We all know that “Rage In Eden” was [magnificently] produced by Conny Plank, who capped a three album arc of producing Ultravox with the climactic “Rage In Eden.” But nothing is black and white anymore in the 21st century. And we can now re-experience the album as mixed by Steven “No Time To Sleep” Wilson; king of the post-modern remix. Even the iconic Peter Saville cover art has been remixed!
Yesterday I alluded to the one RSD Black Friday title I definitely needed to buy and anyone who knows me well would probably guess correctly that it was the “addendum disc” that will accompany the Ultravox ultrabox of “Rage In Eden.” When they made “Vienna” two years ago, Steven Wilson remixed the album into 5.1 for the box, but that meant that he took the intermediary step of a new stereo mix for that process. As an afterthought, the Wilson 2.0 mix was issued as a separate CD afterward, with the added bonus of an instrumental Wilson 2.0 mix on a second disc. This was for RSD in the spring of 2021.
At the time of the announcement of the “Rage In Eden” box, I assumed that we would also see a similar remix/instrumental disc and this has happened with 600 discs unleashed into the world last Friday. I seem to recall that I bought my “Vienna Addendum” disc online at Discogs, and I’ve already checked my local emporium. I’ll have to do the same this time. What have we got this time?
Ultravox: Rage In Eden [Steven Wilson Stereo Remix/Instrumental] – US – CD [2022]
Disc 1 – Steven Wilson Stereo Remix
- We Stand Alone 5:33
- Rage In Eden 4:13
- The Thin Wall 5:40
- Stranger Within (Full Length Version) 9:56
- Accent On Youth 4:44
- The Ascent 2:27
- Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again) 4:23
Disc 2 – Steven Wilson Instrumental Remix
- We Stand Alone (Instrumental) 5:33
- Rage In Eden (Instrumental) 4:13
- The Thin Wall (Instrumental) 5:40
- Stranger Within (Full Length Instrumental Version) 9:56
- Accent On Youth (Instrumental) 4:44
- The Ascent (Instrumental) 2:27
- Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again) (Instrumental) 4:23
The front cover has been re-colored using the burgundy color scheme from the back cover, and sharp eyes will notice that two tracks, “The Voice” and “I Remember [Death In The Afternoon]” are missing owing to the master tapes that could not be found for a remix on this job. Eyes that were sharper still will notice that perhaps as a sop, we now have the unedited, almost ten minute mix of “The Stranger Within” to soothe our [undoubtedly European] angst. And…correct me if I’m wrong, but it sure looks like they could have fit all of the tracks on a single CD.
The 2xCD is how we roll but Black Friday also saw the mania for PVC being stoked with the inevitable 2xLP, clear vinyl, 180g pressing with obi [pictured at the top of this post] also hit the stores. Alas, my local emporium only has the LP version for a not bad $24.95. But my days of buying anything with the Ultravox name on it are long over.
They irony was that the “Rage In Eden” ultrabox is being released in America as of tomorrow; a week after the remix/instrumental version got released. The big box was delayed in America this time to allow for freight ships to bring the goods across the Atlantic, and to save an extra $20-30 off shipping charges, yes, I can wait two months! I preordered months ago, but my account was just charged yesterday, so the boxed set will probably ship tomorrow.
Right now I still need to order the 2xCD in question, and for now I’m all talk and no money as there isn’t any surplus for music purchases currently. But seeing as there were only 600 copies pressed, I’d better find some since right now it will only cost me $20 to have one shipped to my Record Cell. Wish me luck.
-30-
Post-Punk Monk 
Well, it wasn’t an afterthought and the 600 is just the US allocation – plenty more were pressed.
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alonewithstrangers – At the time there were a few wags wondering why the 2.0 Wilson mix wasn’t included in the box. To say nothing of the decision to also release an instrumental version. Maybe afterthought seemed harsh but at least it was a post script. They also did that with Wilson’s 2.0 remix for the Roxy Music box.
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? The 2.0 Wilson mix is in the Deluxe CD box ?
The BF/RSD release was in the works as long as the rest of the Deluxe release was. Record companies haven’t really had the chance to do much else than plan over long periods for the last couple of years.
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Thanks for the heads up.. just ordered!
I loved the instrumental mixes of Vienna, great as background tracks when working.. and a fresh way of engaging with the tracks after all these years.. I also find myself unconsciously singing along with them..
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Logan Sky – Yes, it’s true that after hundreds of listens, that I appreciate the different take Wilson’s work represents. Just like that 5.1 of “New Gold Dream” with the alternate and long takes, which I made a 2.0 CD of years ago for that exact reason. And singing along to “Vienna” is fun, even if I just can’t hit “All Stood Still.”
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YES got the last one that Amazon US said they had.
Am curious if I check the listing tomorrow if they will have more.
Anyhow…I got one!
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I’m all over these Ultravox box sets and RSD releases. It’s just really frustrating that ‘The Voice’ and ‘I Remember’ are missing.
On YouTube there is Steven Wilson mix of ‘The Thin Wall’ 7” version. Surely they could have included this in the box and on the RSD release too!
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Andy B – A Wilson 7” mix of “The Thin Wall?” Is it official or fan posted?
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It is official
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hi andy,
as far as the missing tracks go. i’ve created my own using software. its not too hard to do, and the results are decent.
i created my own instrumentals for vienna, and they are pretty close to the official ones also.
might have to post them at some point for interested listeners (on ewwwtube).
later
-1
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Please don’t do that again and please don’t add your own copyright statement to them again. Your playing around with the audio in a relatively amateur manner gives you no ownership and no legitimate reason to share them online or anywhere else.
Thank you.
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This is thrilling news. “Rage in Eden” is hands down my favorite Ultravox album. Very excited to get this.
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Thanks PPM. Ordered. A classic
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It’s a shame they didn’t include the Steven Wilson mixes and instrumentals of the work in progress versions of I Remember DITA and Your Name HSMMA as they are both rather fun and would have filled up the CDs more.
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For some weird reason I can’t post a reply to your question about The Thin Wall video. Tried 3 times. Yes, The Thin Wall Steven Wilson 7” video is official https://youtu.be/eI7vklg7-0E
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Richard Anvil – Not weird at all! Comments with links must be approved by The Administrator…lest ye olde comments capitulate to the ceaseless torrent of spambots that make teh interwebs such a wonderful place! Not to worry… I’ve got your back. Eventually.
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Yeesh….the visual quality on that video.
I think that I am honestly able to say that the rip I did of my Japanese laser disk of their hits collection to a dvd burner has a better picture quality than that video does.
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I believe the 600 (Discogs states 575 but can’t find an official source for this number) quantity is worldwide. I ordered mine from Townsend Music and actually had a 10 minute countdown to purchase it. After refreshing the page several times to even get to add it to my basket. So it’s definitely very limited and unfortunately, prices will soar on this.
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Dave Turner – If alonewithstrangers says 600 for America, trust him. He works on the campaign.
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Could be right. An official statement online would be useful though. Can’t find anything. It’s certainly sold out at all the UK stores.
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Dave Turner – Arbitrarily imposed exclusivity is sadly baked into the RSD ethos.
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Mr. monk,
isn’t that the point of record store day. limited releases of niche items. so i don’t see what the issue is. the people that are interested will order it, or get it through a reseller. and unless its clear vinyl or something, the prices won’t get to the hundred of dollars mark, unlike the earlier deluxe releases. i wouldn’t be too worried.
i didn’t even bother looking for copies of this on vinyl or cd until now that you mentioned it, and there are plenty on discogs and ebay. all at cost. scalpers don’t worry about ultravox sales.
later
-1
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negative1ne – It makes me sad to see physical music, an art form built around the concept of mass marketing be turned into an exclusive item made only for a few. If the music industry had always been like this I would have never bothered building a collection of music in the first place.
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Hi Mr monk.
i’m not really sure what to make of that.
in a sense everything is ‘limited’. some items are more limited than others.
i doubt most of the stuff i liked was ever ‘mass marketed’, and if it was then maybe my tastes coincided with the availability of the items.
as we both know, all the stuff that we never got in the US from the UK was limited no matter what. and the stuff we got in the US was limited to the UK.
which is why, even to this very day i’m still constantly buying several hundred items that never made it out in the US. so they were always limited. cd singles, cassettes, cassette singles, 7 inches, etc.
be prepared for a massive list from me this year, marking several thousand dollars worth of purchases, which is up from even last year, i think. (if not in number), the number of ‘high ticket’ and holy grail items are way up.
later
-1
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negative1ne – Then I am your antithesis. I have spent even less than last year on music: $438.09 so far. Surely an all-time low since high school [many, many…many decades ago] for me. But I just saw the “Rage In Eden” box charged to my account yesterday, so I’ll need to add $72 to that, putting me juuuuuust barely over the top of last year’s totals. But I have spent several thousands on home improvements worth more than music!
The difference is that a numbered limited edition single from 35 years ago might have been 12,000 copies, not a tenth of that! I feel real sorry for fans discovering a legacy band and wanting to collect at this point. It’s a a game for the rich. Pop/Rock music used to be a common, mass-market thing. These days, if you want a physical copy, it’ll really cost you. Streaming is for poor folks who are left with nothing of value.
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hi mr monk.
maybe we should do a poll to see who these ‘new’ collectors are.
i only seem to find older 30-50 year old range types, that know what they’re getting into. so its hardly surprising at the lengths people can go to locate and purchase these items. if people really want to bargain hunt, it is still possible depending on how stringent your requirements are regarding quality of the items. (near mint and sealed will always cost more).
as far as rich goes. thats subjective too. i work as a contractor, and as far as the US tax codes go. i am well under ‘poverty’ level for the earnings yearly
for the last decade or so. i do have other sources of gig work that help fund my purchases, so i sacrifice some things.
streaming to me is for rich people, as they are they ones that can afford to have several satellite, interenet, and various other accounts for their families to use. i have never wanted or felt the need to use any streaming service.
but thats the way most people access their music.
the value is listening to the music, anytime, anywhere (mostly), as a convenience, which is the higher purpose of music.
collecting is a byproduct of people who feel like they need something substantial to attach their importance to.
later
-1
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If you want to know who the collectors are, just go and look at the RSD/BF 6am-8am queues outside of the larger indie shops like Rough Trade. They are the ones buying physical music these days. It isn’t a homogenous group because you have ‘original fans’, now in the their 50-70s, , younger recruits that caught the bug from their parents and like their own generation’s music and the hipsters that buy POS Crosley suitcase record players.
The UV release would be over represented in the first group.
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I’m completely right, Mr Turner.
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Any idea what the total number (worldwide) released is? Would appear to be at least 1200?
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Dave Turner – Good question for alonewithstrangers! If America got 600 then I would expect the other territories to have gotten at least twice as many. Ultravox were a cult band in America.
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I can’t say I’m afraid though anyone that wants the LP version shouldn’t have much of an issue. CDs may be more difficult as time goes on….
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Well, Discogs mentions it no more as of about 5 minutes ago……
The problem is people look at their own jurisdiction’s RSD site, see a number and then think they are the only people in the world getting the release.
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I think this is hilarious to exclude two tracks of the original albums’s tracklist makes this more of an oddity than a desirable object for me.
The yet unreleased version of ‘Stranger Within’ should have been a collectable 12″ perhaps with added remixes / instrumentals / work in progress versions.
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slur – You just nailed next year’s RSD offering from Ultravox. And I would probably make the effort if it came to that. But would Peter Saville design the sleeve? That is the million dollar question.
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Which ‘as yet unreleased’ version of Stranger Within are you talking about?
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alonewithstrangers – I think he’s referring to the 9:58 version.
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yes , exactly – I thought this was obvious. If it was released before I’ve missed it …
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slur – It was released on disc two [Steven Wilson 2.0 remix] of the RIE box in a few months ago, other than America where it was released last Friday. My copy will allegedly be in hand tonight.
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Well the ‘as yet unreleased’ really does imply that it hasn’t been released yet….which it has.
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Well yes, did not find it when I checked the 101 versions last night, so I standcorrected. Still I’m not going wild for an re-remaster.
Especially as my original pressing still sounds great today.
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hi mr monk,
interesting news from the apple camp.
first : ultravox albums included in this, on itunes:
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ultravox/13811422/see-all?section=full-albums
rage in eden (deluxe)
uvox
rare vol 2
lament (2009 remaster)
quartet (remastered)
vienna (deluxe)
—
systems of romance (remaster)
ha ha ha (remaster)
ultravox! (remaster)
(also included is brilliant remixes)
anyways, apple is using their voice AI system to bring you:
—
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/12/apple-introduces-apple-music-sing/
Apple Music Sing includes:
Apple today announced Apple Music Sing, an exciting new feature that allows users to sing along to their favorite songs with adjustable vocals1 and real-time lyrics. Apple Music Sing offers multiple lyric views to help fans take the lead, perform duets, sing backup, and more — all integrated within Apple Music’s unparalleled lyrics experience. Coupled with an ever-expanding catalog that features tens of millions of the world’s most singable songs, Apple Music Sing makes it fun and easy for anyone to participate, however and wherever they choose.
Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog.
Real-time lyrics: Users can sing along to their favorite songs with animated lyrics that dance to the rhythm of the vocals.
Background vocals: Vocal lines sung simultaneously can animate independently from the main vocals to make it easier for users to follow.
Duet view: Multiple vocalists show on opposite sides of the screen to make duets or multi-singer tracks easy to sing along to.
—-
So basically, pandoras box is open.
now you can create, and use these for your instrumentals, vocals, etc. legally.
will be interesting to see all the uses, and versions that people create now.
especially for older stuff, and things that haven’t been released yet.
(and also for all those other groups that don’t have instrumentals yet).
later
-1
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negative1ne – So basically Apple Music makes everything into karaoke? Okay. You kids have fun with that… and stay off of my lawn!
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Hi mr monk,
it seems that way.
also, i wonder where they will get the lyrics from, and what if they are wrong or not known.
will users be able to edit them or fix them.
questions.
later
-1
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negative1ne – If lyrics were not provided I guess it would be easy for the same AI to parse the lyrics as well. The system would quickly learn over time and get more accurate.
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Late to this party-thanks for tip. Just bought from some place in UK. Will be a little Christmas present for me 🙂. Since I saw Midge Ure in October, I’ve been wanting some Ultravox.
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Deserat – Understandable! I still need to order one soon, but I’ll soon be sifting through the “Rage In Eden” box in the usual obsessive detail. Not sure when as the ground keeps shifting under my feet.
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