Midge Ure - Orchestrated
Discussion
Anyone else come across his new album, re-imaginings of some of his best known songs with orchestral backing. I love it, the highlights are Hymn and Lament for me. Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSaqZfWk95MtBuX1m...
Controversial...
Midge was never exactly a screaming coloratura singer with a massive vocal range, he still sounds pretty fine to me. He seems to have been gigging for months on end recently, so his voice can't be particularly fragile. Orchestrated is, well, absolutely fine. In the same way that a German 2 litre tdi with aircon is absolutely fine. Its fundamentally good music played by people who know what they are doing. Like Julie Andrews doing a cover of Firestarter, it is all technically correct, just rather bland and missing the point. All those dramatic whooshes do make it sound a bit like it is a generic film sound track. One of those albums you play 2 or 3 times and think "yeah its pretty good this" and then forget about.
Vienna really does need more synth, and at the time less synth, because the synth percussion / echo is weak. Midge is giving it full beans on "It means nothing to meeeee..." and the brass is just parp parp parping along. Ironically, the piano which is so emotive and generates so much tension in the original is rather underwhelming in Orchestrated.
All in all, it needs more Billy Currie and his electric violin. And more Ultravox in general really, but mostly more synth. And less cocktail party.
Midge was never exactly a screaming coloratura singer with a massive vocal range, he still sounds pretty fine to me. He seems to have been gigging for months on end recently, so his voice can't be particularly fragile. Orchestrated is, well, absolutely fine. In the same way that a German 2 litre tdi with aircon is absolutely fine. Its fundamentally good music played by people who know what they are doing. Like Julie Andrews doing a cover of Firestarter, it is all technically correct, just rather bland and missing the point. All those dramatic whooshes do make it sound a bit like it is a generic film sound track. One of those albums you play 2 or 3 times and think "yeah its pretty good this" and then forget about.
Vienna really does need more synth, and at the time less synth, because the synth percussion / echo is weak. Midge is giving it full beans on "It means nothing to meeeee..." and the brass is just parp parp parping along. Ironically, the piano which is so emotive and generates so much tension in the original is rather underwhelming in Orchestrated.
All in all, it needs more Billy Currie and his electric violin. And more Ultravox in general really, but mostly more synth. And less cocktail party.
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