"U-Vox" is the eighth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, released on October 13, 1986, by Chrysalis Records. This marked the band's fifth album during the Midge Ure era and was the last to feature the original 1979 lineup, excluding drummer Warren Cann, for nearly 26 years. The lineup would later reform in 2008. It was also the final Ultravox album to reach the UK Albums Chart's top 10, peaking at number nine.
Despite its chart performance, U-Vox did not match the success of earlier Ultravox albums from the 1980s and failed to produce any top-20 singles, with "Same Old Story" and "All Fall Down" reaching numbers 31 and 30, respectively. Cann was dismissed from the band prior to recording due to "musical differences," and the drums on the album were played by Mark Brzezicki of Big Country. Billy Currie later noted that Cann bore the brunt of the band's issues, leading to his departure. Currie also commented on Brzezicki's contributions, saying they introduced a sound that diverged from Ultravox's identity.
The album featured a shift away from the electronic rock style established in earlier works, incorporating unusual instrumentation, such as Celtic elements in "All Fall Down" with help from The Chieftains and brass from Beggar and Co. The final track, "All in One Day," included orchestration by George Martin and was inspired by the Live Aid event.
U-Vox was remastered and reissued on CD by EMI Gold in 2000, alongside other Ultravox albums, with a remastered two-disc version released in 2009. In his autobiography, Ure expressed regret over the album, suggesting it should have been called "U-Bend" for its perceived lack of quality and coherence.
During the European U-Vox Tour, starting October 23 in Gdansk, Ultravox performed as a seven-piece band, featuring additional musicians on keyboards, guitar, drums, and backing vocals. This album was the last collaboration between Ure and the band before they disbanded following the tour. Future versions of Ultravox in the 1990s included only Currie as an original member, though the classic lineup reconvened in 2008 for a tour and recorded a new album, Brilliant, released in 2012. Due to a lack of success with Lament in the US, U-Vox was not released by Chrysalis in that market.
