"Ultraviolet", All About Eve's fourth and last studio album is the album that sparks the largest controversy amongst All About Eve fans. Regarded as a total departure from the previous sound by some; a noisy, non-musical album by some and an utterly amazing album by others, there rarely seems to be a "middle ground" when it comes to liking this album. You either love it or loathe it....

Admittingly, this album does sound different than the other AAE albums. Gone are most of the dreamy, dance-in-the-meadow-like imageries that surround most of the other albums. There are very few traces of the "folk-goth" style the first two albums were filled with.

One of the main complaints is that Julianne's vocals are more or less drowned in the mix. The lyrics are hard to understand because of this, and there are no lyrics included in the booklet. The vocals are not as overdubbed as on previous albums either. "Ultraviolet" is very much a guitar album. Lots of them, and very noisy. There are waterfalls of guitars crescending on top of an already existing wall of guitar-sound. There is no doubt Marty Willson-Piper had fun making this album....

It is not easy picking out single tracks from this album. One reason why is that on the surface, a lot of the songs seem to sound the same. My first impressions of this album was that it was very noisy and headache-inducing. It can still be at times. But once I started to listen to individual tracks, a few at the time, the brilliance of this album started surfacing.

A rundown of the songs:

"Phased", the opening track, was also the first single from the album. It opens the show nicely, with a phased "lunar siren", played (if that's what you do with them) by Mark Price. MWP is very much present with his wall of guitars, even though he plays simple progressions. A nice and mellow first track....

"Yesterday Goodbye" literally jumps at the speakers . It's somewhat reminiscent of the first album, except for the guitar-sound. Julianne's vocals are multitracked (if you can detect them in the mix).

"Mine" is a beautiful song, starting off with violin-guitars and breathy vocals. It is also very inspired by early Pink Floyd, with it's soaring guitar notes and the guitar cascade that ends the song. It is no surprise that they also did "See Emily Play" during the tour for this album.

"Freeze" is probably the most anonymous and bland song on the album. No real hooks or guitar-lines that grab ya.. It just sort of drifts by.

"Things he told her" is worth it's weight in gold if for nothing but the bass-line during the chorus. Simple, yet very effective.... A great track.

"Infrared" is another Pink Floyd inspired track. Dreamy, airy, surreal and very metallic. Yummy, yummy, yummy.....

"I don't know" is written by Regan and Cousins only (the rest is written collectively). Marty's involvement on this track is minimal, and yes, that gives it a bit of a different sound. The song is mostly acoustic guitars (played by both of the composers) and sitar and mellotron both played by Julianne. The whole sound is very Beatle-esque with "She Said, She Said" lurking in the background. The fact that the mellotron theme is neatly lifted from "Within You, Without You" does not detract from the Beatles comparison either.

"Dream Butcher" is the other "just ok" track. Executed well, but again, there is not a lot to "hang on to" in the song. Oh well, even God's not perfect. :-)

"Some Finer Day", the second single from the album, is brilliant! It's almost as catchy as "Theft" from "Winter Words", although very different in style. With some decent promotion I think this track could have done very well. A great pop-song.

"Blindfolded Visionary" uses part of the same bass-line as "Things He Told Her", but it is not as effective here. Ok, Andy, what other tricks do you know?

The last track, "Outshine The Sun" is to me the gem of the collection and a brilliant closing track. It starts off very nicely, with an acoustic guitar backdrop for Julianne's vocals. One by one, Marty layers the guitars with each verse, just so that the track can culiminate in a 3 minute soaring guitar finale that leaves you breatless and dripping wet on the floor. You simultaneously reach for the towel and the skip << button. No-one can listen to this track just once........

I love this album. It's very hard for me to choose which AAE album is my favourite, as both "Scarlet..." and "Touched..." compete with this album for the spot. But everytime I listen to "Ultraviolet", I say to my self "This is it". Then I put on one of the other two and the same thing happens... :-) No matter how you look at it, "Ultraviolet" is an excellent and highly recommended album. Period.