Vienna City Of My Dreams - John Mann

Advantages: Easy to listen to Songs
Disadvantages: CD2 a bit poor

...Have you ever heard a song on the radio and wondered what it is? That tune buried in the recesses of your mind that you’ve not heard for 20 years suddenly evokes memories of times gone by. Chances are there is one of those songs on the Manfred Mann Album “The Evolution of Manfred Mann”. Many of the songs are instantly recognisable having been used as theme tunes to TV programs or adapted for adverts. Most are pleasant melodic tunes that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Track listing 1. 5-4-3-2-1 – Manfred Mann 2. Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble – Manfred Mann 3. Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann 4. Sha La La – Manfred Mann 5. Come Tomorrow – Manfred Mann 6. Oh No Not My Baby – Manfred Mann 7. If You Gotta Go Go Now – Manfred Mann 8. Pretty Flamingo – Manfred Mann 9. Just Like a Woman – Manfred Mann 10. Semi... Read review

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Advantages: Consistent hard-edged synth-rock building to the epic Vienna.
Disadvantages: Lyrics are not listed (that's probably just as well though!)

...Ultravox sprang from a band formed by John Foxx called Tiger Lily in the mid-1970's. But, in 1979, after recording three albums, Foxx left (and had a minor hit with Underpants. Er, sorry, I mean: Underpass.) Midge Ure joined and took over vocal duties, having previously been in the Bay City Rollers clone boy-band Slik, the not-very-punk Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy and Visage. You know the rest: Bob Geldof, Z-Cars, Band Aid, Live Aid, No Regrets, If I Was, obscurity. The line-up for this album was:- Midge Ure (Vocals, guitar) Chris Cross (bass/synthesizers) Billy Currie (keyboards/violin) Warren Cann (drums) On the cover we see the band striking moody poses in black and white. Midge seems to be pretending to be a robot - perhaps he had been listening to too much Kraftwerk. ASTRADYNE is a swirly synthesizer... Read review

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Advantages: Rich dark and adult music with an intoxicating sense of melody
Disadvantages: Occasional problems with one speed tempo, The odd misplaced lyrical image

...’m not the girl you once put your faith in / Just someone who looks like me.” Musically this ode to shattered dreams is accompanied with the same brooding chords that characterised ‘How Am I Different’, before rising into a neatly poised hook in the chorus, delicately balancing despair with the hope of running away and never looking back. A wonderful fuzzy guitar solo sharpens the mood, before dissolving into bitter reality “All the kings horses and all the kings men / Couldn’t put baby back together again”, Mann neatly subverting a metaphorical cliché into something curiously moving. ‘Humpty Dumpty’ played with drug imagery suggesting a high that was no longer enough. ‘High on Sunday 51’ in contrast highlights an emotional addiction that needs to be cured but remains unsated. A plea for a relationship that is blatantly unhealthy but still... Read review

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