''Brilliant'' (stylised as ''Brill!ant'') is the eleventh and final studio album by British

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

, released on 25 May 2012 by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

. It is the group's first studio album in 18 years, and the first in 28 years from the "classic" Ultravox line-up of

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

, consisting of

Billy Currie William Lee Currie (born 1 April 1950Ultravox.org.uk
) is a ...

Warren Cann Warren Reginald Cann (born 20 May 1950 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian drummer, drum machine programmer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the British new wave band Ultravox, for which he was one of the ma ...

and

Chris Cross Chris Cross (born Christopher Thomas Allen, 14 July 1952, Tottenham, London) is an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the new wave band Ultravox. Biography Early years Cross went to Belmont Secondary Modern School, ...

(the last being 1984's ''

Lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...

''). The title track was released as its lead single, and premiered on 17 April 2012 on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

. ''Brilliant'' debuted at number 21 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, selling 6,100 copies in its first week. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Background

Ure said in 2012: "We did get along on the reunion tour brilliantly and decided to make an album. It is such a weird thing to do what we did, to lock yourself away like we did in Canada, with no one else around. It was just Billy, Chris and I. Warren had commitments in Los Angeles and he didn't have to be part of it until later on. We were in the middle of the woods, in a cabin by the lake, it is freezing cold and there is no one there to talk to other than the band. But it worked out brilliantly mainly because we got along so well and the creativity was there. So the process of recording this was easy, it was great, it was very vibrant and exciting." Currie said in 2012: "I discussed it with Midge and Chris as early as May 2009. They were not very interested then. We all got more serious about it while doing the 2010 'Return To Eden Part 2 tour' and in Sweden for the festivals, we spent the travelling time discussing how we would go about it. When we went over to Canada the first time in September 2010, we did not bring ideas with us to work on. I thought that was good. We all felt the same way. We had to start from scratch." Cann's drums were recorded at

Studio City Sound Studio City Sound is a recording studio located in Studio City, California. Grammy Award winning mixer, Tom Weir, purchased Fidelity Studios from Artie Ripp in 2002 and has updated and operated the facility as Studio City Sound since that time. Wei ...

in Los Angeles.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Brilliant''.

Ultravox

– drums *

– bass, synthesiser *

Billy Currie William Lee Currie (born 1 April 1950Ultravox.org.uk
) is a ...

– piano, synthesiser, violin *

– vocals, guitar, synthesiser

Technical

Stephen Lipson Stephen J. Lipson (born 16 March 1954) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter. As a record producer, he has worked with many artists including Annie Lennox, Propaganda, Act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Will Youn ...

– production, mixing *

– production, mixing * Tom Weir – drum engineering * Mazen Murad – mastering at Metropolis Mastering (London) * Darren Evans – sleeve design

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Albums produced by Stephen Lipson Chrysalis Records albums Ultravox albums