Probabilmente il miglior album degli Ultravox in assoluto, l'omonimo brano è semplicemente fantastico, vi è un'armonia perfetta tra strumenti tipici della musica classica e strumenti tipici della musica rock e l'atmosfera è quasi tangibile. Un capolavoro, una pietra miliare.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 New Europeans (04:05)
In a quiet street washed by the rain, the room within the home.
A lonely man sits cheek to cheek, with unique designs in chrome.
The mellow years have long gone by, but now he sits alone.
He has a brand new radio, but never turns it on.
Chorus:
New Europeans.
Young Europeans.
New Europeans.
A photograph of lovers lost, lies pressed in magazines.
Her eyes belong to a thousand girls, she's the wife who's never seen.
Their educated son has left, in search of borrowed dreams.
His television's in his bed, he's frozen to the screen.
(Chorus)
On a crowded beach washed by the sun, he puts his headphones on.
His modern world revolves around the synthesizer's song.
Full of future thoughts and thrills, his senses slip away.
He's a European legacy, a culture for today.
(Chorus)
Young Europeans.
03 Private Lives (04:07)
All the boys are wearing blue tonight.
We'll thrive, we'll dive, how can we lose?
All the strangers walk like you tonight.
So tall, we fall for every move.
We'll laugh and talk,
Don't stop for breath,
In these our private lives.
We dance 'til dawn,
As they beat the drums,
For all our private lives.
Close your eyes and use the melody,
Who cares who stares under the light?
See the shadow tailing me again,
It shows, it glows, and it grabbed so bright.
04 Passing Strangers (03:50)
We were so young, we were too vain.
Dance in the dark, sing in the rain.
Time on our hands, hope in our hearts.
(Chorus)
We were talking, passing strangers.
Moments caught across an empty room.
Wasted whispers, faded secrets.
Quickly passes, time goes, time goes by too soon.
We stood alone, silent and proud.
Moments unknown, lost in a crowd.
Running through memories like thieves in the night.
Clutching emotions, holding too tight.
Hold turns to dust, shattered by light.
(Repeat chorus 3 times and fade)
05 Sleepwalk (03:12)
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Rolling and falling
I'm choking and calling
Name after name after name
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Naked and bleeding
The streetlights stray by me
Hurting my eyes with their glare
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Helplessly breaking
Exchanging my faces
Destined, we had to collide
Sleepwalk!
Taut on the outside
I'm crumpling and crawling
Watching the day drag away
Spiralling deeper
I can't feel my fingers
Grip round my throat as I dream
Dream, dream (echo)
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
Sleepwalk
06 Mr. X (06:33)
I found the perfect picture, of a perfect stranger.
It looked as if, it were taken in the forties sometime,
Judging by the style.
He could be a killer or a blind man with a cane,
Perhaps he died in a car crash, years ago.
Right now, it's impossible to tell.
I almost thought I saw him, standing, whistling on a bridge.
I asked him the time, but when he turned around,
I saw it wasn't him at all.
I'm still searching.
I'm still searching.
I saw him in an airport, while he was sitting on a wing.
And I waved to him, but I don't think he noticed me.
I've got a funny feeling I know who he is.
Mr. X (Repeat 14 times and fade)
07 Western Promise (05:18)
Hai!
Oh mystical East, on old postcards,
Your childhood dreams and energies.
Your temples' gardens, old world charm,
An ancient culture, torn and scarred.
This is my Western promise.
Oh mystical East, you've lost your way,
Your rising sun shall rise again.
My Western world gives out her hand,
A victor's help to your fallen land.
This is my Western promise.
Hai!
Mystical East, all taxi-cabs,
All ultra-neon, sign of the times.
Your Buddha Zen and Christian man,
All minions to messiah Pepsi can.
This is my Western promise.
08 Vienna (04:54)
Walked in the cold air
Freezing breath on a window pane
Lying and waiting
A man in the dark in a picture frame
So mystic and soulful
A voice reaching out in a piercing cry
It stays with you until
The feeling has gone only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
The music is weaving
Haunting notes, pizzicato strings
The rhythm is calling
Alone in the night as the daylight brings
A cool empty silence
The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky
It fades to the distance
The image has gone only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
This means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
09 All Stood Still (04:22)
The lights went out
(the last fuse blew)
The clocks all stopped
(it can't be true)
The program's wrong
(what can we do?)
The printout's blocked
(it relied on you)
The turbine cracked up
The buildings froze up
The system choked up
What can we do?
Please remember to mention me
In tapes you leave behind
We stood still
We all stood still
Still stood still
We're standing still
The screen shut down
(there's no reply)
The lifts all fall
(a siren cries)
And the radar fades
(a pilot sighs)
As the countdowns stall
(the readout lies)
The turbines cracked up
The buildings froze up
The system choked up
What can we do?
Please remember to mention me
In tapes you leave behind
We stood still
We all stood still
Still stood still
We're standing still
The black box failed
(the codes got crossed)
And the jails decayed
(the keys got lost)
Everyone kissed
(we breathe exhaust)
In the new arcade
(of the holocaust)
The turbine cracked up
The buildings froze up
The system choked up
What can we do?
Plese remember to mention me
In tapes you might leave behind
We stood still
We all stood still
Still stood still
We're standing still
We stood still
We all stood still
Still stood still
We're standing still
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di egebamyasi
Nessuno come gli Ultravox di Ure ha saputo trapiantare nelle sonorità 'commerciali' quel senso di decadenza mitteleuropea.
'Vienna' è un piccolo capolavoro, che dice molto del periodo in cui è stato concepito.
Di AJM
"Midge Ure... guarda in direzione completamente opposta rispetto agli altri, la direzione è chiara: Vienna, cuore dell'Europa centrale."
"La title-track è un gelido e oscuro ritratto delle speranze che vanno perse in uno scroscio d'acqua ai lati delle strade buie."
Di Battlegods
Gli Ultravox simboleggiano la paura verso la tecnologia, la globalizzazione e lo stato aleatorio in cui versa l’uomo moderno.
A conclusione dell’opera si viene rapiti dalla classe di “Vienna”, senza dubbio l’evergreen di un genere.
