Systems Of Romance

Performer: Ultravox
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: This third release from U.K. pop band Ultravox includes "Some Of Them" and "Can't Stay Long." With 1978's SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE, Ultravox! left punk behind and single-handedly blue-printed the entire New Romantic movement to come (with a little help from co-producers Conny Planck and Dave Hutchins). Gone was the brittleness of HA!-HA!-HA!, replaced by a rich lushness of sound that would define the forthcoming genre. Shifting from the political to the inter-personal, gone too was the overwhelming sense of looming Armageddon, replaced by more generalized feelings of alienation, "Dislocation," and unease. "Quiet Men" is a Lowry painting brought to life, the chorus of "Slow Motion" a swaying field painted by Renoir, "I Can't Stay Long" a Degas ballet, while "Maximum Acceleration" is as lavish in sound as Botticelli was with paint. The rhythms still remained dangerous, however, and Robin Simon's guitar gives the set a tough edge, but it's the swirling, swooping synths and keyboards that predominate within.

Ultravox rose up out of Britain's late-'70s punk movement, adding a dark, moody touch to the sonic din. But before long Ultravox was incorporating synthesizers and a pronounced art-rock influence. In both their initial incarnation with singer John Foxx (who went on to a highly influential solo career) and their later phase with Midge Ure, they were enormously influential to the burgeoning new romantic and synth-pop scenes. In the 21st century, their synth-based, distinctly European sound would inspire a whole new generation of bands who took their cue from '80s electro-pop and were eventually gathered under the umbrella term "Electroclash."

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