Ultravox! - Ultravox!

Released in early 1977, Ultravox!’s self-titled debut is a landmark of the art-punk movement, capturing a band caught between the fading decadence of glam rock and the raw aggression of the London punk scene. Produced by Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite, the album is defined by John Foxx’s detached, dystopian lyrics and a sound that blends jagged guitars with eerie, experimental synths and electric violin. While tracks like "Saturday Night in the City of the Dead" lean into punk energy, the album’s true legacy lies in its colder, more atmospheric moments like "My Sex," which paved the way for the post-punk and New Romantic movements of the 1980s.

Released in February 1977, Ultravox! stands as a fascinatng anomaly of the first-wave punk era. Produced by the visionary Brian Eno alongside Steve Lillywhite, the album captures a band that was too sophisticated for the three-chord "year zero" mentality of their peers but too aggressive for the art-rock establishment. Led by the enigmatic John Foxx, the group delivered a debut that fused the theatricality of David Bowie and Roxy Music with a cold, urban grit that felt uniquely prophetic of the coming decade.

The record’s sound is defined by a tension between organic energy and electronic experimentation. While tracks like "Saturday Night in the City of the Dead" and "Life at Rainbow’s End" satisfy the period's demand for high-octane guitar rock, the inclusion of Billy Currie’s screaming electric violin and subtle, haunting synthesizers sets the band apart. It is a transitional document, showcasing a group that was still rooted in the pub-rock scene while simultaneously trying to invent the sound of the future.

Lyrically, Foxx avoids the political sloganeering common in 1977, opting instead for dystopian voyeurism and existential detachment. In the epic "I Want to Be a Machine," he explores themes of human obsolescence and cybernetic coldness, delivered with a detached, crooning vocal style that would later influence everyone from Gary Numan to Joy Division. This "machine-like" aesthetic was a radical departure from the "realism" of punk, leaning into a sci-fi aesthetic that felt both cinematic and deeply alienating.

The album’s masterpiece, however, is the closing track, "My Sex." Stripped of punk bluster, it is a slow-burning, synth-heavy meditation that serves as the blueprint for post-punk and the New Romantic movement. While the album wasn't a commercial juggernaut upon release, its reputation has grown into that of a "lost classic." It remains a vital listen for anyone wanting to hear the exact moment when the glam-rock era mutated into the sleek, electronic pulse of the 1980s.

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The original tracklist for the 1977 debut album Ultravox! is as follows:

Side One

1. Saturday Night in the City of the Dead

2. Life at Rainbow's End (For All the Tax Exiles on Main Street)

3. Slip Away

4. I Want to Be a Machine 

Side Two

1. Wide Boys

2. Dangerous Rhythm

3. The Lonely Hunter

4. The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned

5. My Sex 

Modern reissues often include bonus live tracks recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in 1977, such as "Modern Love" and live versions of "Slip Away" and "My Sex".