quartet (6)
Rik Walton -- engineer
John Hudson -- mix engineer
Scottish Development Department -- photograph of standing stones
Peter Saville Associates -- sleeve design

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