Originally released through Chrysalis Records in April 1984, Lament was Ultravox’s seventh overall studio album and fourth to feature the band’s most successful lineup of singer/guitarist Midge Ure, keyboardist Billy Currie, bassist Chris Cross, and drummer Warren Cann. Lament ultimately spawned three UK top-40 singles in “One Small Day,” “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes,” and “Lament.”
After working with two very different producers–German engineering wizard Konrad “Conny” Plank and the legendary ‘fifth Beatle’ George Martin–the band courageously opted to self-produce their next studio album. The end result takes on a considerably darker, more experimental tone than past works–best exemplified by the ominous lyrics of songs like “White China” and “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes."
As with the prior 40th anniversary box set releases of Vienna (1980), Rage In Eden (1981), and Quartet (1982), Steven Wilson has created brand-new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes from the original multitrack master tapes. The DVD in the eight-disc box set contains both the 2024 remixed stereo and surround audio, alongside a hi-res remaster of the original 1984 stereo mix.
In a welcome departure from past Ultravox releases, Wilson has also created a Dolby Atmos mix of Lament and three associated extra tracks: “Building” (B-side to "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes"), "Easterly" (B-side to "One Small Day"), and the non-album single "Love's Great Adventure." The Atmos mix is available on a limited-edition Blu-Ray Audio disc sold exclusively through SuperDeluxeEdition.com, though it can also be streamed on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of Steven Wilson’s surround mixes for this series and as expected, his work on Lament remains up to that very high standard. The 96-khz/24-bit 5.1 audio drops the listener in the middle of the action, focusing the rhythm section towards the front stage and spreading additional ‘sound design’ elements like the keyboards, harmony vocals, and percussion out into the rear channels. The mix is quite playful at times, with elements like the electronic drums in “White China” and guitar break in “One Small Day” wildly roving around the room to very fun effect.
As enjoyable as the 5.1 experience is, I have to say that the Dolby Atmos rendition blows it out of the water. Lament is easily the most sonically-layered of the four Ultravox albums mixed by Wilson thus far and benefits greatly from the enlarged canvas that the immersive format affords. Instrumentation that previously resided in the front channels–such as the piano in “Man of Two Worlds” and lead guitar in “A Friend I Call Desire”–has now been separated out into the side surrounds, yielding an even greater sense of envelopment.
The previous three Ultravox surround mixes had Midge Ure’s vocal almost entirely isolated in the center speaker, but here it’s spread relatively-evenly across the entire front stage. In Dolby Atmos, his voice floats between the center and side surround speakers–engaging the front wide channels in a 9.1.4 or 9.1.6 array. The height speakers are active participants as well, supplying key elements like harmonies or double-tracked vocals, synthesizers, and time-based effects like the huge snare reverb throughout “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.”
The top array is utilized not only for completely-distinct instrumentation, but also to partially elevate certain elements towards the mid-point of the listening space. For instance, Mae McKenna’s gaelic vocals in “Man of Two Worlds” appear solidly anchored between the center channel and front heights–as if there’s actually another speaker placed halfway up my front wall. Similarly, Midge Ure’s lower-register harmony vocal during the chorus of “White China” extends from the side surrounds up into the heights.
“White China” sounded amazing even in stereo, with the electronic percussion that rapidly bounces between the two speakers. The multichannel presentation is just as fun as you’d expect: in the 5.1 mix, the percussion travels front-to-back at the same time it's shifting left-to-right. In Atmos, it starts in the front channels and quickly flies overhead to the rear heights. During the chorus, guitar blasts bounce between the front heights while synthesizers jump between the rear surrounds.
The guitar intro to “One Small Day” appears largely from the left side speaker, quickly giving way to Warren Cann’s thunderous drumming from all around. Keyboards percolate from the rear during the chorus, while vocal echoes swirl overhead. Piano floats between the fronts and front heights for “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes,” with rhythm guitars mostly confined to the side surrounds.
Crashing tom-toms in the side and rear channels alternate with percussion from above at the beginning of “Lament.” During the chorus, the piano appears largely from the rear heights. Throughout “Man of Two Worlds,” handclaps and synthesizers wildly swirl overhead. There’s an especially cool moment at around the three-minute mark where Midge Ure’s voice (“feel the presence moving into me…”) suddenly extends toward the front heights.
Cann’s drum kit again encompasses the entire soundstage at ear-level for “Heart of The Country,” with percussion pushed out into the rear surrounds and double-tracked vocals overhead. Starting in the second verse (“taking bad times by the handful…”), a lower-register harmony vocal appears centered in the rear speakers–hovering directly behind the listener’s head. The percussion break just after the three-minute mark gracefully slides from the height array down into the side surrounds.
Synthesizers cascade across the side and rear surrounds for “When The Time Comes,” while keyboards blast from the front right and rear right height speakers. The album proper then concludes with “A Friend I Call Desire,” again showcasing the rhythm guitar parts in the side speakers. The backing vocals from Shirley Roden and Debi Doss are divided between the center channel and rear speakers, both lifted towards the height array.
Though it's sparse compared to the other songs, “Building” sounds massive in Atmos with the cavernous reverbs filling up the rear and height speakers. The avant-garde instrumental “Easterly” is definitely a surround highlight, much like “Break Your Back” was in the Quartet box set. Finally, “Love’s Great Adventure” gives all channels a workout: different sets of keyboards take up residence into the side and rear surrounds, while intermittent bursts of percussion and harmony vocals appear overhead.
Though I always prefer to experience Dolby Atmos music on a true home theater system with speakers, I have to concede that even the binaural experience for Lament is highly enjoyable. The side-panned guitar parts in “One Small Day” and “A Friend I Call Desire” really do seem to extend beyond the confines of my AirPods Max headphones. Similarly, the bursts of percussion from the rear surrounds throughout “Heart of the Country” actually sound like they’re coming from behind me.
Whereas its predecessor Quartet in my opinion suffered from a flat and unexciting original mix, the 1984 LP of Lament already sounded very good. That being said, I did find that the 2024 mixes in both stereo and surround do offer a meaningful improvement in overall clarity and ‘punch’ especially in the rhythm section–for example, Chris Cross’ charging bassline throughout “A Friend I Call Desire” has been given much greater prominence and drives that track in a way I never really noticed before.
Since the surround mixes of Vienna, Rage In Eden, and Quartet were kept exclusive to the multi-disc deluxe editions, it's such a great surprise to see Lament also being offered in a more-economical standalone Blu-Ray edition. Should sales warrant it, perhaps the label can be persuaded to move forward with similar Dolby Atmos releases of the prior three records–I'd certainly love to hear how Steven Wilson could expand upon his already-great 5.1 renditions of those albums.
Regardless of whether one chooses to pick up the box set or the Blu-Ray, the 40th anniversary deluxe edition of Lament marks yet another strong entry in one of the best reissue series of recent years. Even if you're unfamiliar with the band or album, I'd recommend streaming the Dolby Atmos mix via your provider of choice as it's a showpiece for the format.
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