Vienna Half Speed Master 40th Anniversary

This is one of my favorite albums, and I think the re-issue here is done really well. It's mastered well and the pressing is great. I am knocking a star off not because of the product, but because I swear almost every single record I order from Amazon has a damaged jacket. They pack it really well for shipping, but before that these things must just be thrown around. I am going to stop ordering records on amazon.

This is one of my favorite records of all time. It gets better with each listen. If you are new to Ultravox, start here. This album should be in any respectable collection. The second disc of the vinyl set is a nice extra. Mr. X (Herr X) sounds great in German.I've had two other vinyl versions of this over the years and, and this is the best I have heard. The clarity, and of course the content is stunning. The vinyl itself is nice and flat. Surface noise is nonexistent with no pops. This is one of those remasters that is worth picking up!

Although it took some time to come this special 40th anniversary edition was very much worth waiting for. Item was very well packaged as though the seller knew how important this box set is to the purchaser and the item arrived completely unscathed.Great service.

all good

I bought this mainly for the 5.1 mix, and yes it's a disappointment the full 24/96 5.1 mix isn't on the DVD, but I presume this was (a) because this would have required a bit/data rate that DVD just cannot handle (i.e. it would buffer or pause as it tried to keep up), and (b) the Powers That Be who conceived this release decided that a Blu-ray (which COULD happily keep up) was not cost effective. Fair enough; maybe they thought that only hi-fi freaks (audiophiles) would notice the difference between the DTS 5.1 mix and a full uncompressed 5.1 mix...Anyway, the surround mix is rather good and, at times, even understated. OK so Ultravox's music is pretty dense and wide-sounding at the same time anyway, but opening up the sound to envelope the whole room works (most of the time; the occasional backing vocals a tad too loud in the rears aside) and it is well worth hearing.A word or three on the presentation of this box set. In a word; unexpected. I expected a CD-sized package with the discs in their cardboard sleeves and a little CD booklet. What I got (and yes, I had seen the images at the top of this page, but obviously they hadn't sunk into my limited collection of elderly brain cells) was an LP-sized box (CD in photos to prove size - and yes, it IS a 5" CD!) with what looked like two double-LP sleeves in it; one containing the discs in their carboard sleeves, and the other with some photos in a thin card envelope in one half, and (a highlight) an excellent 12" book with track notes, more photos and lyrics for all tracks, along with full credits.I will investigate the Steven Wilson mixes, along with the live stuff and rarities (a lot of which, slightly naughty this, came with the 2008 CD release of Vienna (which I have), in the fullness of time, but my final words concern the price - although a good quality package it's simply about £10-15 too expensive. I could only justify buying this because I got a very generous birthday voucher, otherwise I would have had to pass. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I bought it, but the price should be lower so more can enjoy this Classic Album/slice of nostalgia, therby justifying the (very probably not-inconsiderable) costs of making this project, resulting in a smaller return/profit per unit but more units sold, therefore (maybe) resulting in bigger profits (over time) and more happy punters. I'm not an account or economist, but that's how it seems to me, a simple layman.

Summer 1980. My parents had divorced in Autumn 1979 and I hadn't seen my Dad since the split. In July 1980 I went to stay with him in York. Three things stick in my mind from that time. Firstly, we didn't get on - I never saw him again, second he took me to see The Empire Strikes Back at the cinema and thirdly he bought me loads of records, including the Vienna LP.Ever since, this has been a firm favourite. I had already bought the Sleepwalk single and was into Kraftwerk, John Foxx, DAF, Bill Nelson, Silicon Teens, Fad Gadget, Suicide and some Krautrock thanks to the influence of an elder brother. I was 14.For me, Vienna will always be the definitive Ure-era Ultravox LP. None of the subsequent albums came close.I won't talk about the tracks too much, as most of you will already be familiar with this LP. There are some crackers on here though, the fantastic instrumental Astradyne, the should-have-been-a-single New Europeans, the was-a-single Passing Strangers and, of course, the hit title track.This double, black vinyl 40th anniversary edition contains the album and a smattering of b-sides such as Alles Klar, Waiting, the excellent Passionate Reply and Herr X, a German language version of Mr X, spoken (narrated?) by drummer Warren Cann.It's a tremendous package and well worth the current cost. It really does do justice to this fantastic LP. I also bought the deluxe CD/DVD set, which includes a full live set (a couple of tracks were originally released on the b-side of Passing Strangers), plus Steven Wilson remixes of the whole album and associated tracks.The best Ultravox album (with Midge) by a country mile. Now even better.

Well it has been well worth the wait, to say I am happy is an understatement. The best thing about this box set is the live album and the cassette rehearsals. The steven wilson stereo mix is good and brings a fresh sound to the album but too me the title track sounds wrong. Listen to vienna from 2:32 and it sounds like an extra bass beat has been added at 2:33.All in all this box set is well worth its money for the packaging and its content. Lets hope they do the same with Rage in Eden.

I’m no die-hard fan of Ultravox but I do like collector’s sets that put albums into their context and offer a 5.1 remix. So, I’m probably more objective than many commenting here. The set comes in a robust album sized box and contains two attractive gatefold albums: one has the six discs contained within the inner gatefold and the other has the content where traditionally the vinyl discs would be. The first is fine but the second really hasn’t much. There is an envelope with some images which I thought was a ‘so what?’ inclusion. The other has a large booklet mainly focusing on the lyrics. There is a short introduction by Midge Ure but that’s it. I would have preferred far more content about the band and the album.The music content is extensive. There are five CDs: two with the album – original mix and new one; 2 of assorted recordings and one with a live recording. This coverage is really impressive. The DVD contains a new 5.1 mix in DTS 94/24 by the guru of surround sound, Steven Wilson. It would have been better to have included a blu ray to offer full HD sound or a DVD Audio track on this DVD for audiophiles. I find listening to Steven Wilson’s remixes quite frustrating as he has such a good understanding of multi-channel and mixes albums so fantastically, that I get annoyed that others so often screw up surround mixes with ‘restrained’ front centred mixes. (Imagine what Steven Wilson would have done with disappointing 5.1 remixes such as “Sgt Pepper” or the utterly useless 5.1 remix of “Imagine”.) It’s a joy to hear how he as opened up the sound and allows us to experience it in a new thrilling way with constantly enveloping sound rather than the very sparse use of surrounds favoured by inferior engineers. Of the album itself, I don’t think this is any masterpiece. There some very good tracks on it, but it’s rather inconsistent and some of it is rather dull I find. I’m sure fans will disagree.Overall, this is a really good package and costs half the price of the recent Stones release of “Goats Head Soup” (with a grossly inferior 5.1 remix) even though it won’t sell in nearly such quantities. So, it’s great to see customers not being ripped off in addition to a key album being given this treatment. Although I would definitely not score the album itself five stars, I think that the overall package and its pricing deserve a top five stars.

Im Vergleich zu anderen Deluxe Editions beweisen Ultravox zum 40-jährigen Jubiläum ihres Albums Vienna, dass so etwas auch zu einem gesitteten Preis geht (VÖ-Preis ca. 45 €) und nicht verschiedene Tonträger-Formate wie CD und Vinyl preistreibend gemischt werden müssen. Das fabelhafte Halfspeed-Remaster als Doppel-Vinyl können sich Interessierte extra kaufen.Der große Schuber im Vinyl-Format macht schon was her. Darin befinden sich zwei Gatefolds. In das eine Gatefold werden die 5 CDs und die DVD in ihren Papphüllen (so spart man sich Kratzer) eingeschoben. Die Hüllen der Discs sind von den Motiven so gehalten, dass sie sich genau in das Bild des Gatefolds einpassen. Das andere Gatefold enthält das Booklet sowie einen Umschlag mit Fotos. Das Booklet beinhaltet ein Vorwort von Midge Ure, Track-By-Track Kommentare der Bandmitglieder, Songtexte (auch von den B-Seiten), die Diskographie zu den Singles mit Cover-Abbildungen, viele Fotos und die Credits.Der eigentliche Kaufgrund war aber das neue Remastering, die Remixes von Steven Wilson (Stereo und 5.1), sowie die Bonustracks.Schon das analoge1980er Master auf CD 1 lässt einen das letzte Remaster von 2008 am liebsten in die Tonne werfen. Ersteres ist viel differenzierter, klarer, dynamischer, mit mehr Bass (da wo es drauf ankommt), großartiges Stereopanorama. Ich habe Details rausgehört, die mir selbst auf meiner alten Vinyl-Pressung nicht aufgefallen sind. Die neue Vinyl-Pressung als Halfspeed-Master hört sich im Vergleich zu den beiden hier im Set enthaltenen Stereo-Versionen noch einen Tick besser an.Steven Wilsons Stereo-Mix ist eine nette Alternative, die manche Tonspuren mehr in den Vordergrund und andere in den Hintergrund rückt. Nach meinem Empfinden rücken Bass und Drums etwas in den Hintergrund. Spektakuläre Unterschiede sind mir bislang nicht aufgefallen.Der Surround-Mix ist sehr typisch für Wilson. Das Grundgerüst mit Drums und Bass auf den vorderen Boxen, Hauptgesang und Solos zumeist auf der Centerbox, die Spielereien im Raum. Im Raum tut sich mit Gitarren, Geigen, Keyboards, Backingvocals und Sequenzern einiges.Die Disc mit den von einer Kassette überspielten Demos hört sich dementsprechend an. Das ist noch alles sehr rau und die Aufnahmequalität bescheiden. Trotzdem interessant die Songs in diesen frühen Fassungen zu hören.Die Scheibe mit dem Konzertmitschnitt ist dafür von sehr guter Aufnahmequalität.Wenn es einen Wermutstropfen am Set gibt, dann die fehlenden Video-Clips. Vor allem das genreprägende Video zum Titelsong wäre Pflicht gewesen. Außerdem wartet die neue Doppel-LP noch mit dem US Promotional Edit von Vienna auf, der im Boxset unverständlicherweise auch fehlt.Fazit:Sehr zu empfehlendes Set zu diesem oft vergessenen Klassiker der frühen 80er. Es wird einiges geboten für den Preis. Vor allem stimmt das Mastering beim Album und den B-Seiten. Der Surround-Mix, der Konzertmitschnitt sowie Buch und Verpackung wissen auch zu gefallen. Bis auf die fehlenden Video-Clips eigentlich ein perfektes Set. Trotzdem volle Sternezahl.Am besten dazu noch das kurz zuvor entstandene Visage-Album (Hit: Fade To Grey) in der 2018er Rubellan Remasters-Version kaufen. Daran waren immerhin 2 Ultravox-Mitglieder beteiligt und gewisse Ähnlichkeiten sind nicht abzustreiten.