Why turn a perfectly good E minor to a slightly chromatic C? How many guitar effect racks did Midge consume to record that solo? What is the use of a drum roll after the verse has started? Who died anyway?
...as one by one the tracks go down, so do my wonderings, and, by the time the piano/synth theme fades into deep reverb, all I'm left with is a certain thought: I won't believe such a song can be written. Don't want to. Being something like a guitarist myself, a kind of keyboard player, your basic bass player, amateur singer and composer in spirit, this is too hard to handle. I desperately want to believe that Ultravox actually dug the thing up on some remote shore in Wales, or it was whispered to them by one of those spirits that reside in the Calanish standing stones. Please?

Ten years have passed now, but that feeling haunts me still. You can find it in the tunes of Sleepwalk. You can find it in the lyrics of Man of two worlds. You can find it in a thousand other places around four unique records destined to alter the history of music forever. Because, whether people realise it or not, Ultravox did just that. Big time.

It's more than the videoclip of Vienna being the point of reference for every videoclip director ever since. More than their songs like Hymn and Dancing with tears in my eyes participating in that very limited selection of chart hits that people do not get bored with, but actually keep on liking and whistle to themselves on occasion. It's that when everybody's content to listen to "Born to be wild", you don't go spending six months in Conny's working on a production hardly anybody will appreciate or even comprehend. It's that when groups that use arbitrary lyrics are all the rage at the time, you don't go writing songs about them, and calling them "disciples of the new wave" while at it. It's that when your first album is such a success, you don't change your style altogether, and when the second scores just as well, you attribute it to sheer luck, thank God, and don't go doing it again!

Well, they did. They never achieved world-wide recognition, but made history instead. Look at Alles Klar. Check Visions In Gray. Understand what you can on Micke's Homepage. They set high standards in lyricism, music composition, videoclip direction, concerts and production that everybody else would have to follow in order to keep up. There have been several bands witn direct Ultravox influences, like Stealth, who later went on to become New Europeans, and Tron, but even of the groups that existed at the time, there is none today that failed to do just that just then, keeping, thus, the spirit of Ultravox alive. I wonder what they would have to say about them...

Oblivion never came. With an increasing number of dedicated fans like Caroline Allen, who used to host Ultrafixion, Midge playing on his own still, Billy constantly releasing new material, Warren all around the net, and a tireless Fan Club, namely Extreme Voice, there is little chance of that happening. And even when history decides to seal the whole thing off, the idea will live on within the few among us who are restless, ever-moving and risky. For it takes such traits to turn it into a victory when you're caught from the inside. You have to be the type that knows the only thing to do is to move on. Or, more appropriately:

we go

The "silent" man of the band, he has received the least exposure, which has more likely been a personal decision, rather than inability to impress.
About his contribution to the composition I couldn't tell, but apart from the (un)usual synthesizer work, he carried the tunes on solid bass rhythms with 'easy' slap passes and colourful basslines, like the solo of Passing Strangers which is very reminiscent of the ones that made David Bowie famous.
After the band split, he was the only one not to pursue a musical career any further, but has been studying and working upon a different topic altogeher, and still keeps a very low profile. The silent man, indeed.

Cool! Mr. Cann has been discussed, speculated and wondered about more than any of the rest. Who had been mostly regarded as a bona fide drummer (no toms at all, thank you very much) but little more, turned out to be able to radically change the band's style by simply not being there for once... and the fact that he had been asked to leave couldn't seem to console anybody anymore.
A musician with a varied past, he plays the guitar and the synthesizer as well. Although he lives in LA now, he is always in touch with Ultravox fans. His agenda has included this site, which was deeply appreciated.

The sound of Ultravox, as he has been accurately described, he is not among the founders as he only joined the group late in 1973. He is certainly the longer-lasting, though, as he up until recently maintained the name along with four refugees from the hard rock scene.
Billy is musically beyond criticism, even mere commentation, and this is abundantly clear on his personal Transportation album. A skillfully arranged series of 8 masterpieces, where once more, together with Steve Howe, they set new standards to the new age scene.
His music has been a companion for all times and a guide through the long dark tunnel of musical education I never got, and I'd often feel a strange sense of relief on hearing the same old sounds again - Thank you Billy!

Welcome the frontman! Watch him run through corridors in black and white! Listen to him influence numerous guitarists with his unique style! Feel the passion in his voice as he sings Visions in blue !
Midge was the initial spark, and, very probably, the "stylist" of the group. He is responsible for the 'traveling' lyrics, the quitar riffs and solos and breaks, and a moustache at times. He plays solo quite succesfully now, tours around a lot, which is expectable of him, and rides a Harley so as to signify that nobody's perfect...