• Voto:
Per sintesi di massimi sistemi, pochi gruppi come gli Ultravox hanno incarnato a tutto tondo l'idea - in sé già sconfinata- di new wave. Un gruppo partito con tante chitarre, giubbotti di pelle, un nome col punto esclamativo da tradizione old school, presto mutati in candide mise new romantic, trucco, simbologie decadenti, voglia di sperimentare e soprattutto abbracciare le infinite possibilità degli ammalianti territori sintetici. La lancetta scatta nel lontano 1976, e non si potrà certo dimenticare il talento del defezionario John Foxx, un cantante fragile ed esteta che sembrava uscito da un'altra epoca, la mente visionaria delle prime tematiche care al progetto, su tutte, quella dell'ambiguo e inquietante rapporto uomo-macchina. Ma è con l'ingresso del nuovo vocalist Midge Ure che gli Ultravox trovano la definitiva consacrazione, smussando gli angoli più ruvidi del loro sound in favore di soluzioni melodiche avvincenti e mai banali, in grado quasi sempre di marcare le classifiche. "Vienna" è il primo esempio di questa svolta, un disco fortunato anche sul piano commerciale, grazie al suo connubio di trame sintetiche ed armonie classicheggianti su cui risalta la voce potente e modulata del neo leader .
Appena una stagione dopo, ecco "Rage in Eden", un lavoro che, proseguendo sulla scia del predecessore, si presenta da subito più maturo e curato, in virtù di una migliore amalgama tra elettronica e suoni tradizionali, stavolta di matrice più rock. La melodia tipica alla Ultravox si sprigiona in tutta la sua potenza in episodi trascinanti quali l'incipit "The Voice", da consegnare agli annali della new wave, e la robotica "The Thin Wall", riscaldata dai sapienti rintocchi di synth e dalla calda voce di Ure. Ma "Rage in Eden" rivela anche un orientamento più introverso, in particolare, quando i ritmi rallentano, e le atmosfere si fanno ipnotiche, se non proprio cupe. La title track, ad esempio, avanza come una lenta processione funebre da civiltà post-atomica, mentre "I Remember" alterna armonie scorrevoli e delicate ad un refrain fatto di minacciosi cori crepuscolari. Importante sottolineare anche il ruolo delle chitarre, ora di appannaggio del solo Ure, che, pur presenti ad intermittenza, quando chiamate in causa sanno ritagliarsi momenti epici di grande impatto: vedi gli arpeggi "fenderiani" e l'ottimo assolo di "We Stand Alone", uno dei brani migliori del disco, oppure le pennellate policrome sopra il boogie futurista di "Accent Of Youth". Chiude l'opera "Your Name", ancora con qualcosa di sinistro ma in realtà votata alla più ermetica sperimentazione.
Dopo i buoni indizi di "Vienna", dunque, con "Rage in Eden" i nuovi Ultravox di Midge Ure prendono coscienza di poter andare lontano, cavalcando un art rock che in sostanza non scontenta nessuno: né gli amanti delle melodie orecchiabili da classifica, né i cultori di certa new wave più glaciale e raffinata. E se in futuro l'inclinazione commerciale del gruppo assumerà contorni sin troppo evidenti, questo episodio discografico va a collocarsi al meglio tra i due poli di pensiero, rappresentando così un ottimo sunto di differenti umori e colori della "nuova onda". Per gli amanti di quegli anni, una testimonianza imperdibile; per neofiti e curiosi, non saranno comunque mai soldi buttati.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 The Voice (06:01)
Native these words seem to me
All speech directed to me
I've heard them once before
I know that feeling
Stranger emotions in mind
Changing the contours I find
I've seen them once before
Someone cries to me
Oh, the look and the sound of the voice
They try, they try
Oh, the shape and the power of the voice
In strong low tones
Forceful and twisting again
Wasting the perfect remains
I've felt it once before
Slipping over me
Oh, the look and the sound of the voice
They try, they try
Oh, the shape and the power of the voice
In strong low tones
Sweetly the voices decay
Draw on the lines that they say
I'd lost it once before
Now it cries to me
Oh, the look and the sound of the voice
They try, they try
Oh, the shape and the power of the voice
In strong low tones
Oh, the look and the power of the voice
they try
Oh, the shape and the sound of the voice
In strong low tones
03 Rage in Eden (04:12)
We sit and watch these lifeless forms
Stark and petrified
The high suspense of an empty stage
Drawing in clutching to its breast
With murmured words we sigh and focus on the main facade
Beyond the hard reluctant windows
News from magazines
We wrote their names on books we'd borrowed
As if to bring us closer still
And threw it all away to focus on the main facade
Rage in Eden jigsaw sequence
But no one could see the end
And they were the new gods
And they shone on high
Their heavy perfume of the night
Sucked them down in red tide
All is through the looking glass focus on the main facade
Rage in Eden jigsaw sequence
But no one could see the end
Disciples of the new way
Portraits in the sand
See when they run their longest mile
Holding caps in wet hand
Eyes upon them try to focus on the main facade
Rage In Eden jigsaw sequence
But no one could see the end
04 I Remember (Death in the Afternoon) (04:59)
We turned the dial, we heard the news and laughed, we don't know why
We drank the wine and spoke of times we knew of days gone by
We flicked through photographs we had, somehow they made us sad
Remembering the times we used to have, it made us cry
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
A silence fell about the room with harsh and heavy calm
The lovers and the friends all felt the same, it kept us warm
We raised our glass and drank to times we had, but'd see no more
The pictures of the past would haunt us still, and there remains
Oh I remember death in the afternoon
(Repeat chorus 2 times)
05 The Thin Wall (05:41)
The sound is on the visions move
The image dance starts once again
They shuffle with a bovine grace and glide in syncopation
Just living lines from books we've read
With atmospheres of days gone by
With paper smiles
The screenplay calls a message for the nation
Chorus:
And those who sneer will fade and die
And those who laugh will surely fall
And those who know will always feel their backs against the thin wall
The thin wall
Thin wall
Grey men who speak of victory
Shed light upon their stolen life
They drive by night and act as if they're moved by unheard music
To step in time and play the part
With velvet voices smooth and cold
Their power games a game no more
And long the chance to use it
(Chorus)
And those who dance will spin and turn
And those who wait will wait no more
And those talk will hear the word
And those who sneer will fade and die
And those who laugh will surely fall
And those who know will always feel their backs against the thin wall
The thin wall
Thin wall
The thin wall (Repeat 3 times)
And those who dance
The thin wall
And those who talk
The thin wall
And those who sneer
The thin wall
And those who laugh
The thin wall
And those who know
The thin wall
And those who dance
The thin wall
And those who wait
The thin wall
And those who talk
(Fade)
07 Accent on Youth (04:44)
What is this phase that I am going through
O these precious years
Please take my hand and let me breathe again
Young depressive tears
We stumble blindly chasing something new and something sinful
You take my time you live my life for me
What have I done to rate this penalty
You suck me dry
My body cries
We stumble blindly chasing instant thrills and lasting memories
Accent on youth
Attention O
Ascends on you
O O
I scream with frustration and lost control
Open for the blows
My hands fall limp and hang down at my side
Take my soul and go
We stumble blindly chasing dancing lights and others' wishes
(Chorus)
Just let me close my eyes and slip away
Dream a dream alone
You give me just enough rope for the task
Let this man alone
We stumble blindly chasing silhouettes and vacant faces
So well rehearsed our moves once so grateful turn against us
We stalk dark passages, we're looking for that sweet surrender
(Chorus)
08 The Ascent (02:19)
There dosent seem to be any lyrics for The Ascent, unless those lyrics are
slowed or sped up greatly. The Ascent seems to be entirely music. I have the Rage In Eden CD, and I've listened to the Ascent a dozen times, and still nothing
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