Background
This album was the first for Ultravox with the new (today called "the classic") lineup: Midge Ure had taken the reins of the band as bandleader, vocalist and guitarist after the departure of John Foxx, and it was also the first release under Chrysalis Records. Additionally, it was also the first massive commercial success for the band. Ultravox effectively changed pace, style and audience with the arrival of Ure, who had already participated in early New Romantic ventures with Visage and actually steered the ensemble in that direction for the years to come.
Many different styles are in use on the album; "Astradyne" is a long instrumental featuring sweeping, majestic synthesizer arrangements throughout, while "Mr. X" is a simpler, much sparser affair. The lyrics to the album's songs were mainly written between Ure and drummer Warren Cann, who also takes a rare lead vocal on "Mr. X".
For Vienna, the band decided to once again work with renowned producer Conny Plank, notorious for his work with German synthetists Kraftwerk, as they did on their previous album Systems of Romance. The tracks were mixed at Plank's studio near Cologne, Germany.
The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 2000 under the EMI Gold label. This release also includes a selection of b-sides from the album's singles as bonus tracks and the music video for the "Vienna" single.
The definitive version of the Vienna album (released Sept 22nd 2008) is a double remastered CD including rare and previously unreleased tracks on the 2nd CD.
Read more about this topic: Vienna (album)
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