News

EMI continues its ongoing parade of reissued titles with two titles from Midge Ure, best known as the frontman for Ultravox, coming next week on October 4. The label will expand Ure’s first two albums, 1985’s The Gift and 1988’s Answers to Nothing, in two-disc sets boasting the usual B-sides, remixes, live cuts and some unreleased material to boot.

Both albums, released on either end of Ultravox’s final album in 1986, boasted a few great singles, including the U.K. chart-topper “If I Was” and “Dear God,” a Top 5 Modern Rock song in the States. The unearthed bonus cuts on The Gift include some additional material from a Wembley Arena gig just before Christmas 1985 – the same season Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” co-written by Ure with Bob Geldof, became a worldwide hit. (Parts of that show had shown up as B-sides elsewhere, and that previously released material makes its CD debut here.) Answers to Nothing adds several work-in-progress mixes as a sweetener.

With these sets, the bulk of Ure’s early solo catalogue has been remastered and expanded (Pure (1991) and Breathe (1996), recorded for Sony BMG, were given expanded reissues by Edsel last year in a two-disc set).

Original props for this story go to Slicing Up Eyeballs, who also detailed a neat art-print and meet and greet contest surrounding these sets. Hit the jump for track lists.

Midge Ure, The Gift: Deluxe Edition (Chrysalis/EMI 50999 907738 2 2, 2010)

Disc 1: Original LP (Chrysalis CHR 1508, 1985)

1. If I Was
2. When the Winds Blow
3. Living the Past
4. That Certain Smile
5. The Gift
6. Antilles
7. Wastelands
8. Edo
9. The Chieftain
10. She Cried
11. The Gift (Reprise)

Disc 2: Bonus Material

1. No Regrets
2. Mood Music
3. If I Was (Extended Mix)
4. Piano
5. The Man Who Sold the World
6. That Certain Smile (Extended Mix)
7. The Gift (Instrumental)
8. Fade to Grey (Live at Rehearsals 7/29/1985)
9. Wastelands (Extended Mix)
10. When the Winds Blow (Live at Wembley Arena 12/23/1985)
11. After a Fashion (Live at Wembley Arena 12/23/1985)
12. The Chieftain/The Dancer (Live at Wembley Arena 12/23/1985)
13. Call of the Wild (Extended Mix)
14. That Certain Smile (Live at Wembley Arena 12/23/1985) *
15. The Gift (Live at Wembley Arena 12/23/1985) *

Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 released as non-LP single (Chrysalis CHS 2618, 1982)
Disc 2, Tracks 3-5 released as 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X1, 1985)
Disc 2, Tracks 6-8 released as 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X2, 1985)
Disc 2, Tracks 9 and 12 from 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X3, 1986)
Disc 2, Tracks 10-11 and 13 released as 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X4, 1986)
Disc 2, Tracks 14-15 previously unreleased

Midge Ure, Answers to Nothing: Deluxe Edition (Chrysalis/EMI 50999 907741 2 6, 2010)

Disc 1: Original LP (Chrysalis CHR 1649, 1988)

1. Answers to Nothing
2. Take Me Home
3. Sister and Brother
4. Dear God
5. The Leaving (So Long)
6. Just for You
7. Hell to Heaven
8. Lied
9. Homeland
10. Remembrance Day

Disc 2: Bonus Material

1. Answers to Nothing (Extended Version)
2. Honorare
3. Oboe
4. Dear God (Extended Version)
5. Music #1
6. Sister and Brother (Alternate Single Edit)
7. All Fall Down (Live)
8. Strange Brew (Live)
9. Dear God (Live)
10. Just for You (Live)
11. Sister and Brother (Work in Progress Mix: No Vocals) *
12. Music #2 *
13. Answers to Nothing (Work in Progress Mix) *
14. Just for You (Work in Progress Mix) *
15. Sister and Brother (Work in Progress Mix: With Vocals) *

Disc 2, Tracks 1-3 released as 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X5, 1988)
Disc 2, Tracks 4-5 released as 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X6, 1988)
Disc 2, Track 6 from reissued version of the album (EMI Gold 72434 96824 2 9, 1998)
Disc 2, Tracks 7-8 from 12″ single (Chrysalis URE XL6, 1988)
Disc 2, Tracks 9-10 from promotional 12″ single (Chrysalis URE X7, 1989). Also released on a reissue of Ure’s Pure and Breathe (Edsel EDSD2034, 2009)
Disc 2, Tracks 11-15 previously unreleased