As a hardcore fan of some of the beautiful new romantic music of Midge Ure, I was excited at the rerelease of this out of print collection, hoping to find at least a few b-side gems featuring his gorgeous melodies and vocals. Instead, this disc is filled with--well--filler. There's a reason these tracks were b-sides. They sound like it cost nothing to record them. It's all experimental ambient synth stuff, without vocals. The live tracks are--well--LIVE, and I much prefer the original studio recordings. The instrumental versions of some Ultravox singles are a waste of disc space. The "special mix" of 'heart of the country' runs over 10 minutes, and is somewhat excessive, and the 'final mix' of One Small Day is ok, but lacks the punch of the one amazing 12" version I have never seen on CD, the US 12" mix that was the flip side of the US 12" mix of Dancing With Tears in My Eyes, which I have also never seen on CD. Too bad they didn't make it to this 'rare' series.
I was lucky enough to purchase this cd at my local music store at a very reasonable price. Upon my first listen, i realy felt happy to have stumbled on this gem. It's alot better than the previous two reviews would have you believe. I had never heard the long instrumental of "all in one day", before, and was pleasantly surprised how beautiful it is. There are also a number of other gems in this collection as well. As a longtime ultravox and Midge Ure fan, i was really happy to own this one!
Released 1994 ULTRAVOX RARE VOLUME 2 (Out Of Print Now) My notes after each track
1.Easterly 3.48 [B-side One Small Day] I like it as a "B" side or throw-away
2.Building 3.11 [B-side Dancing with Tears in My Eyes] Same as track 1
3.Heart of the Country (instrumental) 4.24 [B-side Lament] First of too many instrumentals
4.White China (live June 84 at Hammersmith Odeon) 3.43 [B-side Love's Great Adventure] Good "B" Side
5.Man of Two Worlds (instrumental) 4.32 [B-side 12" Love's Great Adventure] Ok "B" Side
6.3 (4.01) [B-side Same Old Story] Interesting track as well as title.
7.All in One Day (instrumental) 6.12 [B-side 12" Same Old Story] Favorite Istrumental on Album
8.Dreams? 2.30 [B-side All Fall Down] Ok "B" Side
9.All Fall Down (instrumental) 5.34 [B-side 12" All Fall Down] Good as Instrumentals go
10.All Fall Down (live Nov 86 at Wembley Arena, London) 5.36 [promo 12" All Fall Down] Good "Live" Track
11.Dream On (live Nov 86 at Wembley Arena, London) 3.47 [B-side promo 12" All Fall Down] Ok Live Track
12.The Prize (live Nov 86 at Wembley Arena, London) 4.56 [B-side 12" All in One Day] Ditto like track 10
13.Stateless 2.51 [B-side All in One Day] Typical "B" side
14.Heart of the Country (Special Remix) 11.03 [German 12"] Could have been replaced but it's here.
15.One Small Day (Final Mix) 7.35 [on free 12" with 'The Collection'] (CDCHR 6078) Where is US Remix???
Note: Volume one rare is also out of print.
I liked this one but it does not measure up to volume one due to the fact some tracks are just too much into the instrumental mode but it is the way they were on the 7 & 12" singles. To bad they didn't drop tracks 14-15 for the US remix 12 Inch of "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" & it's "B" side of "One Small Day" US remix. Those two still have not been released in digital format( I have a sealed copy & one to play off vinyl in which I never knew would be collectable) in which I have both in mp3 form in glorious sound quality. So again if your a
collector, then by all means, get this & volume one (volume one tracks are on many of the remastered albums that have came out so be aware of that fact) to complete all these rare ones in one place. As mentioned on my review of volume one, if your not a big fan, check out one of the bands greastest hits collections. Come by my website sometime at "Judemac
Forever" and say "Hi". Google it.
