Vienna (album)

Vienna
Studio album by Ultravox
Released	11 July 1980
Recorded	February 1980
Studio	RAK (London)
Genre	Synth-pop new wave
Length	43:37
Label	Chrysalis
Producer	Conny Plank Ultravox
Ultravox chronology
Three into One (1979) Vienna (1980) Rage in Eden (1981)
Singles from Vienna
"Sleepwalk" Released: 20 June 1980 "Passing Strangers" Released: 3 October 1980 "Vienna" Released: 9 January 1981 "All Stood Still" Released: 29 May 1981

Vienna is the fourth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, first released on 11 July 1980 through Chrysalis Records. Vienna was Ultravox's first album with their best-known line-up, after Midge Ure had taken over as lead vocalist and guitarist following the departures of John Foxx and Robin Simon, as well as the group's first release for Chrysalis. The album peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart^[1] and reached the top ten in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries.

Vienna was produced by German producer Conny Plank who had also produced Ultravox's previous album Systems of Romance, and mixed at Plank's studio near Cologne, Germany. Ultravox changed pace, style and audience with the arrival of Ure, who had already participated in the formation of Visage with Ultravox's keyboard and viola player Billy Currie. Many different styles are in use on the album; "Astradyne" is a long instrumental featuring sweeping, majestic synthesizer arrangements throughout, while "Mr. X" is a simpler, much sparser Kraftwerk pastiche. The lyrics to the album's songs were mainly written by Ure and drummer Warren Cann, who also takes a rare lead vocal on "Mr. X".

Four singles were released from the album. "Sleepwalk" was released as a single in June 1980, and was followed by "Passing Strangers" in October 1980, "Vienna" in January 1981 and "All Stood Still" in May 1981.^[2] "New Europeans" was used in a Japanese television commercial and released as a single in Japan, earning a gold disc.^[2]

In terms of sales, the album had a slow start, but the release in January 1981 of the title track as the third single from the album heralded the band's commercial breakthrough worldwide and led to healthy sales throughout 1981.

Vienna was remastered and re-issued on CD in 2000 on the EMI Gold label. This release also included a selection of B-sides from the album's singles as bonus tracks as well as the promotional video for the "Vienna" single. A remastered Definitive Edition of Vienna was released in 2008, which included a second disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks, and a 40th anniversary six-disc Deluxe edition was released in October 2020.^[3]