Ultravox - Systems of Romance

Title: Systems of Romance Artist: Ultravox Release Date: 12/1978 Re-Released On: 8/9/2004 Label: Mystine, Polygram Album Type(s): lyrics/libretto UPCs: 042284615822, 4988011357176, 0042284615822, 016253706910 Genre: Rock Styles: Prog-Rock, New Wave, Post-Punk, Alternative/Indie Rock, Punk/New Wave, Dance-Rock Moods: Detached, Dramatic, Stylish, Brooding, Epic, Sophisticated, Tense/Anxious, Theatrical, Yearning, Dreamy, Gloomy, Lush, Passionate, Refined/Mannered, Cathartic, Intimate, Melancholy, Plaintive Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 3 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Slow Motion
2. I Can't Stay Long
3. Someone Else's Clothes
4. Blue Light
5. Some of Them
6. Quiet Men
7. Dislocation
8. Maximum Acceleration
9. When You Walk Through Me
10. Just for a Moment

Year Type Label Catalog # 2004 CD Polygram 846158 1998 CD Mystine 4860

Systems of Romance [Bonus Tracks] Systems of Romance [Japan Bonus Track]

With 1978's Systems of Romance, Ultravox! left punk behind and single-handedly blue-printed the entire New Romantic movement to come -- well, 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 (and mundane) 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. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide

Name Credits Billy Currie Violin, Synthesizer, Keyboards Chris Cross Vocals, Bass, Synthesizer Dave Hutchins Producer, Engineer John Foxx Vocals Konrad Plank Producer Ultravox Producer Warren Cann Drums, Percussion