Brilliant (album)

Brilliant (stylised as Brill!ant) is the eleventh and final studio album by British synth-pop band Ultravox, released on 25 May 2012 by Chrysalis Records. It is the group's first studio album in 18 years, and the first in 28 years from the "classic" Ultravox line-up consisting of Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Warren Cann and Chris Cross (the last being 1984's Lament). The title track was released as its lead single, and premiered on 17 April 2012 on BBC Radio 2.

Brilliant
Studio album by Ultravox
Released	25 May 2012 (2012-05-25)
Recorded	September 2010 – December 2011
Studio	The Lakehouse (Montreal) Environment (Bath) Sarm West (London) Battery (London) Studio City Sound (Studio City)[lower-alpha 1]
Genre	Synth-pop new wave
Length	52:48
Label	Chrysalis
Producer	Stephen Lipson Ultravox
Ultravox chronology
The Best of Ultravox (2003) Brilliant (2012) The Albums 1980–2012 (2013)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Bolton News	Favourable[2]
Consequence of Sound	[3]
Metro	Mixed[4]
musicOMH	[5]
Release Magazine	8/10[6]
The Scotsman	[7]
Spin	4/10[8]
The West Australian	[9]

Brilliant debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 6,100 copies in its first week.^[10] 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."^[11]

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."^[12]

Cann's drums were recorded at Studio City Sound in Los Angeles.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Live"	4:11
2.	"Flow"	4:24
3.	"Brilliant"	4:22
4.	"Change"	4:30
5.	"Rise"	4:04
6.	"Remembering"	3:43
7.	"Hello"	5:40
8.	"One"	4:43
9.	"Fall"	4:07
10.	"Lie"	4:35
11.	"Satellite"	3:58
12.	"Contact"	4:31

All tracks are written by Midge Ure, Billy Currie and Chris Cross

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Brilliant.^[13]

Ultravox

• Warren Cann – drums
• Chris Cross – bass, synthesiser
• Billy Currie – piano, synthesiser, violin
• Midge Ure – vocals, guitar, synthesiser

Technical

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

Charts

Chart performance for Brilliant

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14]	59
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15]	182
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16]	185
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[17]	42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18]	27
Italian Albums (FIMI)[19]	84
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[20]	28
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21]	13
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22]	36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23]	67
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	21

Release history

Release history for Brilliant

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
Australia	25 May 2012	EMI	[25]
Germany		Eden	[26]
United Kingdom	28 May 2012	Chrysalis	[27]
Poland		EMI	[28]
France	29 May 2012		[29]
Italy			[30]
Sweden	30 May 2012		[31]

Notes

1. Drums

References

1. O'Brien, Jon. "Brilliant – Ultravox". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
2. Hutchinson, Martin (3 June 2012). "CD Review: Ultravox – Brilliant". The Bolton News. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
3. Ferguson, Jason (31 May 2012). "Album Review: Ultravox – Brilliant". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
4. Haider, Arwa (28 May 2012). "Ultravox's latest offering fails to live up to Brilliant tag". Metro. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
5. Young, Martyn (27 May 2012). "Ultravox – Brilliant". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
6. Svensson, Fredrik "Schlatta" (28 May 2012). "Ultravox: Brilliant". Release Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
7. Shepherd, Fiona; Walton, Ken; Mathieson, Kenny; Gilchrist, Jim; Church, Michael (28 May 2012). "Album reviews: Ultravox | Scissor Sisters | Classical | Jazz | Folk | World". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
8. Walters, Barry (6 June 2012). "Ultravox, 'Brilliant' (Capitol/EMI)". Spin. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
9. Dwyer, Michael (25 May 2012). "CD Review: Brilliant (Ultravox)". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
10. Jones, Alan (3 June 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow LP sells 40k". Music Week. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
11. Wik, Fredrik Schlatta (27 June 2012). "Midge Ure – Ultravox: Visions of brilliance". Release Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012.
12. Brilliant Tour Program.
13. Brilliant (liner notes). Ultravox. Chrysalis Records. 2012. 6239752.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
14. "Austriancharts.at – Ultravox – Brilliant" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
15. "Ultratop.be – Ultravox – Brilliant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
16. "Ultratop.be – Ultravox – Brilliant" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
17. "Albums – Top 100 (Ultravox – Brilliant)" (in Czech). ČNS IFPI. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Ultravox – Brilliant" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
19. "Italiancharts.com – Ultravox – Brilliant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
20. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
21. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Ultravox – Brilliant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Ultravox – Brilliant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
25. "Brilliant – Ultravox". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
26. "Ultravox // Brilliant". EMI Music Germany (in German). Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
27. "Ultravox: Brilliant". HMV. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
28. "Brilliant – Ultravox" (in Polish). Empik. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
29. "Brilliant : Ultravox" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
30. "Ultravox – Brilliant". IBS.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
31. "Brilliant – Ultravox". CDON (in Swedish). Sweden. Archived from the original (select "Fakta" tab) on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2012.