Following the success of 2020’s deluxe reissue of Vienna, on 16 September Chrysalis Records will release a box set of the Utravox’s second album with Midge Ure, Rage In Eden.
Originally released in October 1981, as with the bands previous two albums, Rage In Eden was produced by Conny Plank (Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!) at his studio in Cologne during the summer of that year.
This new 5CD/1DVD Box Set features the original album, a new stereo mix of the album by Steven Wilson, along with a host of single mixes, b-sides, rehearsals and work in progress mixes and a newly mixed full concert recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, London in 1981.
After ‘Vienna’ was an international hit single and the subsequent success of the album of the same name, the pressure was on for Ultravox to deliver a dynamic, popular follow up. Seizing the opportunity this achievement afforded them, the band decided to enter the studio with nothing prepared, challenging themselves to take advantage of the studio as an instrument as much as possible.
Crafting the songs in the studio, the creative and recording process lasted three months (with only a short break to head home to the UK and headline a concert at Crystal Palace). Although Ultravox continued with the popular electronic new wave style they developed on their previous album, this time they strove to create a more complex and introspective sound.
The resultant album is a more ambitious, starker and austere than its predecessor. It features several long tracks – ‘The Voice’, ‘We Stand Alone’, ‘The Thin Wall’ and ‘Stranger Within’ – with the last three songs interconnected into one long sequence. The songs’ lyrics are darker, featuring obscure and surreal imagery. These depths and artistic achievements have long made it the band and fans’ favourite Ultravox album.
CD One: Rage In Eden [Original 1981 Analog Master]
01. The Voice
02. We Stand Alone
03. Rage In Eden
04. I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)
05. The Thin Wall
06. Stranger Within
07. Accent On Youth
08. The Ascent
09. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again)
CD Two: Rage In Eden [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix] (Previously Unreleased)
01. We Stand Alone [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
02. Rage In Eden [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
03. The Thin Wall [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
04. Stranger Within (Full Length Version) [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
05. Accent On Youth [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
06. The Ascent [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
07. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind) [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
08. I Never Wanted To Begin [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
09. Paths And Angles [Steven Wilson Stereo Mix]
10. I Remember (Death In The Afternoon) [Steven Wilson Work In Progress Mix]
11. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind) [Steven Wilson Work In Progress Mix]
CD Three: Rarities: Singles/B-Sides/Rehearsals
Singles & B-Sides
01. The Thin Wall [Single Version]
02. I Never Wanted To Begin [7” Version]
03. I Never Wanted To Begin [Extended Version]
04. The Voice [Single Version]
05. Paths & Angles
06. Private Lives [Live at Crystal Palace 13/6/81]
07. All Stood Still [Live at Crystal Palace 13/6/81]
Rehearsals & Work In Progress Mixes
08. I Remember (Death In The Afternoon) [Instrumental Rehearsal] (Previously Unreleased)
09. Accent On Youth [Instrumental Rehearsal] (Previously Unreleased)
10. Paths & Angles/The Thin Wall [Instrumental Rehearsal] (Previously Unreleased)
11. Untitled I [Rehearsal] (Previously Unreleased)
12. Untitled II [Rehearsal] (Previously Unreleased)
13. The Thin Wall [Work In Progress Mix]
14. Stranger Within [Work In Progress Mix]
15. The Voice [Instrumental Work In Progress Mix] (Previously Unreleased)
16. We Stand Alone [Work In Progress Mix]
CD Four: Live at Hammersmith Odeon 16/10/1981 [Part I] (Previously Unreleased)
01. The Thin Wall
02. New Europeans
03. Sleepwalk
04. I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)
05. Stranger Within
06. Mr. X
07. Rage In Eden
CD Five: Live at Hammersmith Odeon 16/10/1981 [Part II] (Previously Unreleased)
01. Accent On Youth
02. The Ascent
03. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again)
04. Vienna
05. Passionate Reply
06. Passing Strangers
07. We Stand Alone
08. All Stood Still
09. The Voice.
