Lament is the seventh studio album by British
new wave band
Ultravox, released on 6 April 1984 by
Chrysalis Records.[3] It was the last album featuring original drummer
Warren Cann until the band's reunion album Brilliant in 2012. The album peaked at number eight on the
UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 8 June 1984 for shipments of 100,000 copies. It also reached number 25 in Germany and number 115 in the United States.
Background
Ultravox were producing Lament themselves, a logical step considering the experience that they had gained working with two very different producers,
Conny Plank and
George Martin. Ure and Currie had at this time built their own home studios. Ure's Musicfest Studio located in
Chiswick and Currie's Hot Food Studio in his basement in
Notting Hill Gate.[4]
The album's inner sleeve on LP releases features a photograph of
Callanish Stones, a neolithic stone arrangement on
Lewis in Scotland.[5] On later releases of the album, this photograph appears on the front cover in place of the original tracklist, which is instead displayed on the formerly-blank back cover.
Ure and Cross had travelled to
Isle of Lewis to write lyrics for the album.[6]
Tour
The tour was called "Set Movements Tour", including 5 nights at
Hammersmith Odeon 6th to 10 June 1984, and was supported by the band
Messengers.[7][8]
The album's initial release on CD featured a different track listing from the initial LP release as the songs were interspersed with remixes. When the album was next re-released on CD in 1999, it featured the original track listing with seven bonus tracks consisting of various B-sides and remixes from the Lament period added to the end of the album.
The album was once again re-released in 2009 as a double CD set. The first disc consisted of the original album remastered. The second disc contained remixes, B-sides and previously unreleased "work in progress" versions of songs.
Prior to the issue of a deluxe special edition box set of Lament in 2024, April's Record Store Day saw the release of a limited edition 12" featuring four newly created extended versions of album tracks, mixed by Steven Wilson: White China, Man Of Two Worlds, When The Time Comes and A Friend I Call Desire. Two of these are to feature on the box set, and two are exclusive to this special vinyl release.