History YMMV / Ultravox

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, fans of the John Foxx era, fans of the Midge Ure era, and fans of both eras all agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-Vox'', [[CreatorKiller from which they never seemed to recover]]. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-Vox'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. This, combined with the band's abandonment of Ultravox's signature NewWaveMusic sound in favor of pop-rock and the poor critical and fan reception of their musical output led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. Currie then replaced the entire lineup again in 1994, but this didn't help matters either, forcing Ultravox to disband a second time in 1996. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brill!ant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up truly being Ultravox's last.

** Debates still rage about whether the original John Foxx-led records or the Midge Ure-led records are better. While the former gets praised the most artistically, and was a major influence electronic musicians like Music/GaryNuman, the latter was significantly more successful.

** Debates still rage about whether the original John Foxx-led records or the Midge Ure-led records are better. While the former gets praised the most artistically, the latter was significantly more successful.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: The second 90's incarnation of the band featured an image very much lifted from the {{grunge}} scene at the time, with long hair and casual clothing emblematic of pro-Generation X fashion. As a result, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2d0Dk-5Cs live performances]] of this incarnation are very jarring to look at, with what looks like a bunch of Music/{{Nirvana}} wannabes playing 90's pop rock; Billie Currie in particular looks woefully out of place with his keyboard and violin.

** "The Voice" has some rather silly lyrics ("the look and the sound of the...''[[MundaneMadeAwesome voice?]]''") and the "oohh-oohhh" backing vocals in the chorus are [[UpToEleven a bit much]], even those used to the band's overblown style.

** Midge's singing voice in general is either wonderfully textured although high-pitched, or whiny, hammy, and over-the-top that makes each track hilarious.

** "Vienna" is very melodramatic, what with Midge's hammy vocals & the pretentious instrumentation. It's unsurprising some consider it either one of the 80s worst songs or it's best.

* {{Narm{{: The Ure-led period is littered with examples:

** "The Voice" has some rather silly lyrics ("the look and the sound of the...''[[MundaneMadeAwesome voice?]]''") and the "oooh-ooohs" backing in the chorus are [[UpToEleven a bit much]], even those used to the band's overblown style.

* Narm: The Ure-led period is littered with examples:
** "Vienna" is very melodramatic, what with Midge's hammy vocals & the pretentoius instrumentation. It's unsuprsingig some consider it either one of the 80s worst songs or it's best.
** "The Voice" has some rather silly lyrics ("the look and the sound of the...[[MundaneMadeAwesome voice?]]") and the "oooh-ooohs" backing in the chorus are a bit much, even those used to the band's overblown style.
** "Dancing With Tears In Eyes", despite being about a nuclear meltdown, is often mocked due to it's title alone, as well as Midge becoming a huge slab of pork during the chorus.

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, fans of the John Foxx era, fans of the Midge Ure era, and fans of both eras all agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-Vox'', from which they never seemed to recover. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-Vox'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. This, combined with the band's abandonment of Ultravox's signature NewWaveMusic sound in favor of pop-rock and the poor critical and fan reception of their musical output led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. Currie then replaced the entire lineup again in 1994, but this didn't help matters either, forcing Ultravox to disband a second time in 1996. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brill!ant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up truly being Ultravox's last.

* BrokenBase: Debates still rage about whether the original John Foxx-led records or the Midge Ure-led records are better. While the former gets praised the most artistically, the latter was significantly more successful.

* FanonDiscontinuity: The InNameOnly 90's incarnations of Ultravox, thanks to their radically different sound and lineups.

* FanonDiscontinuity: The InNameOnly 90's incarnation of Ultravox.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Mr. X" sounds a ''lot'' like Music/{{Kraftwerk}}.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Mr. X" sounds a ''lot'' like Music/{{Kraftwerk}}.

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, fans of the John Foxx era, fans of the Midge Ure era, and fans of both eras all agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-Vox'', from which they never seemed to recover. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-Vox'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. This, combined with the band's abandonment of Ultravox's signature NewWaveMusic sound in favor of pop-rock and the poor critical and fan reception of their musical output led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. Currie then replaced the entire replacement lineup a second time in 1994, but this didn't help matters either, forcing Ultravox to disband a second time in 1996. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brill!ant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up truly being Ultravox's last.

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, John Foxx-era fans and Midge Ure-era ones both agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-Vox'', from which they never seemed to recover. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-Vox'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. This, combined with the band's abandonment of Ultravox's signature NewWaveMusic sound in favor of pop-rock and the poor critical and fan reception of their musical output led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. Currie then replaced the entire replacement lineup a second time in 1994, but this didn't help matters either, forcing Ultravox to disband a second time in 1996. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brill!ant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up truly being Ultravox's last.

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, John Foxx-era fans and Midge Ure-era ones both agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-Vox'', from which they never seemed to recover. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-Vox'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. The completely different lineup and poorly-received musical output (consisting of just ''two'' albums between 1992 and 1996) led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brill!ant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up being Ultravox's last.

* SeasonalRot: BrokenBase aside, John Foxx-era fans and Midge Ure-era ones both agree that the band's output suffered a severe drop in quality with ''U-VOX'', from which they never seemed to recover. The band split up two years after releasing ''U-VOX'', only to reform in TheNineties with a totally new lineup, save for the inclusion of Billie Currie. The completely different lineup and poorly-received musical output (consisting of just ''two'' albums between 1992 and 1996) led this incarnation to unsurprisingly be regarded as Ultravox InNameOnly. The Ure-era lineup managed to reunite in 2008 to much acclaim, but their 2012 album ''Brilliant'' was highly polarizing, not helped by the fact that it ended up being Ultravox's last.

* SignatureSong: Depending on how you know them, "Vienna" or "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes".

* ThePeteBest: Foxx, in a rare case of this happening with a band that had already been signed and released several albums (to modest success and critical acclaim, to be fair). After he left, the band had its first-ever hit singles with Midge Ure at the mike, and remained fixtures of the UK pop charts for several years. Foxx's solo career brought him some minor hits, and he withdrew from music for a time after 1985.

* MagnumOpus: ''Vienna'' has the most chart and critical success of the band's career.